JCB: Coffee Shop Ethnography

While hanging out at Starbucks I found it quite interesting. This was my first time ever actually hanging out at a Starbucks by myself and I have to say a lot of people are very interesting. I’m not sure if it was just the Starbucks I was at or if it is like this at other locations as well but let me tell you what happened. I can for sure say without a doubt that is very rare for strangers to talk to each other but the only strangers I saw talking to each other would be the cashier and the customer ordering, that’s about it. No one else would go up to a random stranger and talk to them. Strangers would say excuse me to each other just to get past each other but that’s about it. 

The space feels different. I don’t know whether if it was a friendly space or an awkward space. Usually people in Starbucks were there by themselves or had a person to hang out with. The people by themselves were focusing on their homework or whatever they were working on while listening to music. As for people with a friend they would talk and laugh and do their work together. So it was definitely a mixed vibe. If you were to go up to the person with their headphones in and talk to them I’m sure it would be awkward because what stranger randomly goes up to some one and talks to them? As for the two friends it would probably be less awkward since they are having fun and laughing and would probably be accepting of you trying to hang out. 

While hanging out at Starbucks I saw mainly a lot of young people but there was a good mixture of some middle aged people coming in working on business they had. I would say a lot of Caucasian’s came and hung out. I didn’t really see a lot of other races besides Caucasian. Starbucks is known as by some people as the “white persons” coffee spot because a lot of white girls post coffee on social media so that is why it’s considered a “white person” coffee shop. 

Other then that, my visit at Starbucks was interesting. I saw a lot of people doing different things, no one really talked to each other unless they knew the other person and the vibe was awkward. I am not the type to hang out a coffee spot for fun or to meet with someone I would much rather stay at my house or meet with my friend at their house.