Ethnography
I observed a conversation between Steve the commercial tenant and Chris the building manager. The conversation was about the status of the window repairs and painting that were supposed to be done several months ago and haven't been taken care of yet. Chris has scheduled several appointments to fix the problems in the past and never shown up.
Chris is a pretty short and stocky guy with a larger than average build. He has a short crew-cut with a fade. Steve is about 6'5" and skinny with black frame glasses and dark black messy hair. The conversation engages when Steve asks Chris what the status on the paint and windows is…
Right away, Chris' eyes widen and he seems to get nervous and fiddles his arms around slightly while thinking of a response. At the same time, Steve marks his identity by saying "so?" and putting the pressure on Chris. He demonstrates his authority in the situation, and as Chris begins to give a response that is familiar to Steve, I can see Steve become irritated and discretely roll his eyes. Steve is wearing the company uniform which is a pair of neatly pressed khakis and a white company polo shirt, leather soft bottom shoes, and a brown belt which looks very professional. Chris on the other hand is wearing a pair of jeans with a plain white tee shirt that's a little dirty and not very professional. This clash in clothing seems to cause a somewhat professional clash. It's hard to spot to me the observer but I feel that the difference in clothing make Steve feel he has the upper hand and he can be a little rude. The reverse happens to Chris because is essence Chris is working for Steve so no matter what If he wants to avoid a complaint he always addresses Steve as sir and tries to do his best to make Steve happy. Steve is using this subconscious feeling of superiority to kind of be more aggressive towards Chris and says "this is the third time we have had to schedule an appointment for the windows, are they actually going to be...
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