Walking Sitting Watching People a Busy Public

¶ … walking sitting watching people a busy public place. Look things associate people race/ethnic, cultural, gender, social-class backgrounds. Look kinds common interactions behaviors groups. For, acknowledge's presence eye contact occur? Do behaviors change presence groups? Consider expect based assumptions understandings persons backgrounds (expect dress, walk, talk, interact, interact,).

Observation: Supermarket

For my observation I went to a grocery store, as I thought this would expose me to a wide range of people of different ages. Immediately, I noticed many mothers and children in the store. The majority of the mothers wore workout clothes and they were evidently coming from the gym or from home. They often adopted a rather businesslike attitude as they charged through the store, talking on their cellphone or trying to find things on their list. The children would sometimes be asked to 'help' their parent get produce or items off of the shelves. Sometimes the mother would argue with the child about her refusal to get a particular food item or toy.

The mothers appeared to have two different 'strategies' for dealing with children in the grocery store. The first strategy was to use the store as a 'teachable moment' by asking their children questions about the food, helping them make selections (such as between two different kinds of cheeses) and engaging the children in conversation. The other strategy was a 'defensive' mode in which the mother attempted to curtail any possible misbehavior before it happened. I saw some mothers snap at children even before the children misbehaved. "I told you not to even ask for candy, so don't have a meltdown."

While the majority of the parents with children were mothers, I did see several fathers. One of the fathers had a list he was following very carefully. I noticed that the fathers did not seem to have as much of an 'issue' disciplining the children. The children seemed less inclined to whine for candy and Pop Tarts or the fathers were more agreeable about buying treats. The fathers seemed slightly less confident finding the items in the store; moved more slowly (and bought more items); and one of them actually used his cellphone (presumably to call his wife) to ask about what things he should buy. I was initially somewhat surprised that there was still such a 'gendered' division regarding grocery-shopping but that may have partially been due to the time of day when I went -- 3PM -- when many full-time working parents (both mothers and fathers) were still at their jobs.

As well as parents, a number of older people were shopping. They were noteworthy for the amount of time they took to move through the store, not simply because their mobility was limited but because of the care and consideration they gave to the different prices of the items. Many of them had coupons or sales circulars, and they were very careful to purchase the lowest-cost items. I also noticed that many of them relied upon canned or prepared foods. In contrast to some of the other shoppers who passed by the aisles quite quickly, there was a sense that the older shoppers were performing the most important task of their day. They seemed to approach the act of shopping with a great deal of anxiety, perhaps because of limited funds or because this was one of the few days during the week in which they 'got out' of their homes. The older shoppers were a stark contrast with the hustling, bustling activity of people in suits who had stopped at the supermarket to grab a quick late lunch or a few things for dinner.