Krystal Wu
Ms. Heard
English 93
September 15, 2013
People Like or Unlike Us
When it comes to the topic of diversity, most Americans agree that we live in a diverse country with people of different races, gender and languages. Where this agreement ends, however, is on the question of whether we are comfortable around people who are not like us. In David Brooks article “People Like Us”, people want to group together rather than to live in a diverse society because of their cultural affinity and psychological comfort. To test Brooks’s assumption, I observed the intersection of Miramar and Ocean in the neighborhood of San Francisco. In this intersection, I found that Brooks’s observation is true. I agree with him based on the observation of Miramar and Ocean, I found the people in this area not only are residents but also are students, and they feel more comfortable with similar cultures and people who share their same interest.
People intend to segregate themselves because of their cultural affinity. In this intersection –Miramar and Ocean–I observed the people who go to the supermarkets where the owners are Chinese or Mexican. Many Asian are more willing to choose Chinese supermarkets. Many of them are about 60-70 years old and always wear sport clothes which may be bought by their sons or daughters. With their backpacks or shopping bags, they choose the vegetables or fruits seriously as if they will find the best food in the world. Most of their information is gleaned from chatting with others or swapping stories while they shop, and they also chat with the shop owner because they familiar with each other. Obviously, people like them will love to choose the Chinese supermarket show their cultural preference because it is easy and convenient to talk with people who speak their own language. Sometimes, they go there with their grandchildren, but their grandchildren are absent-minded, they just think what they should do after they go back home, do homework, watch TV programs or play game with their friends. These children show they don’t care about the language because they are bilingual. Although they speak English with their friends in the store, I found their friends who are mostly Asian. Another Mexican supermarket attracts a few Asian people. On the contrary, the customers who speak English fluently come here. The result from the people who I observed in Chinese supermarket is similar. They like to go to the place where can easily communicate. Due to their cultural affinity, they will choose the places with people like themselves, and they are comfortable here. To sum up, I observed this intersection which show that the people enjoy here using their native language and have something in common with other shopper.
People tend to stick to the places where they have common interests. Business in this intersection is diverse; we can easily find many restaurants such as Japanese, Chinese, Mexican and Vietnamese restaurants. The intersection serves not only have the residents but also many City College’s students, so many students or workers go to these restaurants for lunch. The students with different cultural background can be satisfied with these various restaurants in this area. The Asian people love the chinese foods, but actually many other racial people are also enjoying chinese dim sum or tea. Also we can see that they are satisfied with the prices of the food so they come here frequently. Numerous Asian people like pizza or a sandwich with a cup of coffee, so they will choose the Mexican or European restaurants, because they also like these foods. This intersection’s restaurants serve different kinds of people with their demands which make this area prosperous. Moreover, this intersection has many stores such as One Dollar shop, Walgreen, CVS and supermarkets where people can convenient buy
