Stranger Asking For Food

1. What norm did you violate?

The researchers violated the social norm of not asking leftovers from other diners in restaurants and the norm that Ateneans asking for leftovers is considered to be unacceptable because of their assumed class in society.

2. Describe the breaching experiment in detail. What was the activity? Where did you do it?

The group entered into various lower, middle, and upper class restaurants inside a mall, in this case UPTC, and asked for the left overs from its diners.The breaching experiment was conducted by one of the members of the research team dressed in a casual attire wearing an Ateneo De Manila University ID, which is considered to connote an upper class individual; he entered the restaurants while other members of the group were filming secretly.  He then respectfully asked the diners if he could have their leftover food for his own personal consumption. The member spoke in English. If the person or the group agreed with the request, he then told them about the social experiment. If the person/group did not agree, the member tried to convince them. If he has tried more than a couple of times and the diner still refuses, he will tell them about the experiment.

3. What were the different reactions of the people? List all possible reactions you observed. Why do you think they reacted this way? What caused these reactions? Did the deviant act re-affirm/reinforce the existing norms based on these reactions?

In Jollibee, the diner which was asked possessed a stoic, annoyed and irritated facial expression which can be clearly sensed from his voice, response and tone to the researcher’s respectful request. A similar trend was observed in Burger King with regard to the stoicness and utter annoyance at the presence and gall of the person asking for food. However, one of the differences which occurred was that the woman asked looked at the member’s ID, before responding. The next restaurant, however, was slightly different; instead of the usual irritated and annoyed facial expression, the male diner was happily surprised and did not give a snarky or mean comment or response to the researcher. In the fourth restaurant, the elderly female diner was also surprised, similar to the others, but was more obnoxious than the others. An important note to also take from this restaurant was not only the reactions and facial expressions of the diner asked, but the reactions of the waiter watching as well. The waiter was evidently clenching his fist, a clear-cut sign of anger and wanting to intervene while the researcher was conversing to the diner was seen, and the immediate rush to the diner’s side was observed after the researcher left the restaurant’s premises. On the last restaurant however, an unexpected trend took place; the couple which was asked by the researcher surprisingly agreed to the request and were both open and generous to the researcher’s request. The primary cause of the diner’s evident  irritability, in terms of reactions and facial expressions, is because asking for leftovers from a person eating is not generally acceptable and is socially frowned upon, and goes into the lines of unacceptability when inside a restaurant or mall, which is clearly seen here. The act reinforced the existing norms, because of the utter lack of attention and generosity which the diner’s showed.

4. Aside from the norms, what sociological themes are at play for people to react in a certain way? Is it a function of gender, social, values/beliefs of institutions.

    One of the sociological themes which were at play during the experiment are the social norms of the middle to upper class, especially since the experiment was conducted in upper class restaurants and in an upper class mall, UPTC. The social norms of the middle to upper class may be one of the reasons why the diners acted the way they did, for in middle to upper class societies people asking others for leftovers is an impossibility or incredibly improbable, especially if done in a public place, in this case a mall. But, if the experiment was done with a different class of people and different setting such as church and the like, an entirely different result may occur.

5. How did you feel when you did this experiment? How does it feel to deviate from the norm? Were you hesitant to do the activity?

At first I was very hesitant to approach the people we involved in the experiment as I was unsure of how they would react. I was also shy at first because of the reactions the experiment garnered. I was especially humiliated from the reactions of the two women at Burger King as I felt that they had been annoyed by my presence and request. Deviating from the norm made me feel alienated because the people approached looked at me and talked to me as if I was an outcast who was not oriented with simple norms.

6. Other observations and analysis that you may have on the activity and the deviance in general.

The waiter’s reaction and movements are worth noting, because it shows that even if you are not the one being asked for leftovers, the very act of seeing it occur instills into you a sense of concern or in this case anger, which is seen through the waiter. Another point which begs focus is when one of the diners looked at the Ateneo De Manila University ID of the researcher, which may have played a role or may be the very cause of her rejection to the researcher’s request for leftover food, for it is deemed unacceptable for a student of Ateneo De Manila University to ask for leftovers, because of their perceived class in society.