Ethnography Blog #1

Prior Perceptions:

I have chosen my Ethnography project to be based on cultures of Bartenders as seen in College Station, Texas. I have chosen to study the culture of Bartenders for I believe they are the people who converse with a variety of people from the community. Bars, cocktail lounges, and taverns are the places where we as a society go for celebration, relaxation and socialization. These establishments are where our society marks milestones of life. From people who have just turned 21 to the people who are enjoying their last day of freedom, bar is a place where people find it customary to get annihilated. In this entire scenario, not many people observe the wiser individuals who are sitting behind the bar tables, serving drink after drink to all these people. Thinking about these individuals who serve people with their drinks all the time, I found it extremely interesting to ask myself “How much does one know about that person smiling in one’s happiness and sympathizing in one’s sadness?” I realized that there is barely anybody that knows what these individuals think or like! Traditionally bartenders and restaurant employees are frowned upon in a society. They are perceived as individuals who are not capable of obtaining or maintaining a decent employment. I have never come across a friend who has ever shown me interest in a bartender (unless the bartender was a lady and she was extremely attractive). Besides, it is a profession that no one aspires to pursue when they grow up. It was this thought that instigated a sudden enthusiasm in my brain to study about these individuals who come across thousands types of people in their everyday lives, and how this affects their thinking and actions. My initial plan for this activity is to go to a bar during weekday afternoons and spend some time noticing the bartender in Northgate (College Station, Texas). I want to try and notice the likes/dislikes of the person working at the particular bar before going and approaching him/her with a conversation. I am expecting my frequent visits to a few bars at Northgate makes the bartender feel comfortable with my presence and  eventually makes him/her open  up to me for a casual conversation. I believe the comfort level is extremely important as this would be the basis of my relationship with him/her. I want to make sure that the bartender eventually considers me as a friend and opens up to me; that way I would get the opportunity to learn more about him/her. My goal from this activity is to learn and notice how the people that visit bars and the notions that take place in a bar, affect the actions, decisions and the behavior of bartenders towards others. I plan to come up with a chart that describes the profession of the people who visit the bar, and what effect do those people have on the bartenders. Also, I plan to make a list of all the bars in College Station that are easily accessible to me with my group members. This way, we can keep a track of the shifts of bartenders and thereby visit the bars at that particular time.

First Results:

For starting my Ethnography, I decided to go to O’Bannon’s bar at Northgate on a Friday afternoon. I went inside the bar and found myself an empty stool that was facing the bartender and was not too far away from him. I took my laptop out and started surfing the internet. After a few minutes I went up to the bartender and purchased a coke. I went back to my table and continued to surf the internet, occasionally sipping my drink while constantly being aware of what the bartender was doing. The first fifteen minutes or so he was busy cleaning the counters and cleaning the bottles placed on the liquor shelf. I was doing exactly what I had planned to do and it gave me what I was hoping. I got to learn about the bartender in general. He was really involved in his cleaning and was generally minding his own business. He kept himself busy with something or the other, and served another customer about fifteen to twenty minutes after I got there. The new person who entered the bar started talking to the bartender. I noticed that the bartender was nice to the person and seemed to be interested in the conversation they were having. I noticed that the bartender had many people skills and was able to easily able to start a conversation with customers. I was wondering whether this was something he did because he was genuinely interested in the conversation or just so that he could get a good tip from the customer. Him and the customer were talking about different types of Whiskey they both had tried in their lives. I surfed the internet some more and after 30 minutes I went to refill my drink. This was when I had my first conversation with him. We just talked about the heat out here, and how College Stations weather changes rapidly. After the monosyllabic conversation, he went to the other side of the bar and started arranging other drink bottles. I returned to my table and started typing notes of everything I had noticed so far. From the conversation he had with the customer, it seemed that he was very passionate about his liquor. The fact that the other person did not leave a tip to the bartender when he was finished, and seeing that the latter was not bothered by that at all, I assumed that the bartender was enjoying the conversation he was having with the customer. It is not surprising for him to have a broad knowledge about the drinks being a bartender, and I would not be surprised to learn if he was an alcoholic. However, at this point of time it is just a question for me whether he is an alcoholic or not. From the small conversation that I had with him, I found him to be a non-fussy and a content person. I noticed that he was a good employee, looking at the amount of effort he was putting in making the liquor bottles shine and keeping the bar table clean. I found this visit to my bar very interesting. I wanted to keep my first visit this was itself, because I wanted to try to make him comfortable with my presence in the bar. My plan is not to spy on him, but I want to make sure I do not make any mistakes in my behavior as that might prevent him from opening up to me.