An Experience to Remember
An Experience to Remember
“Judging a book by its cover is a pervasive consequence of our initial reactions to other people-reactions that encourage often inaccurate stereotypes about races and ethnic groups other than our own” (Walker, 2010). That’s how I felt when I initially walked into The Passage to India restaurant. As I walked in, my first thought was the strong smell, the fancy and calm setting, and the many peacocks scattered throughout the restaurant. I am a person that doesn’t really step outside of the box of eating different foods. Quickly, I noticed that the seasonings and ingredients used in the Indian food was quite different than what I am used to.
As my group and I entered the restaurant I noticed that we were greeted by an all male wait staff. We were seated and it seemed as if the waiters were a little apprehensive about taking our orders. This startled me because I am used to going to Red Lobster or Texas Roadhouse and the waiters or waitresses take my order in a matter of minutes. Another thing that I found interesting was if we were a group of four males, would the service have been different and if eye contact would have been made? Did the notion of being women have an impact on our service? According to Walker (2010), social perception involves the creation of images of ourselves and others. Our cultural background and past experiences have a tremendous impact upon how we interpret our daily experiences. After the waiter took our drink orders, I was able to look over the menu. I noticed that the menu displayed words and ingredients that I never heard of. This peaked my interest because I thought that it was a good idea for people who are unaware of the Indian culture and food; to have a description of what it is they are eating. I decided what I was going to order by playing it safe and looking for something that was familiar to me. I noticed that they had a chicken salad that seemed relatively normal; however, I still was a bit
“Judging a book by its cover is a pervasive consequence of our initial reactions to other people-reactions that encourage often inaccurate stereotypes about races and ethnic groups other than our own” (Walker, 2010). That’s how I felt when I initially walked into The Passage to India restaurant. As I walked in, my first thought was the strong smell, the fancy and calm setting, and the many peacocks scattered throughout the restaurant. I am a person that doesn’t really step outside of the box of eating different foods. Quickly, I noticed that the seasonings and ingredients used in the Indian food was quite different than what I am used to.
As my group and I entered the restaurant I noticed that we were greeted by an all male wait staff. We were seated and it seemed as if the waiters were a little apprehensive about taking our orders. This startled me because I am used to going to Red Lobster or Texas Roadhouse and the waiters or waitresses take my order in a matter of minutes. Another thing that I found interesting was if we were a group of four males, would the service have been different and if eye contact would have been made? Did the notion of being women have an impact on our service? According to Walker (2010), social perception involves the creation of images of ourselves and others. Our cultural background and past experiences have a tremendous impact upon how we interpret our daily experiences. After the waiter took our drink orders, I was able to look over the menu. I noticed that the menu displayed words and ingredients that I never heard of. This peaked my interest because I thought that it was a good idea for people who are unaware of the Indian culture and food; to have a description of what it is they are eating. I decided what I was going to order by playing it safe and looking for something that was familiar to me. I noticed that they had a chicken salad that seemed relatively normal; however, I still was a bit