Writing the “Business in Ramadan” story wasn’t difficult for me. It went very smooth.
One of the things that I decided to do to make the process easier was going to the restaurant or café after Iftar. I think this way the person I’m interviewing won’t be tired (because of fasting).
Whenever I ask for the manager, people working there were a bit taken aback and were like “Why? Is there anything wrong?” I thought it was funny.
I interviewed the manager of Bon Appetite and the manager of Cilantro. I was interested to know how the businesses of a restaurant and a café were going in Ramadan. I introduced myself and told them generally what my story is about. I had to ask them if they are ok with me using a recorder. They were fine with it. I also used my notebook to take notes of what they were saying but I’m always worried I’m not going to be able to write everything so I used the recorder just in case.
The two managers I interviewed were friendly and were pretty specific in their answers. I felt they were honest and helpful. I didn’t need to fight my way through to get the answers I wanted. They gave me very good quotes. They were accurate and clear.
At the end of the interview, one of them was like “Good luck with your story and May God be with you” which I thought was really kind and sweet of him.
