Rachael Rutherford

OGL 350 Module 4: Paper

June 9, 2021

During my forty-five-minute interview I had a great discussion with one of my baristas

from my store. This barista has been with my since I took over my store 2 years ago. I knew

since we have worked together so long the conversation would feel natural and we would be able

to both learn from each other. The person I am interviewing today’s name is Addison. She is a

22-year-old college student who lives at home with her parents and attends college nearby.

Addison and I began our conversation by defining “family”. Addison’s family is a typical

mother, father, and one sibling family. Addison defines family as a loving, supportive, and large.

Addison has always been very close with her family, even her extended family. Addison still has

both her grandparents on her mother and father’s side. Addison doesn’t live with her

grandparents, but she is able to see them every holiday. They both live nearby so she is able to

visit them whenever she would like. Addison is also very close with her cousins, and they are all

pretty similar in age. Her family regularly has family reunions where everyone gets together and

catches up and celebrates. It was very interesting to hear all of this. Today’s families aren’t as

close and rarely are parents not divorced. Both my parents and my fiances parents are divorced,

also most of my friend’s parents are divorced so hearing stories from a person in a healthy family

was very interesting. In fact, according to the “Journal of Comparative Family Studies”

“American practices do not support the conceptualization, which is evidenced by infidelity and

divorce rates that approximate 25-50 percent” (Hendrick, 1985, p. 2) I wanted to learn more

about her family dynamic and the structure.

Addison’s dad is a doctor and because of this her mother was able to be a stay and home

mom to raise them. Once both Addison and her brother got to high school Addison’s mom went

back to work. Addison admires both her parents and learned so much from them that has helped
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OGL 350 Module 4: Paper
June 9, 2021

her to be successful in life. She learned the importance of hard work from both her parents and

was able to see how working hard made them successful. As Addison’s boss I can definitely tell

that she values working hard and always gives everything she attempts one hundred percent.

Addison hopes to have the same family dynamic and raise her kids her kids just like her parents

did. The only difference she hopes for is that her husband will have the option to be able to stay

home with the kids. Addison loves working and feels success and fulfilled by working hard at

her job. So commonly the expectation is that the male is the one who goes to work and provides

for his family. But more and more we are seeing women who are in the work force, and it is ok

for men to stay at home and take care of the kids. In the journal article “Female-Headed

Households and Employment in the Caribbean” by Joycelin Massiah she says, “in some forms of

the female-headed household there may be a resident male in the husband partner relationship

who is unable to function as the head of household for economic reasons.” This notion is

outdated and not always true. Having the male be expectation to solely provide for his family is

an unrealistic expectation (Massiah, 1982, p. 8).

Not only does Addison value the importance of working hard at her job but she

recognizes the importance of doing well in school and being passionate about it. Addison is

going to school to be an accountant. Being good at math has come naturally to Addison since she

was young, and she always enjoyed the undeniable logic behind it. Helping people is always

something Addison is passionate about so being an account seemed like a good path for her.

Compared to most families Addison has been lucky that college was always an option for her

and she for the most part hasn’t had to worry about how to pay for college. Yes, Addison did

have to get a job in college to help pay for some of her college, and to have extra spending
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OGL 350 Module 4: Paper
June 9, 2021

money. But her parents were lucky enough to begin a college fund for both Addison and her

brother. Her parents wanted to make sure that Addison would have the option to choose college

and be able to focus on good grades and not have to work too many jobs.

Even with going to school and working a part time job it is still important to Addison to

spend time with her family. Her brother is also in college as a senior but lives in an apartment

with his friends, her dad is still a doctor at the hospital, and her mom has begun working again.

So, with all these busy schedules her family makes sure there is time each week for them to all

get back together and have dinner. Addison’s dad loves grilling so this is always a great

opportunity to him to take the grill out. In the winter Addison’s mom gets to show off her

cooking skills. The funky thing about Addison’s family is they don’t do weekly family dinners

on the weekend they choose to do them on a Tuesday. The ways everyone schedule works out is

that Tuesdays are the least busy day for everyone, so it works out the best that way.

Celebrating the holidays with her family is her favorite part of each holiday. Addison’s

family celebrates the traditional American holidays, Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving,

etc. Addison’s favorite holiday is Thanksgiving though. She loves eating all of her family’s

traditional meals. Cooking the meals together is always the best part for her. During her family’s

family reunion, they always schedule that around the 4th of July and do the tradition 4th of July

activities. Something we did discuss was how both of us wish we knew more about other

Cultures holidays and how we can help honor those traditions and how we should better educate

ourselves and others in respecting and celebrating with people.

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OGL 350 Module 4: Paper
June 9, 2021

We then switch topics to begin discussing racism, prejudice, Culture, and Gender. This

was a very important conversation and I wanted to make sure we were both knowledgeable in

our discussion and also respectful. As two white women in America we are in a position where

we can help prevent racism and prejudice. As white people we agree that it is so important to

make sure we don’t ignore it when we see people being racist or being prejudice. It is also very

important to make sure we are being knowledgeable and staying informed at how to best be anti-

racist. It is not enough to just not be racist and prejudice yourself you must be strongly anti-racist

and prejudice. We must also hold those accountable that are being racist and prejudice. As far as

what we can control, we both agree that we can control how we treat other and make sure we are

being inclusive of everyone Culture and their Gender. When talking about how we make sure we

are including those of different Cultures, and Genders I asked the question if she had ever

purposefully or accidently excluded others based on their Culture or Gender? Addison’s first

instinct was to say no, but I told her to think longer. A memory came to Addison from back in

High School, where a new student started who was Asian. Addison herself didn’t exclude her but

others did. Addison was aware of this and didn’t do anything about it. She could have easily

extended a friendship to her and said something to everyone who was being racist, and prejudice.

At the end of this conversation, I was very glad we were able to get to know each other

better and have such an open and honest dialog with each other. It was good to hear different

points of view and hear didn’t life experiences. Just by looking at Addison and I you would

assume we were very similar but at the end of this I learned even more so you can’t judge a book

by its cover. “it is important to avoid stereotypes, which are lazy ways of describing people and
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OGL 350 Module 4: Paper
June 9, 2021

behaviors. We need to remember that no two people of any culture are exactly alike: there are

regional, Generational and individual differences, among others.” (Gesteland, 2013, p. 21).
Rachael Rutherford
OGL 350 Module 4: Paper
June 9, 2021

Appendix and Work Cited Page:

Gesteland, Richard R. Cross-Cultural Business Behavior: A Guide for Global Management.

Copenhagen Business School Press, 2013.

Shiffert, Edith. “A Woman's Career.” Women's Studies International, p. 21.

Serrie, Hendrick. Journal of Comparative Family Studies. George Kurian, 1985.

Massiah, Joycelin. “Female-Headed Households and Employment in the Caribbean.” July 1982.

How do you define “family?”

What is your family structure?

Did you ever live with your grandparents or extended family?

Who holds the most “status” in your family?  Why?

How important is education in your family?

What is the most important meal of the day?

What are your holidays and traditions?

How do you define success?

What can be done about racism and prejudice, in your opinion?

Do you remember excluding others based on Culture or Gender?