02/12/20: Coffee Shop Ethnography

For this coffee shop ethnography, I picked a coffeeshop located in Stockton, CA. This was my first time coming to this shop so I didn’t know exactly what to expect so as I walked in I could smell the coffee and also hear how loud the people behind the counter were through my air pods. As I walked up to the counter I had about three people come in right behind me and all were greeted with we will be right with you. The environment was very open I could hear what regulars must be telling them that it’s slow at the moment considering yesterday there was an event that causes a lot of traffic of people to come in. Charlie walked in that was with delivery and right when he walked in he was not only greeted but the person who was making the coffee kept a conversation and questioned exactly how long he had been doing delivery and if he was from here and really felt like an open environment. I did observe that the person making the coffee which would be the barista was by far the most upbeat and welcoming the cashier themselves was kind of just regular not super up beat. The age of the customers I see coming in and out all honestly depends I saw customers who were in their 20’s and I even saw a big wave of 30-50-year-old age range but they all come in and get a different vibe. A man in their 50s came and started to have a conversation with the workers that seemed to be about a meeting of importance and when a 20-year-old woman came in they started to have a conversation about a viral video about some girl who fell off stripper pole and still danced when she landed after she broke her jaw. I realized how different the vibes were depending on what customer walked in and he was so open to invite her to a house party that he going to be having. The race where pretty mixed and because there is so much going on in such a small place people can kind of be in their own way of being hidden. The man sitting next to me was maybe in his early 30s and he was there with a backpack and stack of paper he did seem to get kind of annoyed with how loud sometimes they were being although he had air pods in. The social factors of this coffee shop are the whole reason I strategically planned to go here because I assumed before what exactly to expect but I was wrong the environment was much more open then I originally thought. I observed one man named joe when he walked I he looked around and was greeted and he said hello he stood in line for about five minutes and I was trying to determine whether or not this man was a regular or a newbie like me I watched his interaction with the cashier and it was very generic not to upbeat. He played with cash and the remaining change he threw in the tip jar he then wandered to an area where pictures are up and he seemed to stand and actually observe them we made eye contact and he then looked outside then sat down. He sat right next to the door and whenever he heard the door opening his head went up very fast from his phone. During the time his coffee was being mad eye didn’t conversate with anyone bur rather sat with his head down at his phone the whole time. The Batista then alerted him that the milk he wanted they ran out of and he was addressed by his first name and also the nickname of “bud” I then thought maybe he was a regular. He did seem to chitter chat when he picked up his coffee he smiled and grabbed a straw and added something at the sugar and creamer area and he left. This environment seemed to be very open and comfortable they knew many of their regulars even to the extent someone left something behind and they knew phone numbers and also the names of majority of their customers because the clientele for the most part seems very routine. For the most part strangers don’t talk to each other, No one came up to me to speak although for once I sat without being on my phone or having earphones which is very different for me. The moods of the customers sitting all varied some seemed to be in depth conversations and some others where totally isolated. This experience was very eye opening to me without my air pods in I actually seemed Intune with the people around me instead of being totally isolated and not wanting to be bothered. The more I raised my head up from my computer the more people who would make eye contact with me and smile. I saw how different everything could be when you are consciously aware. I happened to turn to my shoulder before I began to wrap up and I saw that the two customers sitting down by me although they were at separate tables and very in-depth with the work they were doing leaned over to talk to each other and it shocked me because it’s crazy how it looks, they know each other but didn’t talk the whole time I’ve sat there. But then I realized I do this almost everywhere I go with a friend we. Might both be with each other but to others they might not even know considering we don’t talk but rather so occupied with other things.