Participant Observation- Barnes and Noble
Submitted as an assignment in MCO 302
Hi! I am Beriah Grier and for my participant observation, I chose to go to Barnes and Noble. I am an avid reader and when I was growing up, Barnes and Noble was the nearest big bookstore near me. I spent a lot of time there as a child and teen browsing the sections, reading a little, and every now and then, picking out a book to buy. Because of that, this was an easy location for me to choose. I got to the bookstore on Sunday, November 5, at around 12:45 pm and officially started recording at 1 pm. The café area was pretty busy as soon as I walked in, so I had to wait a few minutes before I was able to grab a table and chair right on the corner. From my vantage point, I could see the tables located in the café area as well as all the books shelves located near the front of the store that contain magazines, new sale books, and religious and history-based titles. The area was pretty brightly lit and various genres of music (jazz, pop, and easy listening) were playing over the loudspeakers. The other sounds were the buzz of quiet conversations throughout the store as well as the whirring of the café machines.
In the main bookstore area, there was a constant stream of people walking through the aisles as they browsed the various shelves. Since the weather had been cloudy and rainy that morning, most people were wearing sweaters, hoodies, and jackets. As I looked around the tables in the café area, I first noticed a young male (looked to be in his twenties) with headphones having a laptop open and intently writing into a notebook. Though he was pretty engrossed in his work, he took notice of an older couple wanting to sit at a table across the way that only had one chair. He stopped what he was doing and brought over a chair for the older lady to sit in. Once the older couple got up to leave 20-30 minutes later, the older man made it a point to thank him. At a table right across from me, three elementary kids ( one boy and two girls) had a poster board sprawled out and they were taking turns coloring it and designing the letters. It looked like a history group project as I saw that there were various cut outs of pictures ( a boat’s helm, Roman architecture etc.). Two of the kids’ parents kept coming by every few minutes to check on their progress. In one corner of the café, three high school girls met up at a table to get a coffee, catch up, and study for an upcoming test. A mom was working on some paperwork and her teenage son and daughter came by to sit with her after they were done browsing the shelves. A couple bought some snacks and were feeding them to their two small children at a table. An older couple sat next to a window; the man was reading a newspaper, and the woman had a book and a holiday Starbucks cup. A woman in line for a drink had a couple rolls of Christmas wrapping paper. There was a young couple at a table seemingly on a casual study date; at another table, a pair of sisters grabbed some chai drinks and were chatting.
From my hour-long observation, I could see that people take advantage of Barnes and Noble to do various things. Some people stop by the bookstore to catch up on homework, study for tests, and work on group projects. If my assumptions were right, there was an elementary group of kids working on a project, high school girls studying, and a young adult possibly working on college or regular work. Others take advantage of the environment to spend some time enjoying a drink and reading a book or magazine. Others look to be meeting up with family and/or friends to chat and enjoy a beverage and snack. The category that I tend to fall into is the casual browser- I usually have one or two sections that I make a beeline to in order to see if there are any books available that are on my wish list. I typically will not buy the book right then and there unless I’ve been waiting for it for a long time or have a gift card. Other than that, I will typically just walk around the shelves, checking out what is in the new section as well as glancing at a few titles that pop out at me.
An organizing principle or central point of the setting was the ability for the average person in the bookstore to set aside the typical hustle and bustle of the day and focus on a specific task. As mentioned before, the pattern was people working on projects and tasks, reading, or carrying on personal conversations. There did not seem to be any deviations to the general structure that was set- no one was fighting or arguing, and no one was raising his voice in a way that disturbed the public. No one stood out as acting out of the ordinary; I even ended up seeing a kind gesture being done by one man to an older couple.
This was a very interesting project to take on, but I felt that it was pretty rewarding. I was able to take the time to slow down and get a good look at my surroundings while also seeing the habits of others who were enjoying a more calming environment. Our world is so fast paced at times, that it is necessary to take breaks every now and then and live in the moment.
