Derek Circciu
Soc 316
Research Methods
Professor Kulick
18 September 2014
Field Notes/ Observations at Birch Grill
. I arrive at Birch grill at approximately 1:00 pm. Upon entry, I look around the
restaurant and observe three other students consuming what appears to be their lunch.
(Two Caucasian females sitting together, one consuming chicken fingers and fries, the
other is consuming a bag of nacho cheese Doritos with no sign of ordering food from
the grill. The other student is a young African American male student, larger in size
who is consuming a cheeseburger, fries and an order of mozzarella sticks and a large
drink which he later fills up with Pepsi).
. I proceed to order my meal, Chicken fingers and a blue Gatorade and observe that
there are currently 4 employees working. The first is a young African American male,
mid to upper twenties with a Mohawk working the register. The other three are
currently behind the grill making the food. (Two males, one Caucasian and one
African American with a lip ring, both seem to be around their mid to upper twenties
and one African American female who is around 5 feet 4 inches with a pony tail).
. As I go to take my seat in the far most booth on the left side of the restaurant from
the doors, I notice that the Caucasian male is not wearing what appears to be latex
gloves unlike his other two co-workers behind the grill. This worker without the
gloves is on the grill using the utensils (spatula) while the other two workers who are
African American are prepping and making the orders.
. As I proceed to eat my lunch, the African American male employee with the lip ring
walks to the back with a wheeling cart and brings out a big plastic bin full of what
looks like thawed our raw potato French fries which he lets sit out for approximately
3-4 minutes before he eventually takes 4 handfuls (with gloves on) and places the
“new fries” in the deep fryer.
. At approximately 1:06 pm, 2 male students walk in wearing backpacks and ball caps
followed by another male student who has two baseball bats on the side pockets of his
backpack and is wearing a UMD baseball cap. The two males who were the first to
walk in are communicating with one another while the baseball player is looking
down on his cell phone (iphone), all three are Caucasian. I get up to pretend to use the
bathroom while listening in on the two males who are still engaged in conversation.
Both seem to be talking about a test in which they both just took in their last class. .
After I “relieve” myself, I come back and proceed to sit back down at my table, the
time is now 1:08 pm. All three males are waiting on their food. The young African
American female worker now calls out the customers’ names for them to come pick
up their food. The first of the two male acquaintances, who name is Michael is the
first to be called up. He has ordered a burger with bacon and two patties along with
French fries which appear to be extremely wet and greasy, leading me to believe they
are from the “new batch” which the employee put in approximately 4 minutes or so
ago. The next to be called is his friend named James who had ordered chicken fingers
and fries which are also extremely greasy. Finally the ball player is called who is
named Ethan who has ordered a buffalo chicken wrap and fries as well. The two male
friends proceed to sit at a high table next to the soda fountains while the ball player
goes and sits by the television where I follow him to with the rest of my lunch in order
to observe further into the students who walk in.
. It is now 1:13 pm and a group of 4 young African American girls walk in. Two of
them seem to be around 5 feet 6 inches while the other two seem to be 5 feet 3 inches
and 5 feet 8/ 9 inches. The two females who are about 5’6’’ are on the “average”
weight for their height while the other two females seem to be a little more on the
“heavier” side. I follow the group as if I’m going to fill up my empty Gatorade bottle
and wait at the table as if I’m waiting for my food in order to observe what they order.
. As I am waiting along with the females, a young Caucasian male and female walk in.
They are holding hands indicating that they may be in a relationship. Both seem to be
happy and engaged in a conversation about the upcoming weekend. The time is now
1:20 pm.
. As the young women wait for their order, I hear one of them say to the others that
she “always feels like shit after eating this stuff”. Just as she says this, her friend
responds “for real me too” and another states that “this shit and the alcohol aren’t
going to mix”. While the females are in mid conversation, they are called one by one
up to get their food. The first up is one of the 5’ 6’’ females named Brittany who has
ordered a chicken Caesar wrap by itself. Next up is the other girl around the same
height named Tiffany who has ordered the same as her friend. Next comes the shorter
girl who has ordered chicken fingers and fries and proceeds to go get herself honey
mustard dipping sauce. The last girl to be called (whose name I missed while
observing) has ordered a burger with onion rings and asks for a side of ranch dipping
sauce. All the girls stick together and proceed to sit together in a table booth after
getting their sodas (2 Pepsi, 1 Dr. Pepper and 1 Brisk). . The time is now 1:26 and the
young couple conjugate to the designated area to pick up their food. Their names are
called, Amanda and Thomas. Amanda orded a chicken Caesar wrap and fries while
Thomas has ordered a personal pizza and fries. The fries still seem to be very greasy
and I have not seen any new fries made. The couple proceeds to sit at a high table and
consume their food. . No one else walks in for another ten or so minutes. The workers
are just standing around communicating with one another and joking around rather
than making “new fries” or “new chicken” or even cleaning the grill or trashes which
is over flowing in one barrel. Rather than cleaning, the African American male with
the lip ring changes the music playing in the background and puts on Drake. . The
time is 1:35 and a group of young Caucasian males (3) walk in. Two of the males
have longer hair and long boards while the other student has shorter hair and has his
phone in his hand. All three seem to be friends and proceed to order their food. I catch
all three names: Matt, Tim and Brian. All three have order burgers and fries in which I
hear one of the males (Brian) state that the fries are not hot but rather “soggy, cold and
gross”. They take their food, walk about in all get in a black Volkswagen and drive
off.
. At 1:40-2:30 birch becomes extremely busy in which around 25-30 students walk in
to purchase their lunch before their next class. The genders and races differ yet seems
to lead more on the male and Caucasian end. The item that most of the students order
seems to be chicken fingers and fries, which have now have been made up by putting
them in the fryer, both in different fryers. . I write down my final thoughts and
proceed to leave Birch and get on my way to my next class where I see one of the
students (male) who I saw at birch eating his buffalo chicken wrap and dripping
buffalo sauce all over his nice white t shirt.