Ethnography

Ethnography

October 12, 2014

Everyone's Day Off: Except for College Students


It’s a Friday afternoon. I walk inside the building and walk through the Barnes and Noble. There is a lot of commotion going on surprisingly. I enter the Starbucks area and it is completely full that I have trouble finding a seat. I finally grab a seat in the middle row and come to a conclusion of why there is so many people today and that is because the high school , middle school, and elementary kids don’t have school  today because they have fall break. I think to myself that this is not fair that all of these students don’t have school and the college kids do but then again the professors in college are allowed to cancel class anytime they want so I believe that is the reason of why we don’t get the same amount of days off as them.
 I stand up and go get myself a drink because I start to get thirsty. This time I decide to try something new and order a strawberry smoothie and a pastry as well. I notice that new employees who I haven’t seen before are working today making it a total of three. I’m guessing that they have a lot of workers in order for them to keep switching workers. Wanda, Will, and Danny are all trying their best to keep up with the drink orders because there are so many people. I have a seat once again while my drink is being prepared. As I am waiting I notice that to my right is Shelby, one of the previous workers that has been here when I come to do my field work. She is in casual clothes with a lap top in front of her which tell me that she is not working today. She seems to be doing homework I believe.
Another thing that I notice is that there are many more people with laptops today which is odd because from the times I’ve been coming there has just been people with drinks and having a conversation. My drink is up and I go and grab it and have seat again. I can’t seem to overhear a conversation that is going between two young ladies, Georgia and Vivian. From what I hear is that they are talking about relationships. Georgia is telling Vivian that she should ignore the message but to not respond as quickly because that will seem desperate and that the other person will think that they are getting rewarded somehow for getting a message back so quickly from Vivian. As the conversation finishes Georgia turns her chair to face closer to Vivian. I hear the camera sound and they seems to be taking pictures together which we now call “selfies”. Forgot to mention that they are in summer dresses which is reasonable because it’s hot outside.
As they are finishing taking many pictures together they are approached by another young lady, Olivia. She is wearing a t-shirt and jeans and something unique that I notice about her is that she has a Marilyn Monroe bag which I have never seen before. They bring up the relationship conversation once again with Olivia and fill her in on what she has missed. Georgia repeats herself and mentions that Vivian should not respond quickly. As the conversation finished they head out going towards the inner part of the mall. As they head out I am in shock to see a man ordering a drink but his dog is beside him. I hear him say “no Otis” which makes me conclude that the dog’s name is Otis. Otis is a cute boxer. Everyone turns their attention and are saying how cute Otis is. The man’s drink is ready and he grabs it and heads out the door with Otis.
It seems that Wanda, Will, and Danny haven’t gotten a break from making drinks because the lines keeps getting longer. Shelby is still doing work on her computer. There is so many things to observe but I look over at my computer and seems to have reached the limit of words. So I pack my stuff up and head out the door while everyone continues with their business. Busy Friday afternoon I would say.

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