Erving Goffman argued that social life is staged: out front we manage an impression for an audience, and the moment we step behind the wall the performance drops. It is symbolic interactionism at its most literal — meaning built face to face, one performance at a time. Tap either region of the floor plan, then try a different scene.
The restaurant
The wall between the two regions is what Goffman called the barrier to perception. Tap either side of it.
Goffman’s “front” — its three parts
Setting—
Appearance—
Manner—
Setting is the scenery, and it usually isn’t yours. Appearance announces your status. Manner signals what kind of interaction this will be. Change any one of the three and the audience reads a different character.
Front stagetap a region or a scene to begin
Back stage is not “the real you.” Goffman’s claim is that we perform in both regions — the back region simply has a smaller, trusted audience and a different script. There is no unperformed self waiting behind the last curtain.