My first observation focuses on a table of four men, probably in their mid 60's, and having lunch together. They are all dressed in similar outdoor clothing. Heavy long sleeve button down shirts and cargo pants. This makes me believe they are all co workers and coming from the same place, some place with lots of mud seeing as how their cargo pants have splashes of dried mud. Some sort of wild life management if had to guess their profession. They are having a fun lunch it seems, a lot of laughing and a lot of animated hand gestures. Since none of them are drink any alcohol I can assume they will probably be heading back to work after they finish their meal. Not unsurprising they split their check when they are ready to leave. Also not very surprising, none of their phones ever made an appearance at their table. It seems the older generation aren't much fans of social media.
A man and a woman, late 50's to mid 60's are having a quiet conversation together while they look over a couple of menus. They are dressed casual and relaxed as they sit across the table from each other. Their casual dress and late age leads me to believe they are probably married and out just for some lunch. They are joined by a woman in her 30's about ten minutes after they sit down. This new woman is dressed in what appear to be scrubs. She must be a nurse or care taker on break. This younger woman has similar features to the older couple she has joined, especially the older woman. Their difference in age but similarity in appearance makes it safe to assume she is their daughter and they are just catching up with her over her lunch break. Through their entire lunch their conversation remains quiet, but they all seem to be enjoying each other's company. This is another table where cell phones never make an appearance during the course of their meal.
A single man, mid 20's, is seated alone at a table. He is dressed in the hipster style with tight jeans that are rolled up past his ankles, a flannel button up shirt and ray bands glasses. It seems he is just having a beer or two before class since he has his back pack with him. Not surprisingly, he is listening to music on his phone and doesn't look away from it once while he is having his beer. At one point he even arranged his beer in a more "artistic" manner and took a few pictures of it, probably to post to a social media site so his friends can see how trendy he is.
Two girls in their early to mid 20's sit down together. They are dressed casual and are probably college students based off their age and dress. One is carrying a small gift bag. This makes me think she has had a birthday recently and her friend gave her a gift and is also treating her to lunch. My suspicions are soon proven right when she opens her bag and pulls out a new purse thing. They have a fairly animated lunch together and sit very close to each other. I would suspect two girls their age to have their phones out while at lunch together, but this never happens. This leads me to assume that these girls probably haven't hung out one on one in some time. This girl's birthday gave them an excuse to go out and catch up, there fore they could ignore their phones and focus on each other's company.
Sadly, I had to cut my observations a little short today. But none the less it was a very interesting afternoon of study. There was a broad range of patrons today. Lemme hit a few of the high points real quick.
- Mostly groups out to have lunch together.
- Broad range of age and race.
- Not much alcohol was served.
- Phones use was low on the tables I expected it to be, but also at the table with the two girls where I expected it not to be.
- Weather had no effect on the patrons as it was sunny and warm.
- Lack of background music had no effect on patrons, but I think since this takes place outdoors the ambient noise from the street and just being outside was enough background for the patrons.
- Though the music did come back on, no effect was recorded.
-Al
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