Observation 1

I observed the effect of the alpine workers on the people studying in the union at nine o’clock at night. The workers were not singing or joking; they were different people than you normally see during the day. People, who I assume were friends of the workers, were standing nearby talking to the employees slowing things down slightly, but no one seemed to mind much. No one got upset about how fast or slow the employees were making food. Since the workers were not singing or being loud, everyone who wasn’t in line and waiting to get food paid no attention to the people working at alpine. The workers effect on the people was minimal, if there was any at all, especially because American Idol was playing on the television across the room. A crowd of people gathered to watch Anoop Desai sing and then quickly left. The demeanor in the room was generally pretty positive. Everyone was sitting with a friend laughing, joking, and talking. All of them with books out but not actually studying. Almost everyone had either food or a drink from alpine, and most of the drinks were coffee. The room is anything but quiet; there is a general din from the television, from many small groups of people talking, and from the noises coming from the workers making sandwiches. The workers only ask questions pertaining to making a sandwich and have nothing more to say to whomever they are serving. The people who are working on school work are not bothered by what the workers do, and they most likely cannot hear them over the overwhelming sounds of the television and people’s voices.