Panera Bread Ethnography

Panera Bread is a place where people mingle, eat and catch up on some studying. It is an ideal place to go if you need a change of environment from your current studying areas. A majority of the customers come prepared with their laptops to take advantage of the free Wi-Fi internet. Many people often feel comfortable enough to come alone to this cafe however, there are plenty of people who come with their significant other or just a friend. Just by looking at a man and a woman sitting together it is hard to be certain that they are “together” without any public display of affection. There were many couples that did not show their affection obviously, and a few that showed minimal affection. For others, you could have a hunch because of their similar ages or styles.

There was a young woman, probably about twenty, and an older man with grey hair sitting together. They did not seem to share any physical characteristics that could be passed down through genetics. The man had a laptop in front of him and a hands-free earpiece in. He seemed to be explaining something to the young woman. She didn’t really say much to him only nodded and agreed with his comments or explanations. When he wasn’t talking she turned to her Blackberry to occupy her. Eventually she brought out a text book and began to study, but it never really seemed to initiate any conversation. When she left, they parted with a handshake.

Another man and woman sat together. The woman was a bit older than the man, but both were wearing wedding rings. The woman intently listened to the man as he spoke and he later covered his face with his hands frustratedly and the woman seemed sympathetic and considerate towards him. They often pause in their conversation and then later resume.

People often come in pairs to Panera Bread, even same gender pairs. There were two young men sitting together, one bearded and one with a ponytail, that had finished their food before I arrived. In contrast to many of the people present, there were no laptops or textbooks present to occupy them. They spent at least one full hour just chatting with each other. Every other group of two people there had at least one aid with them besides conversation.

There were only two instances in which affection between a man and a woman was evident. There was one woman who kissed the man she was with on the cheek and one young man who looked over at his [what I can assume] girlfriend, stroked her hair, and then pulled her in for a kiss. Besides that, there was no hand holding, touching, caressing, footsies, or anything of that nature.

The young woman and grey-haired man sitting together exemplify de Beauvoir’s opinion in The Second Sex. In this relationship, the young woman does not seem to express her inner thoughts and feelings to the man, she is passive. Maybe she is receiving tutoring from the man, which would put her at even more of a disadvantage. Although it is an uplifting thought that a woman is trying to better her situation, it proves that there is no escape from the accomplished and educated man. As the inferior in the binary of men and woman, the woman is submissive to the man, which makes it difficult for there to be equality between the sexes. Or possibly their relationship is similar to that of Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate. However if they were really having a secret affair, it is highly unlikely that they would spend hours out in public places.

Despite the first couple mentioned, most people at Panera showed some extent of independence. In our culture, it is not common for someone go to out on their own and sit by themselves at restaurant. Although this is not a fancy restaurant, it is a restaurant nonetheless. It takes a certain air of confidence to be comfortable sitting alone in a public place. People often feel inferior or lonely when they have to sit without the company of their friends. It seems the the current technology makes it easier for people to sit alone. They are preoccupied with what they are doing and don’t really worry about what is going around them. This is the computer age, which is gradually making relationships between humans less intimate. Cell phones, text messages, Facebook, and AIM. All of these advances in technology take people further and further away from each other, transforming the way we view life.

On the other hand, this lack of intimacy between humans was defied by they two young men that sat and talked to each other for over an hour with nothing else to distract them. Whether they are best friends, lovers, or acquaintances, it is impossible to tell just by observing them at Panera Bread for one afternoon. The uncommon bond that these two men seemed to share implies that they have a special relationship, whether or not it is romantic. They are almost like Brick and Skipper in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the way that they had something real, true, and pure between them. Two good friends that could have something more between them. There is a chance that their relationship could be “dirty”, but once again, only through close and thorough observations could a justifiable conclusion be made.

There was a lack of radical romance at Panera Bread during my observations, but the lack of it in one setting does not imply that romance is un-radical in its totality.