Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Society Surrounding Coffee

A few days ago, I found myself sitting at a Starbucks Coffee location, about three o’clock in the afternoon, watching the groups of people who came into the establishment. As I began to pay attention to the people, I began to focus on the styles that the different people exuded, as well as the many ways that the different people interacted with each other and with the people around.

As I sat at my table near the front, I saw two girls, probably in their early teens skip in. They projected a certain amount of friendship and happiness through their demeanor. Soon following, a young mother walked in with two children: a boy about two years old and a girl who looked about four. The children seemed to have a genuine love for their mother for they constantly were hugging her and running around her legs. In contrast, later I saw a thirty to forty year old man with his young, teenage daughter. She hung back from him while he ordered the drinks and did not come very close to him throughout the extent of the ordeal. Another couple that deigned was a teenage girl and boy. The boy seemed to have a honest interest in the girl and constantly followed her around wherever she went. They talked for a while before they ordered and then sauntered out after they finally ordered and received their drinks. Quite the opposite, a further couple who entered was a middle age couple. They seemed to have lost their fascination with each other as they walked to the barista, ordered a refill of their drinks, and slowly left when they were done. Other couples that came to the establishment included more mother/daughter or mother/son pairs, and three teenage girls who appeared to be hanging out. A large percentage of the customers during my stay were singles. There were multiple, young to middle aged women and men, there were a couple teenagers, including one who stayed by herself in the corner, on her laptop, tuned out from the world, and the other group were a few elderly people. Throughout the period of time I spent there, though, the bulk of the customers appeared to be adult women ranging between the ages of late 20-early fifties.

The first couple I am going to analyze is the two teenage girls who walked into the Starbucks. These two girls seemed to personify the “typical” teenager, influenced by the culture. They, both, wore short jean shorts and T-shirts, probably bought new at department stores and of the usual “fashion” of the upper to middle class. This look probably developed as culture from above, for it would coincide with the type of dress that huge department stores would impress upon them. Further, taking in the fact that they live in a rich neighborhood and they would be in on the latest styles and trends, they would be more easily influenced by top of the line items. Their friendship seemed to portray what Brick, the Peter Pan-like character trying to live in his childhood from Tennessee Williams’ play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, called a “true, pure friendship.” They seem to radiate a certain amount of innocent joy and fun being in each other’s friendship having the ability to hang out and without a care. Their friendship did not seem tainted by conservative social prejudices. In the society of La Canada that they were probably brought up in, this trip to Starbucks was just another hang out which would be a normal sighting in the well to do neighborhoods in this area.

Another group that came in consisted of a young mother and two young children. The relationship that they portrayed seemed to be a mutual love between the mother and her two children. This small family was out at this period, probably because the mother was taking her children out on a ride and the father was probably at work. This view really captured the “traditional” American household: the wife in charge of rearing the children while the husband was out earning a living to support them. This could though be an image of the strong, modern woman living a single life with her young children. That would fit with this new rise of independence and the desire to equal the man in everything that they due. There were other groups that followed the same format as this group. There were more groups of a mother with her young children, which seemed to place this grouping as a “normal” sight to see.

The next couple, a middle-aged man and his young teenage daughter appeared to present a very differing picture to the “family life” displayed with the last group. As Jacques Derrida presented, we only know something based on our knowledge of something else. Therefore, we would only know something is abnormal when it is compared to something that is thought of as normal, or put another way, we only know something based on the fact that it is different from something else. This couple differed from the couples before because neither of the individuals seemed to be totally interested in each other’s company. Also unlike the previously stated parent/child groupings, instead of the mother being there, it was the father, and instead of the children hanging around, this girl kept to herself. Possible explanations for this change, maybe the culture, that once you are a teenager, you are meant to be preparing to live on your own and therefore, you spend less time with your parents, also, due to the economic crisis, the wife in this family may be working because it is easier for her to get a job, or because they live in the upper to middle class, the husband is able to take time off to attempt to spend time with his daughter.

Another group was a young teenage couple; both individuals were probably about 16 years old in high school. At a time where there is a rise of romantic movies with teenagers of opposite sexes getting into relationships, this scene would not be considered out of the ordinary or strange. The following of these relationships of younger individuals would be part of culture from above because through the media, they are being shown how to lead their lives, which would now require being emotionally involved with someone. Coincidentally, the guy seemed to fit the stereotypic hero, for he was a guy who didn’t seem to hold back his emotions. Quite on the contrary, he seemed to constantly try to attract the girl’s attention. He attempted to impress his feelings upon her, however, for an outside observer, he almost came across as a goofy character with his movements and gambits to try to win her over. The girl did seem to be attracted to him as well. Her body language assumed a somewhat dismissive façade, which poorly covered her happiness at the prospect that she was the object of attention. Through the culture from above, the teens see the relationships promoted in the big screen and decide (possibly unconsciously) to play it out like they see it. This scene played out further as they pursued their own objectives for some time allowing other customers go in front of them. Eventually they ordered, filled their waiting time with talk and more of the girl playing disinterested looking at the glasses on display while the boy followed behind. Also, this young couple conformed to the traditional roles as men treating the woman as de Beauvoir had talked about, for he was decidedly, the leader, and as the one in charge, he paid for her drink and opened the door in and out, in the same way, following the rules of chivalry. Finally they headed out, after getting their drinks.

The next group differed greatly from the preceding group. Thought the group make up was the same, a male and a female, their ages differed: both of them being in their 30’s, and their body language towards each other was quite different. They didn’t seem to do very much talking, and they kept a distance from each other. It was still pretty clear that they were a couple, but they appeared to pretty indifferent about the other person. This is kind of like the stage after they were in love when they are used to their partner and takes the relationship for granted. It is possible that they were having a hard day, that they were at a hard part in their relationship, or that they just don’t show their emotions very much, this seemed radically different then the media and movie culture propagates.

As the people ordered the drinks, I saw Saussure’s theories in action concerning languages. Where at one point, people ordering drinks at a restaurant like McDonalds would order a large, here at Starbucks it was called venti. These different words, or collection of sounds, though very insignificant and basically meaning the same thing were totally different due to the place and situation that they were used. It is not normal to go to Starbucks and order a large, just as it is not normal to go to McDonalds and order a venti.

Through the observations that I faced during my stay at Starbucks, I was able to conclude a lot about the people who live in this area. The people who go to Starbucks at three o’clock include some mothers to go get their daily drink of coffee, many teenagers coming back from school, as well as couples going for a time together. The different relationships that are presented serve as a small incite to the greater view of the society and the effects that different forms of the media may have on this current generation.

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