The decision that could change your dining experience: An MBA Case Study!!

“The world out there is filled with people. Some just focus on their own work, others believe in taking people along with them and the rest just don’t care about who’s who. Who do you come across when you step out there decides where exactly will you fit in.” 

The above lines (said by none other than me) fit perfectly into a corporate setting regarding a lecture on how to deal with competition, people and life. 

Now, I’ll save that topic for some other day, what I want to talk about is based on the following lines which are somewhat similar to what I wrote above: 

“The mess out there is filled with people. Some just sit alone, others believe in taking friends along with them and the rest just don’t care about who’s who. Who do you come across when you step in there decides where exactly will you sit.” 

Yes, that’s the agenda today. After one year of Post Graduation, my first research based post is about how people go about deciding as to where and with whom to sit when they come for their meal to the mess. I have a tendency to observe people and public settings and if you have been following this blog, you would know that since the posts have dealt with guests at home, relatives at weddings, crowd in buses, announcers at stations/airports and myself (because I’m really keen to see how I react under different situations). 

So, many a times as I sat inside the mess, focussing on nothing but the food on my plate, especially when it was Dal Makhni or Aloo Parantha, I did manage to glance at people, standing in the queue, scanning the surroundings to identify the perfect landing spot! This post is about some types of those people only. Read on: 

• The Ekla Chalo Type:
  
  These are the kind of persons I can closely relate to. They will enter the mess, get their food, head to the closest seat available, irrespective of whether it is vacant/populated or familiarly populated. If they sit alone, they enjoy their date with food and if someone comes to join them, they are more than welcome and if that someone happens to be a known face, they strike up a conversation with them and also wait for them till they are done. Some courtesy they have!! And while leaving, if you happen to catch up with some friends and talk for long, that person just vanishes in no time, like the Dark Knight! Again, some courtesy they have!!

• The Campaign Team Type:
  These people don’t have to look for people to sit with, they keep people with them. They are usually seen walking in groups ranging from 7 to 10, resembling a team for an election campaign and take one entire table. The good thing about them – not one person leaves the table until everybody else is done. The bad thing – you can’t sit with them (only because there is no space at all!!)

• The Perplexed Species:
  
  They come, stand in the queue, see, scan, think, think again until someone from behind tells them – aage chalo yaar. This type can be easily identified from the rest by observing their posture and facial expressions when they stand with their plate and look for where to sit – 180^o face rotation, hawk eyes and the “who will be next victim” look. Most often, because of the high time lag between them entering the mess and ultimately deciding where to park themselves, by the time they sit, others are ready to leave. Sometimes though, their processor works overtime and they decide in a matter of seconds, courtesy some familiar faces.

• The Mauka Mauka Type:
  
  When you spend so much time together with other students on a secluded campus, you tend to like someone. These are the people who like someone and when they see that someone sitting in the mess with atleast one vacant seat next to him/her, tab aa jata hai inka mauka. They just rush through the plate filling routine in order to make sure nobody takes the hot seat before them. Another common technique is to first approach the table at which the person is sitting, strike a conversation with them/others at the table and then say “I’ll just get my food and be back”, thereby booking their seat. Often, someone else grabs the opportunity (knowingly/ unknowingly) and these people are left with a third tier seat rather than the one closest to the boundary ropes and there goes their mauka mauka....

• TTTTT (The Two To Tango Type):
  
  If you didn’t get it by the name, let me tell you I’m talking about the couples. They share some of the characteristics with the Ekla Chalo type, only difference being they have another person from the other sex which translates the "I don’t care" attitude into "We don’t care."  They come at their own time, sit wherever two seats are available, have their meal and leave. With due respect, they don’t stop other people (read friends) from joining them, however they don’t always wait for them to finish. Chalta hai, yahi to din hain!!

• The Switch Hit Type:
  
  These persons come and preferably sit in the middle of the table, with two familiar groups around on either side so that they are in their comfort zone. That said, they prefer to actively engage themselves in discussion with only one of the group and upon realizing that no body is paying much attention to them, they tend to switch to the other side of the table. By that time, it’s too late though and the people are ready to leave, thereby leaving these people in a situation similar to the ones the perplexed species find themselves in. Bottom line: Serious loyalty issues!!

So what kind are you?? 

Feel free to add on to the list, I might look at it from the point of view of my dissertation topic! 

Until next time

Adios  :)