Way to kill the mood

    It was a late night a stacks, It was around 9:00 at night. It was a regular night at Stack's. The were about 5 tables filled. One table had a couple sitting at it. The man appeared to be 40 or so. The woman was in her mid to late 30s. The were bother dressed casual but not bad. The woman said, "Andrew, I love spending time with you. Even if it is just a stacks a night away from the kids is always nice." "I know, Jessica. Those Kids can be quite the handful, I'm not sure if the babysitter will survive the night." Andrew laughed.  The waitress walked up to the couple and said, "How are you two enjoying your evening?" Andrew, "Everything has been fantastic, thank you Susan!" The waitress was a young woman in her late twenties. Her eyes had bags under them; She was probably tired from a long day at work, and looking forward to her shift ending. As the waitress walked away Andrew reached out and grabbed Jessica's hand lovingly as they gazed into each others eyes.
    At that moment four boy's around the age of 18 walked into Stacks. two of them were white, one appeared to be native american, and the other one was African american. As they sat down at the table the African american one, Isaac said, "So what are we going to my place after this to pre-game?" One of the white ones, Travis said,"I don't really care dude but where the hell is the waiter i'm thirsty as hell!" The other two sat on their phones barely paying attention to the other ones.  The waitress walked up to them and said, "Would you gentleman like anything to drink?" The other white one, Jake said, "I'll have a Dr. pepper, beautiful." Travis just ordered a water, Isaac got a sprite, and the native american one, Adan ordered a coffee." After the waitress left to get their drinks Jake whispered, "Guys did you see how that waitress flirted with me she totally wanted me." Adan turned and slapped Jake on the head and yelled, "You're the only one flirting dumb-ass! She's probably at least ten years why would she want you?" Everyone in the restaurant turned their heads at the sound of the commotion. The other two boys pulled out their phones again right before Jake slapped Adan back and exclaimed, "Dude shut the hell up! What do you even know!" Travis and Isaac both said, "Boy this is totally going on my story!" The waitress came back after thing settled down and the boys placed their orders.
      After the waitress left Isaac crumpled his straw wrapper into a ball and yell, "Three pointer as he tried to make it into Jake's drink. The shot missed, but Jake got mad and said, "Isaac are you trying to catch these hands?" A crumpled wrapper made it into Jake's drink and Travis laughed, "He might, but i am!" The other boys laughed while Jake steamed.
     The couple looked back at the boys and Jessica said, "Even if ours aren't here some kids have to ruin the mood." Andrew asked, "why can't we have just one quiet night together?" Andrew then left the money on the table and left angrily with Jessica.

