Gibran Sheikh
Professor Macklin
English 115
8 October 2012
Ethnography
For
this particular ethnographic research paper, I base my ethnographic research on
that of human interaction in a restaurant. The restaurant I visited to conduct
my observations was named “The Indian Restaurant”. It was a restaurant of intriguing
design; therefore the atmosphere was classy, and also elegant. Every waiter was
dressed similarly, probably because of the dress code, and the manager was
dressed in a suite. Given the attire of these people, it is likely that they
were dressed for the occasion, which indeed was business. A number of
customers, including myself, were not dressed as fancily as the waiters or the
manager; however, some did appeal to the atmospheric elegance of the
restaurant. As classic as the restaurant may have been, it seems that the many
customers who intended to dine seemed to not really take note of the nice
design of the restaurant itself. It seemed that customers were only concerned
to obtain a spot to sit down and eat, or getting their food, as this restaurant
was of self-service. Since it was a buffet, many customers did not really
interact with their waiters, but they did indeed interact with each other.
Therefore, the noise level in the restaurant was a bit over moderate,
fluctuating from mild to loud conversations between that of families, couples,
and friends. Through my observations I found that there were many different ethnic
groups in the restaurant. Although there were many people of middle-eastern
decent, there were many Caucasians, a couple of African-Americans, a couple of
Hispanics, and a good amount of Asians in general. Both men and women seemed to
be enjoying themselves; however, I did notice that the men in the families and
couples were a bit more serious as opposed to their wives, or girlfriends. It
seemed to be that these men were either naturally like that or simply just
concerned about the bill that they had to deal with at the end of their meals.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to find that the men were serious due to the
restaurant bills, simply because the restaurant was expensive, but it seemed to
fit the occasion. Going back to my observations, I also found that many of the
children from the families that came to restaurant did not eat as much, and
most of them were always told to finish their plates before they decided to get
up and go pick out a dessert to finish their meal. As it was a brunch buffet, I
also observed that there were a lot of orange juices and coffees being asked
for by the customers, as it was not so hard to hear what they were ordering for
their beverages. It seemed that mainly the men ordered for the whole table, and
that the coffees ordered were only for the adults that were dining.
As the day went by I came to certain analysis of many of
the observations that I had made throughout that day. It appeared that the
elegance of the restaurant was presented to the customers so that they would
feel much more comfortable while they dined. Also, even
though the restaurant was of an elegant atmosphere, many of the customers,
including myself, were not properly dressed to match the elegance, but it
seemed to not bother the manager or the waiters, and everyone had enjoyed their
time. I do believe that everyone that came to dine was comfortable and also
hungry for a good meal; therefore, fancy physical attires were not something
that they felt was needed. Also, everyone seemed to only converse within their
own groups or tables, and that the presence of others seemed to not matter. It
seemed that there was no ethnic group that really overpowered the other, even
though the restaurant was of Indian cuisine. It seems that nowadays there is
more cultural mixture that flows throughout the county of Los Angeles. The Indian
cuisine seemed to appeal to all of the many ethnic groups in the restaurant, so
it has come to my attention that not only a few ethnic groups, but many different
ethnic groups have a common liking towards many other types of cultural
cuisines. As for the bills that were administered to all of the customers who
had dined in the restaurant, I have come to the conclusion that possibly every
male in the restaurant had paid for the meal, whether it be a sign of chivalry
or just a coincidence. I believe that in further analysis of this situation,
the men in the groups of people dining were indeed silent throughout their
conversations due to the bill, but after it had been paid they were a bit more
chatty. I believe that women in the families were in charge of getting their
children to finish their meals, but the women on their dates with their men
seemed to only be in charge of looking pretty while they ate their meals. As
for the beverages that were ordered in the restaurant, I can say that coffees
ordered were mainly for the adults and not the children, either because the
children were too young or they simply did not enjoy the bitter-sweet taste of
the coffee, and preferred their orange juices. Throughout my visit to the restaurant,
I found that cultural mixture in societies was not uncommon as it used to be.
People have many similar interests, such as dining, and it is now quite common
to see Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics dining at a certain location. It
is great to understand our society is coming together as a whole, even if it
does have to start out at a restaurant.
Works
Cited
"Kids &
Coffee." Kidzworld. Outbrain, n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.kidzworld.com/article/17060-kids-and-coffee>.
Schira, Roberta.
"Table Manners: Restaurant Bills And Tips." Fine Dining Lovers. N.p.,
12 July 2012. Web. 09 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.finedininglovers.com/stories/table-manners-money-bill-tips/>.
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