Ethnography

Northridge Mall
Saturday September 20 2008

Sitting outside of the Orange Julius/ Dairy Queen around mid afternoon

A mother and her child walks in. Both appear to be of Caucasian descent wearing nice clothes. The mother is holding her sons hand as the child struggles to get away from her. He points at the coin operated rides just under the elevator but his mom refuses to let him go. She tells him because he’s been a bad boy, he won’t get an ice cream. He pouts but she doesn’t give in, buying one cone and sitting at a table where she eats the cone while her son watches.

A little girl and little boy walk in with someone who appears to be their father. The children stand in line with their father. They appear to be of Asian descent. The father does not hold their hand, nor does he scold them in line, instead the children stand there quietly as their father orders his ice cream. When he is finished paying, his children go to the napkin dispenser and grab enough napkins for each of them and their father. They sit at a table inside, setting the napkins up like a place mat and begin to eat in a meticulous fashion. As they walk out,
each cleans up their own area and throws away the trash. Walking through the entry way, the children walk several steps behind their father who doesn’t hold their hand or keep looking over his should to check if they are there, rather it is like he knows they will always be trailing after him.

A mother and her daughter walk in to the store holding hands. They patiently wait in line to have their order taken. The daughter looks up at her mom and asks if she can have certain toppings. Her mother replies that her daughter will get whatever she orders for her. The daughter appears to be sad but doesn’t comment back to her mother. When it is time to order the daughter stands there hiding her face from her mother when she orders a cone with no chocolate dip but nuts for toppings. When
the mother hands the cone to her daughter, she accepts without a complaint. While walking out of the store, both mother and daughter eat their cones.


Watching the interactions between the children and their parents was interesting because it presented a dystopian element. The dystopian element is that several of the children accepted what their parents said to them, accepting that it is the law; however, the first child noted, tried to rebel against his mother and had to face the consequences of his actions. Furthermore, while the last little girl did not rebel in the sense of making a scene, she did have a hidden show of displeasure
towards her mother.

As a child, your parents word is the law, there is no deviation from it without clear consequences that will be devastating to a child. It is a law that has been programmed in them, literally since birth, and one they know they must follow, similar to Orwell’s dystopia. LikeWinston in 1984 by Orwell, if a child goes against the law, they are broken down until they can then be rebuilt to know the right side of the law. Their law is a law that we don’t question because we don’t know any better because that is what we have been taught all of our lives is the right
law. We learn from our parents what is right because we don’t want to be punished, to have our Gameboys or our Wiis taken away. Once we realize that there is a consequence to our sever misbehavior, we immediately rectify the situation so we no longer have these privileges taken away.

While these conditions may create a utopia for the parents, could it be considered a dystopia for the children? I suggest this because the children are not able to follow their instincts or natural wants for fear of getting into trouble...or at least in most cases.