Abstract
This naturalistic observation was carried out at a Starbucks coffee shop located at N Hill St, Los Angeles. The coffee shop is conspicuous from a distance because of the firm’s green colors and logo. People visit the coffee shop for food and drinks as well as to socialize or discuss or do business, as evidenced by the interactions witnessed during the naturalist observation exercise. This paper documents a vivid and detailed description of my time at the Los Angeles coffee shop for two hours each day at 8am beginning March 28th and ending March 29th 2016. Some of the significant observations and conclusions drawn from this exercise is that people in Los Angeles love their morning coffee since the coffee shop was full with people throughout the observation period. People were socializing with their colleagues, or friends, or even family while having coffee. The coffee shop is often frequented by individuals of all ages, backgrounds and races - a reflection of the population composition in Los Angeles. However, the greatest percentage of those who come for their coffee and other foodstuffs were young and middle-aged adults most likely going about their daily routine.
Introduction
This exercise was carried out at a Starbucks coffee shop located at N Hill St, Los Angeles. The city is a truly cosmopolitan area that boasts a long and rich history . The coffee shop is of moderate size with a sitting capacity of about 50 individuals. However, a great majority of people seem to come to the coffee shop to pick their drinks and food to eat from somewhere else. Starbucks is a globally recognizable brand that is known for providing good quality coffee, snacks as well as other foodstuffs.
The coffee shop provides a perfect place to observe all manner of interactions as it is frequented by people of all ages and from all backgrounds. The coffee shop draws its customers from all ethnicities and walks of life, be they young, old, middle aged, low or high social class. The Starbucks coffee shop that I visited is primarily subdivided into a sitting section where customers can sit and have their coffee and a place where customers can order their drinks and queue for them as they wait to be served. The sitting area is a nice place where people can come and sit and talk and just enjoy the relaxed environment. Additionally, there is free internet access so people usually come with their devices and carry out any work or just entertain themselves on their gadgets. The coffee shop is loved by the working class individuals since it has ample space which allows for out-off office activities such as hanging out with colleagues or just checking one’s email. It is truly a public place where all manner of interaction among people that have different relationships can come and hang out, be it official or casual.
For the purposes of the paper, I chose a coffee shop located along N Hill Street, Los Angeles. The following is a description of my time at the Starbucks coffee shop located along N Hill St. for two hours each day at 8am beginning March 28th and ending March 29th 2016.
I arrive at the coffee shop at exactly 8 O’clock in the morning. The coffee shop is easily recognizable since it bears Starbuck’s green color. Outside the coffee shop is a wide area filled with seats where customers can sit as they have their meals. I order a cup of coffee and take my seat at a strategic window seat where I can see outside as well as observe what is happening inside the café. The seats and the tables are painted purple. The place is filled with tens of people coming and going about what looks like their morning routine. There is representation from all ethnicities one can think of. I can see Whites and African-Americans, some of them accompanied by their extended families by the look of it. Majority of the people here are dressed for work, especially given that it is on a weekday and they simply came to have breakfast in the early morning hours– given how about eight percent of them are dressed and clocking in and out of the place with haste that suggests keeping up with time.
I have been here for almost forty minutes now and yet I have already spotted a few individuals carrying laptops, tablets and other sorts of documents that suggest they are working from the coffee shop. There is hordes of people going in and out of the coffee shop around me. I believe this is the second time I have attempted to calculate their number and failed miserably. Most of the adult population frequenting the coffee shop here are likely corporate employees and sales people since their mobile devices keep ringing off the hook. Some calls invite obscene comments which surprisingly none of the other people around the individuals making the comments seem to notice, as everyone seems to be going about his or her business.
The interactions among employees seem to be minimal yet cordial. I guess this is because of the busy morning schedule that leaves them with little time to interact outside the context of serving the clients. I observe two workers exchange a quick word in low tones over the counter where customers are being served, and both of them quickly return to serving customers. Most of the interactions among the employees is characterized by this brevity.
The next day I arrive at the same location enjoying the familiar smell of morning coffee from the beautiful and elegant coffee shop as the day before only a bit stronger; I think I am beginning to like it here. The mixed scent of coffee and caramelized honey latte and the cool breeze common in air places as well as the scent of Espresso complement the ambience of the coffee shop that one can undoubtedly feast upon as it is very inviting . This is truly an exquisitely designed area for spending time evidenced by the many individuals seated around the area in a relaxed mode. Those members in sight are dressed with comfort in mind, and most of them are in light clothes, especially due to the warm weather around the city. It is also evident that most of the ladies here prefer flat and open shoes; and so do the men.
The interaction between the customers and the workers at the establishment is mostly casual, as people order their drinks and food and have them served. A gentleman sits at a table across me and a young employee comes over to take his order.
“Hi, how are you today?” asks the young waiter.
“I am well, thank you.” Proceeds the young man.
“What would you like to have?”
“Coffee please.”
“Coming right up sir.”
Within a short period of time, the young waiter returns with a cup of coffee and hand it to the gentleman.
As I leave the premises, the wind picks up and blows away somebody’s papers past me. The three of us get down and start picking them up, inadvertently skimming through: much to the embarrassment of the woman in a grey blouse with a matching red scarf who comes rushing to pick her stuff. They are a bunch of divorce papers.
Analysis Summary
The Los Angeles people clearly love to have their breakfast in coffee shops. The coffee shop is filled up during the weekdays. A working day when you would expect it to be, well, not that packed with human traffic. Take this experience and compare to being in the Library of Congress and the picture one gets has clear cut contrast. Here, people are having fun but in the library, the purpose is academic and, as such, not much interaction goes on in there, let alone the concept of fun. The coffee shop seems to be frequented by all sorts of people from different ethnic backgrounds and ages. For instance, at the Starbucks coffee shop open sitting area, I could see working class people hanging out with their colleagues or just grabbing their coffee and rushing out to work or people with families and even young couples who I believe maybe had aspirations of starting a family soon. There was no short supply of the major ethnicities such as the African-American and the white folk families that feature as extended families compared to the rest of them. The unfortunate incident of the lady with the divorce documents in the coffee shop and the lack, therefore, of people with documents clearly shows that that the coffee shop is a place for people to come and do all manner of activities; fun or business, or just to unwind and clear one’s mind (as evidenced by lone individuals seated with their drinks deep in thought) and contemplate on future life like the lady with the divorce papers. It was a nice experience getting to sample people’s interactions from inside a coffee shop.
References
Lee, P., & Samudio, J. (2001). Los Angeles, California. Mount Pleasant: Arcadia Publishing. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=rKrXXzJ1afMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=los+angeles+california&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Starbucks. (2016). Starbucks Drinks. Retrieved from Starbucks: http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks
Appendix A: A sketch of Starbucks coffee shop.
