Oblivious.

Another day is passed, another day in the restaurant. The day starts off hectic. With few employees in the morning, it is a team effort to keep the already buzzing restaurant afloat. By the time 10 hits, the morning rush has slowed to a minimum. Two women sit near the kitchen, they are frequent guests on Sunday mornings. They order their usual huevos rancheros and breakfast burrito and catch up on their latest gossip. As well, two couples of bikers who often come in sit and gossip with each other long after they finish their meal. It stays slow most of the morning; a hopeful start to the day. However, with any expectation of how the day will play out, the opposite is the reality. Large groups fill the room quickly, the dull roar soon becomes a loud rumble of chatter. Through the crowds of organized chaos, I am still able to observe few people and groups.

Friends seem more concerned with catching up than with actually being at a restaurant. Perhaps the idea of  going out to eat is merely a venue of where these friends catch up. A table of cowboys are one example, where they nearly forgot to order any food. Elsewhere in the room, the owner’s sister and family enter, where the owner joins them. As I walk by I can see them sipping on coffee and laughing. I wonder how often she eats the food here. Would I become tired of my own food if I had a restaurant?

The morning turns to early afternoon, but it seems as time continues, it only grows busier. The cowboys have finally eaten, but they stand near their table, still talking. Desperate for room, employees clean and set up the table for a new party, yet the people are still oblivious to their surroundings. Similarly, many people hover in the entrance which makes it difficult for the already busy employees to maneuver around them.

The increasing hectic atmosphere makes observing harder, but the more people that seem to be in the restaurant the more chaos arises. As serves wait for meals to emerge from the kitchen (which seems to be falling behind), chip bowls and drinks become empty with no one to refill them. The rush of customers has finally begun to catch up with employees.

I can see that the busier the restaurant is, the shorter tempers become. Customers begin to grow impatient both to be sat, and to be served on. Maybe it’s not apparent to them there are dozens of others as well. What once was customers’ unawareness to servers has now transitioned to unawareness to the full tables around them.