First off there is a rowdy table of just one guy and one gal. Both are in their early to mid 20's I suspect. Both are dressed warmly, but casually. They appear to be college students catching up over a few drinks. Though it is difficult to pin point their exact relationship. The woman's posture implies that she is very interested in their conversation, she is sitting at the edge of her seat and is very upright. The guy however, is leaned as far back in his seat as he can be. The woman is very animated in her conversation, the guy is glued his phone about 90% of the time. While he seems a little distanced from the conversation because he is so absorbed by his phone, he is still contributing to their conversation. The distraction by his phone does nothing to deter the gal from having a good time. She is very animated in her gestures and her voice is loud. If I was a gambling man, I think it might be safe to assume that these two are 'just friends' however, the gal would be okay with being more than friends. The gal picks up her phone usage after several failed attempts to get the guy to participate more in the conversation. Though, even with her phone usage going up, she still tries to engage the guy in conversation, showing him things from her phone, at one point the guy even takes her phone from her, and types on it. I am unsure of what this exchange meant, maybe she 'tagged' the two of them together at this field site and he didn't want anyone to know he was there? I may be reading too much into this. Anyway, as suspected they split their tab when it comes time to pay the bill.
There is a table with 2 guys in their mid 20's, and a gal also in her mid 20's. All are dressed causally, though the guys aren't nearly as bundled up as the gal is. I suspect the guys may be brother. They have very similar physical features. The relationship with the gal is a little more difficult to place. They guys are sitting closer to each other than they are to her. Their postures are all very relaxed and their conversation is animated. They are all smiling and laughing. I suspect they are grad students at the least since their are a couple back packs with them and they appear a little older than an average undergrad. Phones don't make an appearance within the group until after they ask the waitress for the bill. Then the it is the girl that is mostly using her phone. The guys seem content to chat among each other. The bill seems to have been split between one of the guys and the other guy and the girl were on the same tab, paid for by the guy. When the guys handed their payment to the waitress the girl stood up and appeared to be leaving. She walked a few steps from the table and then changed her mind and came back to the table but took a seat directly next to the guy that paid for her. This is interesting because she never showed any affection to either of the men during their meal, but now she is touching the guy that paid her bill and even a kiss was passed between them. I think my first guess that the two guys were brother was correct, and it would seem this girl is dating one of the brothers.
Four guys in their mid 20's take a table together and order a round of beers. All of them are dressed business casual, in button ups and slacks. They are all also carrying back packs, this makes me suspect they are not on a lunch break from work, but are class mates celebrating a successful presentation in one of their classes. They are fairly rowdy from the get go, even before the beers make it out to them. They are joined by a 5th guy, in his late 20's or early 30's and much more casually dressed. He doesn't take a seat immediately. He also has a back pack with him. I suspect that he is dropping by to say "hi" to some of his buddies on his way to class. Though the sight of the all the flowing beer seems to change his mind as he takes his seat and settles in. There is moderate phone use through out the table. One of the original 4 takes a phone call and gets up and walks around the patio while on the phone. This makes me assume it is either an important call from maybe a boss or professor, or it may be girl. In my experiences, those are the only times when people feel the need to walk around aimlessly while talking on the phone. A 6th guy joins the already boisterous table. He is in his mid 20's and dressed for the out doors. Cargo pants and a thick long sleeve with mountain boots. He appears to have a GPS device attached to his belt. He is maybe a hunting guide, or works for an agency that is in the field often. This new member is greeted by a general round of cheers. A popular guy. He also takes a beer. A gal in her mid early to mid 20's joins the table, she is greeted by the guy that was taking a stroll around the patio while talking on the phone. I suspect that she was the one that he was on the phone with. The idea that they are early into a romantic relationship is reinforced by their brief hug and no kiss upon her arrival. They do hold hands however as he introduces her to the table. He seems very proud of her.
Well unfortunately I had to switch out of amateur anthropologist mode before I could see what hi-jinx my last observation table got into as they drank more and more. I had my own responsibility to entertain some friends that spotted and joined me at my table. But still, it was a very good afternoon for observations. Interesting group of patrons on this winter day. Quickly allow me to recap some of the common trends:
- young crowed, no one appeared to be over their mid 30's
- cell phone usage was moderate for the most part. It was heavy at the tables I suspected it would be. The table with the 6 guys and 1 gal had the least usage per capita, but that is suspected since it was mostly guys
- the cold didn't seem to have much effect on the patrons, besides they were a little more hunched up than normal
- and as normal, beer was the drink of choice across the board
That is all I have for you folks this week! Make sure to check back next week as it will be my last report! I hope we can squeeze one more nice day out of November for it!
-Al
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