Ethnography

Ethnography

October 27, 2014

Stuck in the Wrong Generation



It is a nice cloudy afternoon, a perfect day to sit outside on the patio of the coffee shop. The two elder women in front of me ordering their food seem to have the same idea as me. They get their daily teas and head out to the patio were people are talking all over, the music is playing loudly, and the birds are chirping all around. They sit down and talk very quietly, for I can barely hear them and I am sitting a table away. 

The lady in a pale pink shirt stirs her tea while she tries to keep from losing her page in her book from the slight breeze. On the other side of the table the lady with the pink hoodie and matching pink socks that show through her yellow crocks eats the home made brownie from the shop and tells the reader about how nice some lady is.  As stand by me by Ben E King comes over the radio not only I start to sing but the two ladies at the table start to sing also. They look over at me in surprise that I know the song and smile. 

They carry on with their teas and conversation of their grand-kids and families. I hear the reader telling the pink lady that her son has met a new woman and she does not like her because she is rude and acts like she is too good for their family. She still sits and stirs her tea while pinky lady tells her to give her son’s new girlfriend a chance and maybe she will come around. In the middle of this conversation a loud motorcycle drives past the coffee shop and all three of us look at it drives by with a disgusted look on our faces. Once more they see my reaction is the same as theirs and they laugh, this time talking to me asking, “Don’t you hate that people have to drive such loud vehicles?”  While I laugh with them a shake my head and agree with how annoying it really is when you are trying to have a peaceful lunch. 

We go back to ourselves and the two go on with their conversations. I can hear them trying to be quiet as they talk about me and how most “kids” my age are not like me. I try not to smile or laugh at them since I can hear what they are saying and pretend that I am in gauged in listening to the music and doing work on my computer.  They carry on with how they wish their grandkids where less wild on more like the girl who sits behind them, (me). 

Their conversation changes when the reader catches eye contact with me during this conversation.  They start to talk about how they used to drink four cups of coffee a day and now they do not drink any at all because it just makes them more tired. They now drink tea because it has good flavor and not as much caffeine. The reader tells pinky that her favorite tea flavor is vanilla, and pinky tells her she did not know that vanilla was a tea flavor. 

Their tea conversation changes when they notice me feeding the birds my left over crumbs from my sandwich. They hear me telling one of the workers that I want my plate because I feed the birds the left overs because I do not want to waste it. When the man goes back inside they look at me and the reader tells me how nice it is of me to share with the birds. While the pink lady agrees and says that I am considerate and kind. 

When my crumbs are gone I start to pack up and the two ladies tell me to have a great day asks for my name. Before I can put my books away they tell me their name and how great it was to meet me. I smile and tell them the same and try to put my things away without being rude.  

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