An Analysis of the Social Interaction in Public Places and the Atmosphere of the Restaurant T. J. I. Fridays

Social Interaction in Public Places

I learned a lot when I observed the diverse groups of people in the atmosphere of the restaurant, T. J. I. Fridays. I learned that the place is very sociological and very easy to observe and listen in on people’s conversations. I took a couple of hours out of my night to eat at the Fridays located next to Rosedale mall. It is a fairly active place especially when I went on a Saturday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.

m. I sat smoking which was located fairly close to the bar giving me a very social crowd to observe. While I observed I was covert-active because I was a part of the whole scene, but I didn’t tell them ! was observing.

When I arrived and was seated, I couldn’t help to see my first group of victims. They looked to be an older group of a men’s softball team. Their status symbols were represented by the softball uniforms they all wore, topped with matching hats.

The group showed a strong sense of social cohesion with the way they were bonded by their uniforms, hats, and interest in softball and beer. This went to show me that a group having many similarities will be very close and friendly as I had observed. While the team got up and left, I couldn’t help to notice the two women sitting to my left.

They were well into their forties and both were smoking cigarettes and drinking some sort of a tropical drink.

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They both were very dramatic in their words and expressions as they expressed their feelings to each other about someone they both knew. This reflects their roles in society as being dramatic and very social. I assumed these women had very similar background assumptions with the way they both were dressed in the same manner and showed signs of drinking and smoking. Also, mechanical solidarity is shown here because of all their likenesses.

As I glanced towards the bar, I spotted two elderly men sitting together on bar stools, mumbling to each other things that went to show how much of a man each of them was. From their dirty work clothes, flushed faces along with somewhat red eyes, I assumed these men had consumed a large amount of alcohol. To me, it seemed as though the two shared the physical disease of alcoholism, and like the two ladies, a sign of similar background assumptions. I thought it was a logical opinion of mine that these two men had problems in their past which made them have to brag about their manliness towards each other showing their lack of self-esteem. There was a lot of impression management going on between the two men, what kind of houses they had, the good-looking wives they were married to, etc.

Instead of ignoring people like I usually do at a restaurant, I observed very intently using my social lens which helped me look much deeper into who people were and what they think of themselves. I thought going on a Saturday night probably would bring out a very social, drinking crowd and it did. I think on a weekday I might find a whole different atmosphere giving me a different crowd to observe. With this, I decided my study was objective because even the people I did observe could act, and behave a lot differently watching them in a different setting in a new light.