Breaking a Social Norm -- Term Paper

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Dining alone is unusual at a higher-end restaurant. Immediately, my jeans, sneakers and faded t-shirt drew whispered comment and stares from some diners. I was afraid I would not be admitted, but I had gone on a night when there were few diners, so I suppose the front-of-house staff though that a filled table was better than an empty table.

Again, I ordered a burger, fries, and shake. When the bread basket was placed in front of me while I waited for my order to come, I ate the bread like I do at home, spreading it with butter and making a sandwich of it, rather than breaking it in half. When my shake came, I slurped the straw, just like I do at home. People nearby did give me 'a look,' I noted, I think of disapproval or surprise. Most of the restaurant was populated by older couples, all of whom were nicely dressed, and ordering wine and food from the higher end of the menu. When my burger came, I ate it with my hands. Then I put things to the true test: I ordered ketchup with my French fries. The waiter rolled his eyes a little bit, but said nothing. I noted that some of the older couples who were less focused on one another looked at me now and then and shook their heads a bit; probably thinking I was a young kid who had never learned the rules of how to eat at the table.

Going to the McDonald's dressed up, and acting like it was a fancy restaurant was kind of fun. The food at the higher-end place was better, but I admit that I did not enjoy deliberately trying to be casual, as if I were eating in front of my television at home, at such a nice place. Although I like hamburgers, I also like better food. I like a sense of occasion, which is really the point of going to a nice place, I feel. When I was a little kid, I had to be wrestled into my 'nice clothes' and shoes, but now I appreciate giving a meal a special significance with good manners.

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I was lucky that the restaurant was not more crowded when I went; otherwise I doubt I would have been allowed in, in jeans and a t-shirt and sneakers, although I suppose that experience could have been construed as part of the experiment. To make the contrast starker, as I observed earlier, I should have brought a partner to the usually solitary fast-food eating experiment, or found a McDonald's in a more dangerous area, where people NEVER eat in nice clothing!

I think that my behavior was more noticeable in the nicer place because people are more conscious of their own behavior, and the fact they are dining in a place 'with rules.' This may also be why people are more conscious of 'how to eat' in ethnic restaurants even in a casual setting, because eating with chopsticks or eating with their hands using bread instead of a fork makes them feel self-conscious. If you have spent the day worrying about finding the right outfit, and minding your table manners, you are more likely to notice the bad behavior of other people nearby. Also, the way that the wait staff and front-of-house staff behaves is so regimented, they also draw attention to the formality of the place. Fast food establishments have an 'anything goes' atmosphere, and many people eat fast food at home already, so people behaving in a strange manner, or a manner better suited to the home than a public place, does not draw much attention......

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