ADM. “Diner History and Culture .” American Diner Museum – History and Culture of the American Diner, http://www.americandinermuseum.org/history.php.
Posist. “How to Use Restaurant Interior Colors to Increase Your Restaurant Sales.” The Restaurant Times, 25 Sept. 2018, http://www.posist.com/restaurant-times/restro-gyaan/know-restaurant-interior-colors-can-affect-sales.html.
Luckily for me I already had my ethnography topic in mind while doing my field research. Going in, I wanted to compare diner’s portrayed in the media to the diner I was conducting my field research in. I chose this topic because I feel that I will be able to find a lot of research on the comparisons of life portrayed in the media to real life. My goal will be to research how people get a false sense of how their life should be because of how shows and movies portray life. I also hope to conduct interviews about peoples perception on diner’s and also ask them if the media has ever provided them with a false sense of how life should be. In my ethnography, I also am interested in going into more detail on the cultural significance of diner’s in America and how the perception of them has changed over time. After looking at all the research I gathered, I believe that my hypothesis will be in support that media has a big influence in the way people believe their lives should be. I am interested in this topic because I feel that the issue of unrealistic expectations effects me and the majority of people my age in their everyday lives.
Friday 4/5/19 @ 10p.m: I wanted to observe at this time on a Friday because I wanted to see if the cliental would change. I predicted that I would see a-lot of people my age and bigger groups of teens. I also thought the diner would have about 2-3 groups of other people seated. When my friend and I arrived, the parking lot was empty. There was only about 5-6 cars, which compared to Sunday, was nothing. When we walked in we were seated right away and I began my final observation. I was hoping to see something new and exciting that would make for a great blog post. As we browsed the extensive menu for the third time I overheard a loud commotion. A group of young teens, i’m assuming 15-17, all walked in gossiping and talking about their night. I was thrilled because I possibly could have a great story to write for my blog while the rest of the costumers did not seem that bothered by their loud chatter. If this occurred in the day I feel people would have had a bigger issue with their loud conversations. They were seated at a round circular table and were wearing light coats since the weather was finally getting warmer. The group consisted of four girls and two boys. Seated a few feet away I tried to nonchalantly listen to their conversation. It seemed like they were talking about the movie Captain Marvel that they saw, and all of their theories as to what will happen in the next movie, The Avengers: End game. Luckily, I watched the marvel series and understood what they were talking about. The movie was the majority of their conversation and the rest of time the group was on their phones. When thinking back at my ethnography topic, this was a similarity between media diner’s and the diner I was observing at. This was the only time I observed a comparison. On Friday the atmosphere was young and bright and seemed like a place were a lot of the younger generation would go to eat. As my final viewing session came to an end my final thoughts included the gender of the cliental at the diner. I realized that I never saw two men sitting together chatting and eating while on the other hand there was always a group of only girls eating. As my observing journey came to an end I wanted to reflect back on my observations.
Sun 3/31/19 @ 10 a.m: When I pulled into the parking lot of the diner on Sunday, I was not shocked at my findings. The parking lot was packed and although there was not a wait, there was only about 3-4 empty booths. As I looked around the first thing I wanted to observe was the cliental. The majority of people inside were families with young children and older couples. The diner was much louder than Wednesday, and you could sense the urgency in the staff and the anxiousness in the parents, hoping their children would behave. My ears were taking over by the noise of crying and wining children which I was not shocked by, since it was prime breakfast time for these young kids. I was not annoyed at the crying, but I could see some people around me were because they were staring at the table the crying child was at. I wanted to see if anyone was similar to my age and I noticed one girl who looked to be about 16-18 with her family and younger siblings. I did not observe any young people looking like they woke up early for breakfast to hang out.
