Let's Go For A Literacy Dig In A Grocery Store!

This past Labor Day, a group of classmates and I went to a grocery store to see literacy in action.  When I first heard about this assignment I was a bit nervous.  I was going to walk into a grocery store, observe people and not feel/look awkward while holding my pen and paper?  Sure.....   Even though I was very apprehensive about the project, I am now happy to have completed it.  It seems easy enough to say literacy is everywhere but to actually be looking for its usage is an eye opener.
My role in the literacy dig was to observe and record bits of talk.  It was interesting to complete this task because I felt like an undercover spy.  I would stand in an aisle and pretend to be looking at food but in all actuality I would be listening to conversations others were having. When my group and I first walked into the store, it was pretty empty.  This allowed for a lot of the workers to be standing idle and making conversation with one another.  The conversations the cashiers were having with one another seemed like polite, simple conversations.  It was a lot of simple questions responded to by simple answers. Since it was Labor Day weekend, the discussion, between the workers, seemed to surround what each of them had done that weekend.  I am sure the workers all know each other and their conversations are much more in depth at times but this was the bit of conversation I happened to pick up on when I first entered the store.  Conversations between the workers may have been generic because a manager may have been present or because customers had just entered the store.  Whatever the reason, it is important to note the role literacy plays with cashiers.  Cashiers must be able to read the words on the register, how to search for product plu's and how to enter certain bits of information.  Without the ability to read, running the register would be impossible. 
After listening to and observing the cashiers in their roles, I ventured to the deli.  Near the deli of the store, there is a salad bar.  It is a self-serve salad bar and it was not yet set up for public use.  The workers were discussing back and forth among each other what still needed prepared for the salad bar and where each food item was to be placed.  I personally have never made my own salad at a grocery store but there was signs around the bar explaining how much a salad cost per pound.  I'm not sure if a person who couldn't read would be able to understand the way the salad bar is designed to be used.  It helped me understand the process tremendously.  The final bits of conversation I picked up on in the deli, involved customers and workers conversing back and forth.  A customer approached the seafood portion of the deli and was asked what he wanted.  The man wanted salmon and preceded to inform the worker how many portions of it he wanted.  Without being given direct instructions on how to place an order at the deli, the customer was already knowledgeable about the ordering process.  Before ordering, the man was only informed about the type of fish he was looking at and the price per pound, but this is all the man needed to know to place his order.  It is interesting how little literacy is necessary for certain processes.  I think this is because we have gone shopping with other people as children and learned how certain interactions occur, such as ordering at the deli.   
The last type of conversation I noted was on my way out of the store.  A customer was checking out and was questioned by the worker how their shopping experience had been.  After all the groceries had been totaled, the total was given to the customer and a thank you followed.  All in all, the conversations between workers and customers was very polite.  Everyone seemed cheerful and grateful for one another.  It is these types of conversations which seem common between workers and customers in any store.
Overall, I found this project quite interesting.  It was neat to see how all literacy is important for both workers and customers in the grocery store setting.  Workers need to be literate to be able to ensure the register is being used properly, people are receiving the items and amount ordered at the deli, and that customers are picking up the food needed and receiving what they want from the workers. It is important for each and every one of us to not take our ability to read for granted because it plays such an important role in everyday tasks.