A Bite to Eat

It’s a busy day at the food court.  The air is hot and stuffy as people frantically order their food and run off to their next destination.  Everybody is having their own conversations creating loud chatter in the room.  Most people appear to be young, and are most likely students.  Some gather here for hanging out with friends for a quick lunch while others form groups to work on assignments together.  Some keep to themselves and prefer to be left alone while they dine and study.

One young lady, Miss Bored, appears to be waiting for someone.  Her movements seem to imply she is becoming impatient.  She is short in height but fairly thin.  She begins tapping her foot and flipping her hair.  Every two minutes or so, she peeks at her phone then puts it back on the table.  She rests her head on her arms for a while, then looks up and begins to stare at the entrance doors as if each minute that passes is a complete drag.  She continues this behavior for about fifteen minutes until her patience has run out, at which point she got up and quickly walked away.

           
A table near me begins to fill up.  Three boys, John, Tomas and Jared sit down together.  All three boys are wearing similar clothes: dark colored t-shirts and some jeans.  Two of the boys are wearing glasses and seem to be a little on the nerdy side.  They talk quietly for a while until a tall female briefly visits with them.  The girl is leaning over Jared and he talks to her about some assignment then she leaves.  John and Jared talk to one another while Tomas fiddles with his phone for a while.  Eventually the conversation that the two boys are having sparks the interest of Tomas and they begin talking about girls and video games.

            
Ms. Outspoken begins telling a story about her and her boyfriend in a loud manner.  She seems to be very excited about this particular topic, but quiets down at some parts in her story.  Her friends burst into laughter for the whole room to hear.  I’m not sure that this was the most appropriate place for this particular story.  Perhaps somewhere that was not as public would have been more suitable for her story.  She doesn’t notice the occasional glances going her way as her voice becomes louder when she gets excited about her story.  People then turn away and continue on their own accord.

A worker comes in to clean the tables that people have scurried from.  She stops to talk to Ms. Outspoken and her friends.  The girls’ volume level begins to pick up again as Ms. Outspoken repeats a shortened version of her story.  They are talking informally as two very good friends would.  The worker finds more tables to clean so she says a quick goodbye and walks away to her duties.  Her facial expressions make it seem as if she is in an upset mood, but nonetheless, she continues doing her job.  Ms. Outspoken and her friends get up to leave.  They leave with a big smile and walk away hugging one another.

By this time, another boy had joined John’s group of friends.  They continue to talk, and the boys make fun of the fourth boy who had joined for tapping a girl’s head with his bag as he was coming through.  She got a little angry and murmured a “watch where you’re going” and went to join a friend at another table.  The fourth boy finishes his meal fairly quickly and all the boys get up to leave, still teasing the fourth boy.

A large group of girls have formed a study group.  The girls are all matching and are wearing bright colored pink shirts and work out shorts.  They all seem to snack on bread and water.  One of the girls has her laptop out and a boy who is rather short comes to join her and is helping her on her assignment.  He points at items on the screen and she nods her head in understanding.  A few of the girls get up to leave while a few more come to take their places.  They leave in pairs and walk to class together. 

A random student has come to sit across from me at my table.  I try to engage him in some conversation, but he remains quiet and just eats.  He does not talk the whole time.  While I type, he takes out his phone to pass the time by.  He finishes his meal and stays at the table for about ten more minutes before he gets up in a hurry as if he were late.  He was not very social at all.  His hair hid his face, and he was dressed in a black shirt, and some khakis. 

The food court has many options, however, most people preferred the fast food over the healthy choices presented.  They would come and go with the hustle and bustle of their late lunch hour.  Eventually the amount of students began to thin out and the smell of food was left.