Ethnography

Ethnography

November 9, 2014

Getting in the Spirit

Instead of going to my usual restaurant this week, I decided to go to a store and experience holiday shopping at its finest. Although many people were looking at items for themselves, there were quite a few people getting an early start on Christmas presents.

The first group I observed was a grandmother and her granddaughter. The grandmother was most likely in her early sixties, while the granddaughter was around twelve. Both had a light complexion and appeared to be Caucasian. The grandma had medium length hair, which had started to grey, and wore large pieces of jewelry. The granddaughter had long, brown hair that was tied in a braid. From what I could tell, the grandma was taking her granddaughter to buy a few articles of clothing for school. The grandma kept picking up things and saying, “This looks cute,” but the granddaughter would make a face of disgust; the same would happen the other way around. This went on for quite some time. 

The second group I observed was a mother and son. The mother had to have been in her early thirties and was of Hispanic decent. She had long black hair and wore very bright clothes, as if she just got finished at the gym. The son was most likely ten to twelve years of age and wore nothing but nike apparel. I could immediately tell that this child was beyond spoiled. The mother, I assume, wanted to look around for herself, but was stopped every time the boy saw something, whether it be a toy or a shirt. He would then pick up the item and reach it up towards the mother. She said no and the boy began to cry hysterically. To avoid embarrassment and further whining from the boy she hesitantly said "fine" and focused her attention on clothes for herself.

The last group of people I observed was an elderly couple that wore matching Christmas sweaters.  The couple must have been in their late sixties and appeared to be Caucasian by their light colored skin and boyishly white hair. I could tell that they were getting an early start on Christmas gifts because I kept hearing, "Oh this would be nice for so and so." The elderly people had a shopping cart full of men's sweaters, random newly released DVDS, and small children's clothes.

Other than those few people, the store was getting ready to close and the place looked nearly abandoned. The women, I noticed, had purchased a few shirts for herself, along with whatever else her son found. The grandma and granddaughter had appeared to finally agree on some shirts and dark, denim jeans. The old couple had left looking very happy after signing a check with dacshunds on it and also looked glad to have taken a chunk out of their shopping list.

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