People Watching

Kind of Job Gender of Work Age of Worker (approximately)
1.sales woman (American Eagle) Female 22
2.sales woman (New York & Company) Female 27
3.hairdresser (Nicole’s) Male 30
4.cashier (H&M) Male 27
5.shop woman (coffee shop on campus) Female 55
6.sales woman – at the register (Wal-Mart) Female 20
7.sales woman (Target) Female 30
8.hairdresser – cashier at Nicole’s female 25
9.person in charge at the enterprise car rent station Male 30
10.popcorn seller at the cinema Female 18


My observations
If you look at my observation table, you can notice that the age of most working persons are in the range between 20 and 30. Only one of these 10 observed people was much older. I was wondering what the reason for that could be and my only answer I could think of is the traditional American family structure. As we were talking about that topic in class, in the past the woman was seen as the “house maker” and therefore it could be that many older women are more involved in the house life instead of in the current American working world. However, all of the observed people acted in an extraordinary nice and friendly way with each customer and some of them also asked how the customers sensed their shopping experience.