Observation 1
Date: Sep 17th, 2006 12:30:08 am - Subscribe
The first observation is to go out of our element to some location that is tied to a stereotype or some place where we are not in our comfort area. This is a challenging project. I am from a large city. We moved to a small town in (state), and, I am not in my comfort zone right now. I could speak of our life here, how different things are living is a small town. As stated in Banks chapter two “Cultural innovation is always occurring within local communities of cultural practice.” Living here is culture shock; everyone is connected to someone in this town. At times we feel like foreigners from a different planet. Being from (city) we are liberal, which in a small Republican village, the term liberal is like being a Communist in the 50’s. There are many things that are wonderful about living in a small town. Our neighbors are great and I have been able to meet the right people to pursue my career. The commute to work is about ten minutes’ verses forty-five minutes to an hour and a half to get to work. One way and that commute it was only ten miles away. That is one of the best things about living in a small town.
The one thing that affects the family in a negative way is a place to eat out. We have to travel more than a hundred miles to find restaurants and clothing stores that we are familiar with. So in our pursuit to find a place to shop and eat we decided to go to (city), which is a hundred miles away or an hour and a half away. Going to (city) to do some shopping at the Mall and at Old Navy clothing store, is nothing new, we have done this many times before. It was a cloudy day with an occasional rain shower, when we just stepped out of the Old Navy store and it started to pour down rain. We made a mad dash for the car. It was about 1:30 in the afternoon. As we all sat in the car we were trying to figure out what to eat, we were hungry! Old Navy is located across the street from the mall, but we did not want to eat mall food. Then on the other side of Old Navy’s parking lot was a “Hooters” a place with many stereotypes attached to this establishment. My wife said, “Lets eat there, I heard that they have good food.” Feeling a little uncomfortable because my fifteen-year-old daughter was with us, I hesitated, only for a moment.
As we walked into the restaurant a young woman greeted us and showed us to our table. My preconceived notion of this restaurant was shattered in an instant. As stated in Banks chapter two “We continue to learn new culture until we die” It was an ordinary restaurant with people from every walk of life. Yes, it did have three tables where there were only guys at the table. Across from us was a couple with two children and a baby in a high chair. Down and across from us was an older couple in their late 60’s or 70’s having lunch. When I scanned the area I noticed that almost every culture was in this restaurant. We ordered our meals. I had heard that they had a specialty “fried pickles” another preconceived notion. What were they thinking! So, for the sake of research and assignment requirements I ordered the fried pickles also. When the meal came it was pleasing to the eye, and the food was great, even those scary “fried pickles.” Yes, they do have waitresses dressed like carhops, but coming from Southern California and a beach area, the waitresses seemed to be over dressed. As for my image or my stereotype of a well establish restaurant have changed, we all have prejudices and it’s a constant battle to change our preconceived ideas.
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