Alexs Restaurant, an ethnography Essay - 2644 Words

Alexs Restaurant, an ethnography The Wiseguys (scene one): *These four old guys (definitely into their late sixties, early seventies) sell cars at one of the dealerships on the boulevard. I would bet fifty dollars that they all work for Cadillac. They come in once a week, on Friday afternoons. They love me. They like to give me a hard time, ask why I don’t love them anymore, when I’m going to run away with them, etc, etc. They are caricatures of car salesmen but are obviously unaware of this. They hold court in Eat Well like it’s 1965 at the Sands, talking in loud voices and telling stories about one another to each other. (â€Å"This guy here, one time he says to me, ‘Paulie’†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) It has been suggested to me that perhaps these old†¦show more content†¦Customers are not technically obliged to treat me with deference, and this can result in difficult situations. Eat Well’s clientele is roughly 75% male, if not more, and although we have a lot of gay customers, our typical patron is a middle-aged, heterosexual, white, working-class male. The strangest thing is that the balance of power seems to shift, from myself to the customers and back again. Sometimes I feel violated or threatened when a customer is overtly ogling me, and other times it seems to enhance my power over them. These are palpable undercurrents that are difficult to put into words, but are quite clear both to the customers and myself. To hazard a guess, I’d say that the power shifts to me when the male customer in question is frank about his actions. When he seems comfortable acknowledging that he is, in fact, leering at me, the ball is in my court. He has, in a sense, conced ed his edge. However, when a man such as S (see next scene) comes in, I feel threatened, cornered, irritated. The unspoken and poorly concealed lechery is much more intimidating when an attempt is made to ignore or gloss over it. I am obliged to participate in the charade and this is the situation that I resent. Michele Rosaldo states, â€Å"This distiction between power and culturally legitimated authority, between the ability to gain compliance and the recognition that it is right, is crucial†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p.21) In either situation, unfortunately, the balance of power is controlled byShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesAmerican Express recently turned Joan Weinbel’s worst nightmare into a nonevent. It was 10:00 p.m. Joan was home in New Jersey, packing for a weeklong trip, when she suddenly realized she had left her AmEx Gold card at a restaurant in New York City earlier in the evening. The restaurant was 30 miles away. She had a flight to catch at 7:30 the next morning, and she wanted her card for the trip. She called American Express. The phone was quickly answered by a courteous and helpful AmEx customer service