Meal Time Activities

Since I was unable to get to the site last week, I spend some time at two of the three places I have chosen to use as sites.  The first site I will call The Pond and the second site will be The Bistro.  I went to the first site at the usual time (12:30 pm, Friday) and then went to the second site a bit later in the afternoon (5:30 pm, Friday).  There were plenty of people at the first site and I was able to get quite a bit written down, but the second site was nearly a complete bust, mainly due to it being so late in the day.

So at the Pond there were quite a few people there throughout the course of my time there.  There were two groups of five, two groups of three, three groups of two, and seven individuals that I was able to get information for and approximately 12 to 15 people that were just passing through the area that I was able to observe.  Around half of the passers-by had their phones out and most of the ones that did not were on bicycles or in conversations with companions.  I also noticed that most of the passers-by did not have food with them or stop into the restaurant on their way to wherever they were going.

The first group consisted of five males that were all dressed in shorts and t-shirts, although they were not similar enough to think they were part of an organization but probably a study group.  There were books and papers all over the table they were at as well as one laptop and the people sitting there looked as though they were working on a group project or study group.  Only one of them checked their phone in the time were there and after about 20 minutes, three people left as a group and headed in the same direction away from the site.  The second group of five had three males and two females who were involved in light conversation and looked like they were just hanging out.  All the males had jeans and t-shirts on with two wearing baseball caps and both of the females were in tank tops and shorts.  All but one male in this group were on their phones for most of the time they were there while simultaneously engaging in the conversation.  These people also were playful with each other and were pushing and shoving each other pretty regularly and at one point one of the females knocked the hat off one of the males.  They all left as a group about 15 minutes before I left and all headed in the same direction.

Sitting at the next table over from the first group of five was the first group of three which was made up of two females and one male.  These people also had the look of a study group and all were actively using laptops and phones as well as looking at notebooks and folders.  This group was there before I got there and was still there when I left an hour later.  They were all wearing shorts and t-shirts and the male was wearing a baseball cap.  The second group of three were maintenance workers in uniform and they were spraying bug killer and weed-eating around the trees.  They slowly worked their way across the area and were across the street by the time I left the site.

The first group of two were both female and they looked more like they were at a working lunch meeting.  They were both dressed in business casual with one in a pantsuit and the other in a skirt. They were using a laptop and it looked like they were video chatting with someone but also conversing with each other just as much as the person on the computer.  There were also several folders and paperwork on the table they were using in addition to food.  They were on the computer when I got there but were just conversing with each other when I left.  The second group of two consisted of two males having a quiet conversation.  They were both in jeans and one was wearing a t-shirt while the other had a western style button-up shirt and a trucker hat on.  They looked like they were just having lunch together and left soon after they got done eating.  They did not check their phones or do anything but eat and talk to each other.  The third group of two was a male who was feeding the birds and his female companion.  He fed the birds bread crumbs for about 10 minutes before they left together.

The seven individuals included six females and one male.  The male was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and was napping on one of the benches until about 20 minutes before I left, when he got a phone call and left the area soon after.  Of the females, there were two that were on their phones
for the majority of the time that I was able to observe them.  One was dressed in shorts and a tank top with a see-through shirt on over it and the other was in jeans and a t-shirt.  Three of the individual females were reading books; two looked like they were studying while the third looked like she was reading a novel.  The two studying were wearing shorts and t-shirts while the one with the novel had jeans and a blouse with flowers on it.  The last female was wearing shorts and a tank top and was painting her toenails and talking on the phone.

For the Bistro visit, there were exactly three people that came through and none stopped for long. They were all male and they all showed up and left individually.  One was wearing athletic shorts and a sleeveless shirt (one of the underarmor style athletic shirts).  He was also listening to headphones and did not have a book bag or anything else with him while he was eating.  The second male was wearing cargo shorts, a t-shirt, and a plaid button-up shirt.  He only checked his phone once while he was there and picked up his food and took it with him.  The third male was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and also picked his food up and left not long after showing up.  He was talking on his phone for about five minutes when he showed up and then checked it again after he got his food.