Creatively Looking at My Second Interview...

The other day in class we had a chance to look at our interviews closer, with a more creative purpose behind it. This turned into being writing poetry by using the words and phrases our person said throughout the interview. I had an emotional interview with my mom after hearing why the Beef Barn is so important to her. I never realized the family connections that she had, which were connections made before her kids, before her husband, but when she was also a kid.
So for this poem, to clarify, it is all in my mom's words and her perspective.
 

Because it Reminds Me of My Mom

My earliest remembrance of the Beef Barn is of going there with my mom and getting a coffee shake.

No where else can make a coffee shake better than the Beef Barn.

It reminds me of my mom.

It reminds me of my memories with her.

My mom loved coffee shakes, so I loved coffee shakes....

She got me hooked.

I introduced my kids to coffee shakes by bringing them to the Beef Barn because it was like sharing a moment with my mom, with her future grandchildren, that she was never able to do.

Granted... none of you guys liked them when you were little-

But now, still to this day, my son cannot go into Beef Barn and not order a shake.

It's community.

It's family.

I go back for the good food,

the service,

the memories.

A coffee shake at the Beef Barn is more than a shake...

It's remembering those short, what seemed like insignificant moments, with my mother.

Every time I order a coffee shake, I feel like I'm sharing that moment with her.

Where I'm Going!

After meeting with my professor, we organized my final paper by how we wanted it to flow. She grabbed a notecard and a pen and simplified everything that I was trying to say. This led to these helpful cards that relieved my stress over this final paper! :) Thanks Dr. Cook!


 





 Here we have the two main topics of my paper. I will be focusing on the cell phone use and how people are distracted at restaurants, and how the Beef Barn is a locally, family owned restaurant in my community. This diagram just breaks down that one main topic into different parts of it, including aspects like my interview with Ashley, one of the waitresses there, and some secondary sources.

This next diagram is what instantly made me feel ready to write this paper! I was very stressed out about how weeks and weeks of research, observing, interviewing, etc on this one little place could turn into an analytical, eye opening, yet emotional piece of writing that I have connected to. That's where this arrow flowing diagram comes in! My goal for the paper is to go full circle. I will start off personal, and end personal. I want to start off with why I'm writing this and what it means to me. Then after using my interviews, sources, and blog posts, I will explain the situation where people are willingly going to a small, family restaurant yet being so distracted!! Bringing it back to a more personal ending, I chose to comment a bit on how these findings will impact me, but not in a depressing, this is what the world is coming to, kind of view. I want to relate it back so that the reader can see me sitting at home with my little family, eating a home cooked meal together, without any distractions of cell phones, tablets, ipods, etc.

Getting over the fear of....

The First Interview!!!

Ahh. Okay, I made it out alive, and that isn't a comment about my interviewee, who was super nice! I think for all of us, the thought of interviewing someone on a topic that we have put so much time into is a little scary! What happens if they don't show up for the interview, what happens if they don't talk, what happens if it doesn't record, what happens if they don't even address the topics you want your paper to be about!?! I can happily say that my first interview extinguished all those fears and I'm excited to use part of the interview in my paper.

I interviewed a current waitress at the Beef Barn, Ashley, who also went to the same high school as me! I was especially excited to interview her for this paper, because we live in the same town, so the Beef Barn is part of her local community too. I felt more comfortable by knowing who I was meeting before hand, and the fact that we met at Dunkin' Donuts was a win-win for me! :)

I learned a lot about myself through this interview... the biggest being I hate the way my voice sounds after hearing it recorded! After getting over hearing that, and some awkward pauses that went on a little too long, I began seeing some patterns with my questions. I had a tendency to go back to topics we already discussed after a long and awkward pause. In some cases, I introduced new questions related back to what she had replied with, but others began with "ummmm..... soooo let's go back to this"! I also caught myself asking some closed questions (a little too late... but I'm glad I know to watch out for that now!) to which she answered a yes or no. This was not her fault for not expanding, because she did exactly what I had asked her to do, just answer my questions. I also recognized that it took a little time to get going with the questioning and answering, which was expected! We both are somewhat shy and more reserved, so I had a feeling the dialog would be more back and forth of us talking, than her going off on one of my topics for a couple minutes. It could also be that we are both the same age, 18, and younger adults are known to expand or talk less during interviews like these, as my professor warned.

Overall though, I could not thank Ashley enough for meeting with me! We talked a lot about her experiences with customers at her tables using their cell phones, and the type of people she normally serves at this local, family restaurant. She addressed the two biggest things my paper will be about, and her first hand knowledge will be a key asset to my final paper on the Beef Barn!

Update...

         Hey guys! For those of you who are wondering where this blog about the Beef Barn is actually going, I'm here to update you all. First of all, after doing some observations that I posed, I am starting to get an idea of where I want my final project to go. The more I go back to the Beef Barn and every time I'm out at restaurants, I can't help but notice the cell phone problem. For example, I was at Panera Bread last night and there was a family sitting at the table next to us... the older gentleman was eating his food, the older woman was on her cell phone, the middle aged woman was reading a book, with her tablet on the table, and the other middle aged woman had headphones in with a tablet! My boyfriend and I was shocked to see this, and hear no conversation occur between any of them! This issue is very interesting to me, and it will be a prominent aspect to my paper. The other main topic I've been looking into is local businesses. I really want to point out the fact that independent restaurants are out there, trying to survive surrounded by all the franchised places. It's important to point out when locally owned restaurants give back to their community! With Small Business Day coming up, I believe it's mid-November, it reminds us all to try and spend our money at local and independently owned small business because they are more likely to give back and use the money compared to giving it to millionaires who own a whole fast food franchise. That will be my goal to all of you... after researching the difficulties small businesses, specifically restaurants, encounter, go out and have dinner at a local place in your home town! Or instead of going to Walmart, try the little place down the road who grows their own produce.
         As for my final paper, my two points will be the discovery of this push and pull relationship. We care about locally, family owned restaurants and bring our family and friends with us to share a meal, yet we ignore them with our cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc. Later on I will post a picture of something called a "mind map" which will demonstrate where I want to go, but in pictures and colors and multiple "stems" branching off...