Also, I wanted to look at the color scheme the diner used. The color palette was a pale blue, white and a-lot of glass. When I got home I wanted to research the effect colors can have on the consumer. In restaurants white and blue are used to give off a relaxing vibe that invites people in for a calm meal. The many windows and glass provide an open and bright feeling that aims to make people feel invited. Where I was doing my field research did not have a color scheme like most diner’s. The majority of diner’s use the color red to “elevate the heart rate and blood pressure of the customers and create an exciting emotion, which makes them eat fast and leave.” (Posist) After my meal was over, I looked to see if there was anything new that I missed in my first day of observation. I noticed that similar to the shows Riverdale and Gilmore’s Girls, they all have a type of barstool area with an island were the characters can be seen eating and talking. Similarly, this diner had the same area but no one was sitting here like it is portrayed in the show.
Wed 3/27/19 @1:00p.m: As I began to write down my observations, the first thing I noticed was the parking lot. I was immediately shocked at how crowded the lot was on a random Wednesday afternoon in March. The weather was nice so I suspected that’s why the diner was more crowded than usual. Before noticing anything else, the menu jumped out of me. The five pages filled front to back with different options of breakfast, lunch or diner was very overwhelming. Every-time I am at a diner, I feel that it takes me twice as long to decide what I want to eat: this day was no different. The diner was filled with older people who seemed to be regulars. I was not shocked by this because diner’s are associated with having an older cliental. The waitress knew the older couples names seated behind us and asked them if they wanted the “usual.” This made me wonder if they go to this particular diner on the same day every week, and if it is there “go to” restaurant. The music was very low which I enjoyed because I find it hard to have a conversation when the music is overwhelmingly loud. The vibe in the diner was lively but also calm at the same time. When our waitress came over she called my friend and I “doll” and “sweetie” but from what I heard she did not call the older costumers these names. I also observed what people were eating, either breakfast or lunch. After diligently searching through all of the food options my friend and I chose breakfast, while the majority of people around us had lunch. The food came out in under 10 minutes which was not a shock since diner’s are known for their quick service. After we ate our meal I looked to see if there was anything I missed writing down. As my day of observations was coming to a close, I hoped something exciting or interesting would take place before we left. Sadly no food fights or breaking out into song happened while we were there, so I left with my notes and went home thinking about the next day that I should observe.
When thinking of a location to focus my field research on, I was stumped. My goal was to think of a place that was off campus but college students could also relate to. The day after the assignment was given, my friend and I went to a diner in Yonkers, NY to grab lunch and catch up. After we sat down I noticed all the people and interactions that were taking place around me and knew that this would be the perfect place to observe. My friend looked at me curiously as I started typing what I observed on my iPhone.
When I got home, I looked over all my notes and observations but was unsure if I had enough information to write an entire blog and an ethnography on diner’s alone. Calling it quit’s for the night I opened my laptop to Netflix and began watching the show “Riverdale.” Then it hit me. In Riverdale, the main characters are always hanging out at “Pops” which is the local diner in the show. I realized that Pops was portrayed as a fun and bright place were all the young high-school kids went to hang out. Before beginning my research I wanted to do some background research on diner’s.
After choosing my focus, I researched the cultural significance of diner’s in America. In 1872 the first diner, created by Walter Scott, opened in Rhode Island. Walter Scott inspired what would become one of the most recognized icons in America. Movies and shows such as Gilmore Girls, Riverdale and the film, Diner, all portray what is thought to be the typical American diner. There is even an American Diner Museum located in Rhode Island where people can go and see the “cultural significance of the American diner, a unique American institution.” (ADM) My goal is to take my observations and compare them to how diner’s are portrayed in television and movies.
Before I could start thinking about the portrayal of dinner’s in the media I needed to predict what I would observe. When thinking about what I would see, I wanted to get a wide range of different data. The best way to achieve this would depend on the day of the week and time I went to the diner. Having already written down observations on a Wednesday afternoon, I wanted to see the difference on an early Sunday morning and a Friday night at 10 pm. On Sunday morning, I expect to see a lot of families with young children and older couples and not a-lot of people my age. Also I predict the diner will be very crowded. While on Friday, I expect to see groups of teenagers and young adults at the dinner and will most likely be less crowded than Sunday morning.
Leighanne's Diner Blog 