Mission Coffee And More Sociology

Mission Coffees and More is a coffee shop located in Fremont. This coffee shop serves as a space for socialization and productivity. I always go there to complete homework assignments, study for exams, work on projects and even hang out with friends.

Mission Coffees and More welcomes diverse visitors in attempt of creating a sense of community. The environment is warm and cozy and the staff members are extremely friendly. The seating arrangement is interesting and suitable for its diverse visitors. For example there are couches, stools and chairs. When I do work or study I sit on the chairs or stools. However, when I hang out with friends we sit on the couches. The coffee shop also provides its visitors with shelves of books of all sorts.

The purpose behind the three separate visits was to observe the change in the customers and their behavior throughout the day. It was a way of pinpointing patterns. It was a way of developing a sociological perspective. Sociological perspective is a “conscious effort to question the obvious and to remove us from familiar experiences and examine them critically and objectively.” (Basirico 2014:7). While visiting the coffee shop in the morning, I observed that there seemed to be an environment of relaxation and hostility simultaneously. There were older folks drinking their morning cup of coffee while reading over the newspaper. On the other side there were college students grabbing breakfast while working on assignments. While visiting the coffee shop in the afternoon, I observed that most of the visitors were students grabbing a bite or drink in between their classes. There were also students eagerly studying for classes. I noticed that the coffee shop is mostly occupied by students in the afternoons. During the afternoons, college students cause traffic in this coffee shop. That is because the shop is near Ohlone College and provides a warm and safe environment for its visitors. While visiting the coffee shop in the evening, I observed that the visitors were students as well as groups of two or three professionals conducting meetings and even

Mission Coffees and More isn’t just an ordinary grab and go coffee place. The visitors come in with purses, backpacks, cases, computers and books. They come to spend hours of productivity. Based on my observations, students, families and friends are more likely to be found in this coffee shop. I support my theory with the symbolic interaction theory which stresses “interactions between people and the social processes that occur within the individual that are made possible by language and internalized meaning.” (Basirico 2014:44) Based on the symbolic interaction theory, people do not act solely based on a situation, but rather on their interpretation of the language and symbols provided in a situation. The visitors of Mission Coffees and More understand that every object in the shop symbolizes productivity, friendliness, oneness, community and even