Post 2 Community Literacy Dig

Food Court Literacy Dig


The food court is a common gathering ground for shoppers everywhere. Our local stop is no different. As we arrived at the food court, our group looked for an inconspicuous location to plan our attack of this assignment. My focus was to listen and record bits of talk, what people were saying to each other, who says it and what the routine ways of talking in this place were. As we sat at the table together, I took a visual inventory of the food court layout. I noticed the restaurants included Stir Fry, Little Tokyo, Chick –fil-A, and Luca Pizza. The first pieces of literacy evidence that jumped out at me were the menu boards above all the establishments. These incorporated photos, price lists and descriptions of menu items. I assume the purpose of these boards is to both inform customers of the products available and to entice them to buy from their particular venue. There were also signs visible of which credit cards were accepted, so lack of cash wouldn’t stop you from filling your tummy. To one side resided a newspaper machine.

I paid particular attention to the employees behind the counters. Some were busy filling bins, cooking, or cleaning and paying no notice to the people walking by and through the area, while others stood almost at attention, waiting for an order. These observations lead me to wondering about what cultural knowledge might be necessary to participate fully in the exchanges occurring at the food court. While it would not be imperative to speak English to get by, it would most certainly be helpful. One could easily figure out that this is a place to get food and could get that food by ordering by picture alone. However, clarity about items might prove more difficult with a language barrier. Some other prior knowledge, other than language, necessary to navigate this arena include, knowing first of all, where the food court is located and what is available there. Secondly, it would be important to realize that you must order at the counters and pay immediately before proceeding to the surrounding tables. It would be nice to understand that you are expected to throw away trash and put away trays, although that doesn’t always happen even by those that do “get it”.

Some common phrases by the vendors in this place were, “may I help you?”, “are you ready to order?”, and “what can I get for you?” Standing within a certain proximity to the counters with or without looking at the menu boards seemed to precede such questions. Even seemingly busy employees would stop what they were doing to wait on someone. Many customers continued to scan the menu boards while answering the employees with comments like, “I’m still looking”, “just a second”, or “I’ll have a……”. After ordering, cash or debit/credit cards were exchanged. These slips of paper were sometimes signed and sometimes not. After the food items were delivered, simple salutations were sometimes exchanged such as “thank you” or “have a good day”. I noticed, as was the case with the ordering, sometimes the customers and vendors looked at each other during such exchanges but most times not. It almost appeared as though it these were automatic responses…not even preceded by thought. I hasten to think how often in a day such interactions take place. How often and in what situations do we all go through life on automatic pilot?, not even paying attention to the people we are interacting with?

A scan of the food court tables, revealed a rich variety of visitors. There were what appeared to be a couple, a mother and child, three young ladies, as well as two women sitting across from one another. There was an informal atmosphere here with most people seeming relaxed and at ease. I infer this from the body language and general demeanors exhibited. The mother and child were working on homework problems. The mother read these aloud to her son. I was curious as to why they might be doing this at the food court as opposed to at home or if maybe the adult could even have been a tutor and the parent was off shopping. The three young ladies, I believe, were college students. Perhaps they were friends or dorm mates. I infer this due to the fact that I overheard them discussing when it was time to leave and that they needed to take the bus back to campus. Their general conversation surrounded how hard it was to accuse someone of shoplifting and describing different scenarios to one another. This conversation drifted into how one had a dress that would match the scarf another purchased and then whether or not the scarf was bought on sale. This conversation changed into a discussion of sales and which stores had the best ones and when. This spurred me to take a look at the stores visible from the food court. Most of these sported an array of sale signs, including special offers and great deals. It took awhile to figure out the relationship between the two women sitting across from one another. At first it seemed to be two friends, and then an employee and a boss, then just two employees. More attentive eavesdropping made it apparent that this was an employee hearing the results of a secret shopper experience. It was a positive review filled with nervous and relieved laughter from the employee. The evaluator was busily typing and reading from a laptop. The computer proved to be an invaluable literacy tool in this situation.

As evident in this community literacy dig, there are examples of literacy everywhere, all around us. Reading and writing are a part of our everyday lives, whether that is on menu boards, receipts, text books, cell phones, sale signs, newspapers, or computers. Preparing our future students to be as literate as possible in all imaginable situations is imperative.