English1020classblog’s Weblog

Okay I know that we went through spaces and talked about them and I wrote a blog that probably examined every kind of space available, but I still have more to say.  I have two jobs right now.  They are both food related.  One is at Olive Garden and one is at Dairy Queen.  I am lucky to work at both of those places because they are both the busiest of their type in the Metro-Detroit Suburb area.  Now both deal with food and both deal with customers and their satisfaction.  Both are big for their type so both have to use up the space one way or another.  That’s where a difference pops out.  As soon as I started working at Olive Garden I knew that this was going to be an experience that I will never forget because I noticed right away how the two jobs use their spaces differently.

                The first thing that I noticed was the color.  When I walk around Dairy Queen the colors used are bright colors like red, blue and yellow.  There are red and blue sailboats designs on the tables!  A lot of the back lays to all the designs are white.  And everything, like the pictures and ads, stick in your face screaming “notice me!”  When I walk through Olive Garden, the colors are more subdued and traditional as well.  They are more neutral colors and the walls have kind of an olive green look to them.  There are no obscure designs on any of the tables and all the pictures hung up are sepia.  Nothing sticks out screaming “notice me!”  In fact a lot of things whisper “I’m not here.”  I started in December and until now there are things that I am discovering carved in the wall, such as carvings of lion faces and gargoyle looking creatures.

                The next thing that came to me and probably should have been obvious but wasn’t at first was accommodation.  In Dairy Queen, we have a total of 20 tables.  In Olive Garden, we have a total of 69 tables not including the 8 café tables.  Each place uses their space differently according to how many people they have to accommodate.  Obviously, when people come to Olive Garden, they want to sit and eat lunch or dinner and maybe finish it off with a glass of wine or some Tiramisu.  When people eat full meals, it takes them about 40 minutes.  If they want dessert or wine, it will probably take a full hour.  People are still going to come and want to eat regardless of who’s already there, so we need more tables to seat them in.  In Diary Queen though, we are a fast food restaurant.  People want the fast food because it’s quick to make and quick to eat.  So they don’t stay more than half an hour.  We also have a drive-thru, so not all the people come in the restaurant.  That is why Dairy Queen has so few tables.

                The third thing that came to me was people.  Now you may think “What do people have to do with spaces?”  It has everything to do with spaces.  Because the type of people that live in the area or come to a certain type of establishment also dictates the way a person uses the space.  At Diary Queen, our prices are generally fair and our food is sweet and fattening.  Those options invite people that are young, broke or overweight.  No offense intended.  Those factors put together are probably the reason why we have bright colors or chairs with no sides or ads stuck on the walls.  The fact that we have a lot of kids that come through is why we put up Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and etc decorations up.  Our Dairy Queen is also located right near I-94, so there are a lot of people that come and go near us who are on the go.  That is probably why the owner decided to use some of his space to put a drive-thru.  For Olive Garden, our food tastes diverse, our prices are fair but not cheap and everything is hard to pronounce.  So we attract people that aren’t food picky, have money and don’t mind a different culture.  Usually people like that don’t like that are subdued in nature and do appreciate our Earthly colors and designs.  Olive Garden is also located in the middle of an aging Italian population and right near the mall so there goes another reason why we need more seats and why we need to be Italian.

                In conclusion, this was just another explanation of how people use spaces differently.  They use it differently even if the goal might be the same.  Satisfy the customer.  This was right under my nose and for a while I didn’t put it all together.  Maybe if there are any other two jobbers out there, I’ve inspired you to look.

-Silvia Mansoor