Alex s Restaurant, an ethnography Essay
Alex s 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. ( This guy
here, one time he says to me, Paulie ... )
It has been suggested to me that perhaps these old ... Show more content on
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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, conceded 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, This distiction between power and culturally legitimated authority, between
the ability to gain compliance and the recognition that it is right, is crucial... (p.21)
In either situation, unfortunately, the balance of power is controlled by