Observing a Coffee Shop

Introduction

Ethnography studies adopt a cultural lens whenever studying cultural relations within a certain community. The underlying ethnography in anthropological studies focuses on examining communal and cultural elements. It is not a must for the observer to take part in the activities he is observing as the main goal is understanding the cultural set up of the setting.  In contemporary society, the ethnography study of a coffee shop reveals numerous things about the cultural norms of the current society.

Coffee Shop

 The coffee shop is one of the busiest business in the morning hours. Most people who pass through the coffee shop rush into work rather than stay at home. The coffee shop serves offers a platform to people who wish to seat down and take their coffer while at the same time catering to the needs of those who are in rush to get their coffee and leave. There is a lot of things that one can observe if patched at a most popular coffee shop on the street. Humans are social beings and coffee not only necessitates the social aspect that comes with culture but reinforces the culture and background of people who tend to keep up with food trends and social wellbeing of the entire community (Ssorin-Chaikov, 2017). Observation aims to gain a deeper understanding of the cultural perspective of the community and build up more than one way of sustaining the needs and wants of the entire community. For instance, some may prefer their coffee hot or even cold due to medical reasons hence one cannot group people based on their preferences. Instead, the underlying reasons might reveal more due to the direct tie to cultural norms.

One of the most visible things to note about a coffee shop is the potential to meet numerous people who merge at the same location to get one thing. Thus, the mannerisms cannot differ that much from one person to the next. The coffee shop has tables and seats hence present its clients with a social setting. Also, a coffee shop does not offer a wide range of products hence apart from drinking variants of coffee, the clients may purchase other foods that can be eaten with the coffee (Rapport, 2014). Therefore, the coffee shop setting is highly regulated hence the actions are already to be expected or even anticipated. In the long run, the work of the observer is supposed to be pegged to the action and how it is done. Most of the cultural norms are not that different from each other and they might reveal more than one person is meant to see (Bernard, & Gravlee, 2014). Also, the coffee shop is limited in terms of how one can define culture and its application to the situation presented at hand. The chance to come to terms with the modern-day culture is to define the underlying reasons driving the things that one sees and does in a certain time frame. Before deducing the chances of accurately separating cultural norms from the observation that can be found within an eatery, one has to understand the needs of the people who come to a coffee shop.

Coffee Shop Description, Observation, and Analysis

 As stated earlier, the coffee set up is already designed to generate social aspects. Numerous people go into a coffee shop daily. All the people differ in terms of height, ethnicity, and even physical features. People have made it a norm to comprehend and interpret social situations. It is a fact that people have learned to live with each other and anticipate every action. One simple deed can have more than two or even three meanings to most people. Some people walk slowly while others walk hastily coffee shops have standardized patterns in terms of the interior arrangement (Eller, 2016). The interior of this particular coffee shop is designed to provide the clients with much-needed comfort. More so, the coffee shop is filled with menus, baristas serving different types of coffee.  Pastries are placed near the barista and their work is to address customer needs based on age. The room is well lit and everyone who enters the room goes straight to the counter to make an order. Most people are loyal customers and they have been to the place numerous times hence their body language is laid back with a calm demeanor (Fabian, 2014). Some customers who are in hurry to get their order on time, sometimes seat beside the bench as they browse through their phones. Once their coffees are ready they say a distance thankyou as they rush through the door. In the meantime, most of the staff serving the people at the counter are ever attentive to the needs of everyone walking through the door. It is a busy place and the aim of the coffee shop is to make more money as they serve the people who walk into the door.

People behavior

 Some of the clients went into the queue after picking some snacks from the shelves. Others looked around and were curious about the surroundings and the sitting zones. A small number of the customers, specifically the ones who had friends waiting for them, went to the sitting zones and left their staff such as backpacks. Various tables are organized in a manner that can accommodate more clients and seeing to it that socialization takes place. The clients talk more to the staff members than to themselves. People who come into the coffee shop in groups are more talkative than people who come in alone. Thus, the social structure set in place at the coffee shop determines the mannerism of the people who come in. some people can come into the coffee shop to order a drink and then spend the entire time studying (Latour, 2017). One customer came into the coffee shop and spent her time chatting on her phone while occasionally reading a book she had in her hand. Also, whatever one's actions do not have a direct impact on the next person. The coffee shop is arranged to make people feel comfortable in each other’s space hence making language and communication easier. Sometimes, the girl opened her backpack and removed her laptop. It looked as if she was working on her school project. Another man a few feet from the lady was busy texting and going through his social media posts. The interaction between people made the scenery more comfortable and at ease to be in. some people held an informal meeting at the coffee shop as they drank their coffee and chat with other people around the table. The coffee table space encouraged people to socialize among themselves as they went about their day. Some people at the meeting seem to be uncomfortable with sharing out their ideas. At some given point the movement increased as people went in and out of the coffee shop. Most of the people who walked into the coffee shop were talking in a conversant tone that did not create any distractions to the people who were already on the inside. Some clients would laugh out loud in the company of others. After the coffee shops began being busy, a woman walked in with two children and bought some snacks for her sons. One of the children interrupted other clients when he started crying. Most of the customers looked at the mother and her children because of the crying child. Most of the customers gave her disapproving looks.

Analysis

 The characteristics and behavior of people who are gathered in place directly contribute to their mannerisms and behavior. These gatherings improve communal mannerisms and help in communication between two or more people. In the same way, some people have to come to terms with the appropriate actions whenever a transactional approach is taken in the study of the entire coffee shop interactions (Tamarkin, 2018).  The concept of functionalism can be befitting for this topic as it can be used to explain more than one aspect of the actions of the customers. Integrative details help in shaping culture and how people respond to it in the long run.

Conclusion

 Cementing cultural norms is a collective identity as culture is done collectively. Each action done was a representation of a cultural reaction. For example, in the early morning, people rush to the office and accomplish more tasks. Infrastructures and community arrangements are designed to meet the needs of the people. In this particular context, coffee shops enable people to meet their needs. Hence, the ability of the coffee shop to meet the needs of the customers points to functionalism.

 

 

References

Bernard, H. R., & Gravlee, C. C. (Eds.). (2014). Handbook of methods in cultural anthropology. Rowman & Littlefield.

Eller, J. D. (2016). Cultural anthropology: global forces, local lives. Routledge.

Fabian, J. (2014). Time and the other: How anthropology makes its object. Columbia University Press.

Latour, B. (2017). Anthropology at the time of the Anthropocene: a personal view of what is to be studied. The anthropology of sustainability (pp. 35-49). Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

Rapport, N. (2014). Social and cultural anthropology: The key concepts. Routledge.

Ssorin-Chaikov, N. (2017). Two Lenins: A brief anthropology of time. Hau Books.

Tamarkin, N. (2018). Time and relational possibility: cultural anthropology in 2017. American Anthropologist, 120(2), 305-327.