Observing Goffman's Dramaturgical Theory

After a bustling Saturday morning, you finally sit down to enjoy a steaming cup of coffee when a stranger plops down right next to you to eat his scone. You notice that there are empty seats around the café. You might feel uncomfortable, or even annoyed enough to move to another seat. According to Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical theory, the stranger clearly did not properly act his role to coordinate his or her actions with you. In essence, the stranger disrupted order. To thoroughly observe how strangers converge in a confined space and naturally establish order, I decided to go to Brody Café from 5:00-6:00 pm on October 11th. Figure 1 below lays out the café’s space where single persons, dyads, and triads were sitting. My focuses of observation include two cash registers, a counter space for condiments, and a sitting area. From those spaces, I took notice of two forms of order: queuing and patterns of seating. However, some challenges from the physical

People naturally assumed where the line was without having to have a sign giving direction. Furthermore, considering that there were two registers, I expected an arrangement of two lines. But after analyzing a single line, I found that having one line increased efficiency. It minimized potential confusion and loss of time since customers waited for individual registers to become available. Although inefficiency in the line was minimized, the proximity between where pick-up was and where the line formed caused some misperception. During a verbal exchange of two customers, let’s say A and B, person A asked B if B was in line. However, B had already ordered and was waiting to pick up an order. Because there was not a physical form of separation, confusion arose between a customer who was ordering and a customer waiting to pick up a drink. To magnify the problem is to consider the consequences if it were a hectic night for the