Football Sunday

It is a Sunday evening as I pile into a restaurant to acquire observations for my fieldwork entry. Immediately I can see the anxious football fans crowding around the TV's. The restaurant is dimly lit and the chairs are placed incredibly close to one another. One might find this to feel intimate, but in my opinion, I feel as if I am in a Chinese buffet sitting elbow to elbow with the people surrounding me. Being the dinner rush and football Sunday, it is hard for me to hear what the customers are saying over the loud cheering and conversation. I can vaguely hear Earth, Wind, and Fire playing on the radio.

There is a family of four sitting across from me. This family consists of a father, mother, daughter, and son. The father keeps getting mad at the son because he keeps leaving his seat to bug the mother. I could tell that the family had been there for a while because the waiter was clearing up the table for dessert. By the looks of it, the father had ribs, mother had chicken, and the kids both ordered something off the kids menu. Accompanied with their meal were soft drinks; coke and sprite. They order a giant cookie with ice cream.

Right beside me is a couple, maybe on their second date, just ordering their drinks. The female orders strawberry lemonade, and the male, something from the bar. I say they are on their second date because both look awkward and are having trouble finding talking points. The waiter comes back with the drinks and both look relieved. He then takes their order.

From across the restaurant floor I can see an old married couple ordering from the senior citizens menu. The wife is getting agitated with the husband because it appears he is giving the waitress a difficult time by making complaints about every little thing. To no surprise, they get the soup and after it arrives, they look content with their meals. The wife keeps nagging the husband about the amount of sweet and low he keeps putting into his tea.

Throughout the entire span of my time at the restaurant, customers were getting riled up at the football games and getting very frustrated with the calls made by the referees. Many of the customers were wearing their favorite teams jersey.

After the family of four finished their dessert, they gave the waiter a handsome tip and were on their way. The father carried the son and the mother held her daughters hand.

The old married couple also left the restaurant but before they walked out of the door, the man headed towards the restroom and later grabbed a handful of mints.

As the night died down I looked over at the young couple and noticed them arguing about who would pay the check. Of course neither of them were getting angry but you could tell that the male was insisting he pay. After some negotiating, he paid for the meal, and she offered to pay for dessert.

This ends my second week of fieldwork.