Ethnography assignment

            Working at Lees Market is like being part subculture. Whether you go to school with them or not everyone knows everyone. We are like a big family we depend on each other to keep everything in the store running correctly. Lees is a big store for Westport, but compared to other stores it is small. There are many different departments throughout the store. Each department has things they have to do every day.

            Lees market is a small grocery store in Westport, MA. It has a kitchen that makes pre made food. People just go there get a meal that is big enough for two. Depending on what you get depends in the price. Some meat is more expensive than others. The pulled pork is always more expensive then the chicken legs. They also have whole chicken that you can buy, but those don’t come as meals.  It also has a few different vegetables to choose from. They usually have regular mac and cheese, but sometimes they have buffalo mac and cheese. Also they have regular mashed potatoes or garlic mashed potatoes.

            At Lees they have a deli where you can get fresh cut meat. We have different kinds of meats that we carry. For each kind of meat we have a lees brand. They also carry fresh hot dogs, and different types of cheeses. Lees has different types of sides that people can get that are cold. On the side of the deli is the dairy section. It has different brands of eggs in one of the coolers. A little bit farther down in another part of the coolers there are different types of cheeses. There is also cottage cheese, and sour cream. After that there are different types of puddings and yogurts in the rest of the coolers.

            As you walk down the left wall there are many more coolers. In the first set of cooler doors there is milk, half and half, orange juice, and other drinks. After those sets of coolers there are coolers with different types and kinds of ice cream. There are also different brands of popsicles. As you continue along that wall you get to the produce section of the store. It is a pretty big produce section with a lot to choose from.  As you continue from the produce section you get to the meat department which has a lot of different meats. It also has many different cut of steak that people can choose from. Then there are fifteen aisles with many other goods. At Lees you can find so much we have everything from salad dressings to cleaning supplies and animal food. It might sound like a big store but it isn’t.               

            When you work at Lees you are part of a family. Even if you don’t know many people when you first start working there you will in time. Everyone is really nice to one another.  No matter how old you are everyone shows respect and everyone gets respect. There are friendships that are made all the time. Sometimes when working with people you didn’t know from school is harder to make friends. The longer you work with people the more you get to know each other. Sometimes the people you work with can become some of your best friends. There are all kinds of relationships that are formed.

            There are different departments in the store. Each department has things they have to do each day. Up front where the registers are is where I work, I am a cashier. We have many responsibilities in the front end. Being a cashier you are one of the last people a person sees before they leave the store. You make one of the biggest impressions on the person before they leave the store. What you say or do to the person represents Lees Market. When working with people you have to always have a smile on. When people come through your line you have to ask how they are doing. You also have to ask if they would paper or plastic. When bagging their groceries you shouldn’t just hand them the bag of food. You should walk it over to them and put it into their carriage for them. When you call the store the service desk answers which is at the front end . Also at night the front is responsible for cleaning the front end. There are certain things we have to do at night before we can leave.

            There are a few departments that kind of do the same things. Grocery and customer service have a few of the same jobs to do. They both stock shelves around the store. When the front end needs help they will call someone from one of those departments. If we have a big order come through our line we are sup post to call someone to bag for us, which we call someone from those departments to help. The people that work in grocery also work in customer service because the jobs are very similar. Also there is usually only one person who is customer service at a time. Dairy is also very close to these two jobs. They only have to stock the coolers and if we need the extra help up front we also call someone from there. I think the biggest thing that would bother me about dairy is always being cold. You are working in the coldest parts of the store.  

            Another department is produce. Produce is nice because you are in a back room of the store just working with produce all day. You have to make sure all the fruit and vegetables look good and healthy. Every once in a while when you are done with one kind of fruit you have to take it out to the produce section of the store. If we don’t have any more of some kind of fruit or vegetable it isn’t a big deal, but if we don’t have it out because the produce people aren’t doing anything then it is a big deal.

            The kitchen and deli are very similar too. The country kitchen has to make the food in the morning, but after that all they have to do is give people what they want.  They will have many different foods to choose from and people can get what they want and however much they want. You can order a big platter of something if you are having a party or something. You have to order it at least a day ahead of time. Then the deli just has to cut what people what. They have to ask what brand they want of whatever kind of meat they are getting because we have a few different brands of each. They also have to ask how thick they want the slices to be. Also the cafe is similar because they make sandwiches the way people like. Making people’s sandwiches can be very difficult because people can be very picky about how they are made. The bakery is easy but hard at the same time. It is easy because you just have to just bag what they want and put a number on it. The number goes into the computer and the name of what they got comes up with a price. One of the annoying things is you clean most of the time. The person who runs the bakery is the one that bakes all the goodies.            

            It might seem like no matter you work in the store it would be boring. It really isn’t because you get to interact with many different types of people. Many of the same people go there every day, but you get to know them. Since Westport is a small town you see many of the same people day after day. It isn’t a bad thing because you have more of a relationship with them then you would if it is just a random person.  Even if we took one department out the store couldn’t run smoothly. We need everyone and every department in order to keep running smoothly.