Observation 1
Date: Sep 17th, 2006 12:04:37 am - Subscribe
I live in a small town with a population about 9,000. There are not a lot of places to go without someone knowing you, so I decided to visit a Laundry Mat. I know it sound a little weird, but it turned out to be very productive. I visited two different locations in two different parts of town. Having never been in either location, I observed between 4-6 different parties at each location. I did a couple of different things as I sat in the store. The first thing that I did was to make initial eye contact, but did not speak first, with each person that entered. Next, I made a mental note of how much Laundry they brought in. This just led me to believe if they use the Laundry Mat as a sole source of washing, or if they may be there because their machine at home is broke. There is no scientific basis to this, I was just curious. Finally, I took a couple of loads of laundry so that I was able to fit in.
The first location I visited is on the south side of town in an integrated neighborhood. There may be a really nice house right next to one that is abandoned, and everything in between. I saw several people come and go in the time that I spent there. Out of the six parties that I observed all made eye contact, but only two spoke first. The other four just continued into the store and conducted business. As they washed, I noticed that they never left the facilities. They may go to their car, but never drove away. It seemed that they were afraid that someone would take their clothes even though there was someone at the store as an attendant. I did not personally know everyone, but some of the people that I was an acquaintance with, I took notice as to what they were driving and I knew where they lived and I didn’t understand their priorities. They drive a very nice vehicle, but their appearance and their house didn’t reflect that. Half of the parties seemed to bring more than five loads of Laundry. This indicated that they do most if not all of their washing outside of the home.
The second location is on the north side of town and closer to a very upper-middle class neighborhood. Here I observed four parties come and go. All four of them made eye contact with me, and three of the four spoke first. There was an attendant at this location as well, and two of the parties left the facility at some point and returned within 10 minutes. I did not personally know any of the parties at this location. I did notice that the cost of the machines was higher and the facilities were kept in cleaner condition. The appearance of the individuals, and the quality and condition of there vehicles seemed to match closer. None of the customers at this location had more than three loads, which could show that they didn’t solely use the washing facilities.
Upon concluding this observation several issues were revealed. At the first location parties did not seem to have as much confidence in meeting new people. This was observed by the lack of initial communication on their part. This lack of communication could have also been due to the fact that I was a new face that didn’t fit at that location. At the second location there was more initial contact by the other parties with me. This allows me understand how people feel when they are uncomfortable because they don’t fit in. That really brings to light the differences that were shown to me by the Racial survey. I also noticed the lack of trust, evident by the customers not wanting to leave the facilities. I don’t know if that lack of trust was based on me sitting in the store or if they naturally don’ t trust people. I believe that it is the latter of the two, but it does make you think about how racial and socioeconomic stereotypes are turned toward you. That really hits home on the section of Multicultural Education on self-knowledge, and the differences in hidden classes discussed in Understanding Poverty. I really feel that I can get me hands around many of the concept that we have read about, and several of them were confirmed in my observation. It was interesting to be on the receiving end of what may be perceived as prejudice. One thing that I really have trouble with is the prioritization of these individuals that seem to focus many of their finances and efforts towards such material items. I hope that understanding that thought process will further develop my understanding of different cultures.
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