Entrance of City U Canteen at Night

It was about 8:30pm on 9th Sep. At the entrance of City University canteen, there was an interaction between customers and cashiers at the dome-shaped front desk.

Front (Setting, Appearance, Manner)

The setting involved in the interaction between customers and cashiers included the following items. They were the front desk, baskets for fruits, Octopus cards, machines for Octopus card, cash, cash drawers, receipts, etc. Cashiers were dressed in the same set of uniform, yellow clothing and orange hats. Some of them even put make-up. They smiled and talked to customers with a clear voice. When they were ready to take the order from customers, their hands inclined forward. That gesture was a signal to show their availability to potential customers.

Customers were dressed in casual wear of their own style. Some female customers put make-up. Regarding the payment for ordering food, customers either took out cash from their wallets or took out their Octopus cards. Customers often talked in a mono tone, I guessed they were tired at night. Besides, they didn’t smile while making an order.

Line

Cashiers displayed a friendly and approachable image since they signaled customers to make an order at front desk by hand gesture and smile.

Routine

Regarding cashiers, the routine included marking down customers’ orders, telling customers how much the bill was, asking customers the method of paying for the bill: cash or Octopus card, collecting the cash or asking customers to place the Octopus card on the machine, giving the excess money back to customers. Finally, cashiers gave receipts and said “thank you” to customers. For customers, the routine included reading the menu, queuing, ordering the food, making the payment by either cash or Octopus card, getting the receipt.

Different Regions

The area around the front desk was the onstage region of both cashiers and customers. All the people in the canteen could be the audience. The backstage of both cashiers and customers should be somewhere that no audience watched their interaction.

Team

The cashiers were in “withs”, they were in a team. They had the same dress code, yellow clothing and orange hats. The same uniform was the tie signal which displayed the membership. Most customers were the “single”. A few of them were in “withs” since they were discussing while reading the menu.

Incident

When someone stood near the front desk for a few minutes without the intention of ordering food. A staff who dressed in a black suit approached the one and looked into the matter. The staff tried to find out what was going on. She was afraid that the one would disrupt the performance of cashiers at front desk.