4 February 2011- The Better Bean

(Inside The Better Bean; Bridgewater MA, looking out on the common)


What I know:

Having only been to The Better Bean once before, I do not know many details about the coffee shop itself. I went on a Saturday morning in January around 9:30 a.m. with my mom. We sat and had breakfast and coffee (and a vanilla chai, absolutely delicious). Although we only stayed for about half an hour, we were able to observe a income of customers and who they were. The woman behind the counter was alone until 10:00, which may say something about the flow of people that come in at between opening and that time. When we first arrived, two college student and a mother accompanied by her young son (who had a chocolate milk in front of him) were sitting in the shop. While we sat there, only one more group of people came in, who seemed to be a family. What I got from this one experience was that it seems as if it is a low key place for all ages.

What I want to know:

In continuing my research, I have a few things that I would like to know about the shop itself. Is this shop part of a chain, or is it an individually or family owned company? Also, having only having had the chance to observe it once before my research, I find that I want to observe it on all different days of the week, and at different times to see how the business is different. I would like to find out what the hours of the shop are, and talk to the employees about how the flow of business changes throughout the day. The one major thing I would like to compare. I would like to compare The Better Bean to my daily coffee shop back home, The Little Coffee Bean. Living in an area that is not close to many college campuses (closest campus= Dean College= 25 minutes), The Little Coffee Bean was a high school hangout. Everyone came to school in the morning with a LCB coffee in hand, and a breakfast sandwich (the best I've ever had). I would like to observe The Better Bean to find out whether it is more of a college hangout (being in walking distance from BSU) or if it is a high school hangout like The Little Coffee Bean was for me.

28 January 2011- Iresearcher

Iresearcher was a fun and interesting essay to read. Reading it brought back memories of growing up and our "Hanover Bowladrome" which was the Mendon Town Beach. It was our family gathering spot in the summer, and some of my best friends to this day are those that I met their with theirs families as well. The MTB was jam packed every day of the summer growing up, but I now question whether it is the same family atmosphere that it used to be. The lifeguards and concession stand employees were the same teenagers that worked there as I grew up, and I know that some of those people still spend their summer days at the good old Mendon Town Beach. Reading Iresearcher was an easy read because it was easy to follow and it gave me a sense of what the Hanover Bowladrome looked and felt like. The emotional connection was a great addition, with the coping of a loss and having somewhere to simply escape to. Will have to make it a priority to go and check out the MTB more often this summer, to answer the same questions that were asked about the Hanover Bowladrome. :)