Blog #8

Last class, we talked about mapping out the space of our field site and learning how to read that space. I didn’t think this would help me or apply to me, but after mapping out the Lafollette buffet, I discovered things that I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise by merely observing. Lafollette dining is set up where there is a u-shaped dining area for people to eat and in the middle of that area is where the serving line is. Behind the serving line is where all the behind the scene stuff works. There is the salad room, dish-room, bakery room, cook room and the super visor’s offices surrounding the rooms.
My point is that by mapping out the layout of the buffet helped me to develop a sense for the place and what goes on among the workers. Each room is divided by walls, so it separates one room from the other. What I realized is that depending on where you are working you are constantly competing with the other rooms. Everyone within their area is friends with one another, but when outside of their room it is a whole different story. As I began to talk with some of the workers I questioned them about their job and they went into greater detail and talked about other workers from the other areas and how they weren’t doing their job. This showed me how divided they really are and how the layout of the buffet really puts a barrier between each group of employees.