Finals and Other Endings

The lounge scene is hushed and warm, resonating the feel of semester finals to every person who enters. A tight, studious air is produced and shared by all, giving me a false sense of urgency, as if I should be contributing to the production of such an atmosphere. All individuals within the scene seem to be studying or reading over something with an urgency not consistently found in the lounge. I sit in a chair away from the right exit double doors. The scene in general is full of young students, save, one older man that sits closest to the door. To the desk to the front and left of me sits an Asian man and woman, both have their shared desks baring two almost identical laptops, and various scattered papers and journals. Of which the two will hold up and seem to be talking to one another about in a dialect that sounds similar to Japanese. The woman has a beautiful red scarf, and the man, a blue shirt. The Asian man in the blue shirt soon stands and begins to exit the library when he is beeped by the sensor leading to it. The woman smiles playfully at the attention the man is getting from the inside of the scene. The man later returns back to his seat by the woman, both look at their independent laptop screens, and fade into quiet. In the back of library sits two young women, both in plush chairs aside one another. Two red roller desks combine on front of them to form a very large table. One of the women wears her hair in a tie and writes diligently in a journal in front of her (let’s call her pony Tail.) Aside she is a woman with her hair down (let’s call her down,) she also writes, but then looks over and begins to talk to her friend. Pony Tail talks, devoting her full attention to down, chews on the end of her pen, and sways it around for emphasis, in correlation with the tone of the conversation. I note that Down sways her pen the same. At that moment a young man with slicked back hair enters through the lounge. Meanwhile, at the table of the Asian pair, I note that they begin to be packing up, the Asian woman exits first, followed slowly by the Asian man. Pony Tail and down seem to have be coming off of their high horse, not looking on planning on continuing their studies, they now talk and scroll through their independent cell phones. Pony tail soon pulls up both her feet into her chair as she talks (obviously this position would be impossible to write in.) down leans back slightly into her chair as she takes her turn talking and listening. Pony tail seems to be the most extroverted of the women, as she has been very open and large in her movements, speaks the loudest, and talks the majority of the time. Aside Pony Tail at the desk in front of, sits an attractive man in a long sleeve shirt, a large white laptop is propped in front of him, and various pieces of paper lay scattered around the device. A chair juts out from one side of the desk, holding a vest coat and larger sleeved coat. I assume someone may be sitting here, until the man grabs off one of the jackets and wears it. In the time I have watched him, the man has stared at his screen with unwavering intensity, then jotted down a few notes on a paper in front of him. (Let’s call this man Erin.) At that moment, a young man exits the library, and an old man enters. Following, an older woman in white smiles, and mouths hello to me as she exits, she seems to be looking genuinely enthusiastic to see me, though I have never met her.  In respond to the sudden affection, I smile shyly and look behind me, only to remember that there is nothing but a concrete wall back there. In a seat to the right of Erin sits a girl with messy short black hair, (let’s call her Annie,) Annie reads through a stack of various newspapers, once tearing through the large stack awkwardly, now calmly balancing a manageably folded pile atop her knee. An older man with white hair, a beard, and glasses sits hunched forward, then moves back deep in his seat, attempting to read a newspaper. Changing the paper this way and that, moving his body, adjusting his leg position so often it seems unnatural. Pony Tail and Down are still on break. Still scrolling through their phones, talking about relationships. Erin, now grabs a stack of papers, looks at the screen of his laptop, then the papers, he fingers his way through the stack, until coming across one that he keeps and compares to something on screen. A young man enters, and two young men in identical hoodies exit. Back at Annie’s side of the room, it seems that she has fallen asleep. I assume this because her head his down, and her limbs relaxed back in the chair. I watch her for about a minute, and then she shakes her head, wakes, then puts it down again. The old man with the paper now exits the lounge scene followed by a young couple. Back at the girl’s table, pony tail has taken her leisurely gesturing to the extreme. The girl now lays back on the seat area of her chair, an additional chair has been pulled out to support her legs under the desks, and her phone is held in front of her face. The two are quiet. Down has an elbow propping her hand to her temple as she scrolls through her phone. Pony Tail and Down pack up moments after I witness this and exit the library. Annie and Erin are now the only two in the library.

With moments left in my observation I note that Annie has awaken, and is now quietly reading a stack of papers aloud, meanwhile Erin has put down his pack of papers, and is now reading his screen and jotting down notes as seems fit. And so ends my last day of observations.

Fin

This week I entered the restaurant for the last time. As I sat down I notices that the girl I usually see working is not here today. Sitting down are two somewhat young guys sitting together in a booth talking with each other. One has some facial hair and is wearing a hat and is smiling while he talks and uses hand gestures to go along with the story he is telling. The other guy isn’t wearing a hat, instead his hair is styled, and he also has some facial hair, he seems to be intently listening to his friend. Sitting near the door is a woman and a slightly older man. They are talking quietly to each other.

Also sitting down sitting down is a young couple with a baby. They are both looking at their baby in its carrier. Next to them is a woman in a red leather jacket with a man also in a leather jacket sitting with a boy. The woman is looking around and the boy is busy eating a burger while the man is talking to them both. Also here today is a girl and a boy sitting together. They both have a laptop open in front of them. They are exchanging words over something, perhaps a school assignment. Now entering is a mother with her two daughters, or maybe a daughter and a friend.

Later, the older man and the woman are leaving. They must know the couple with the baby, because they both walk over and say goodbye to them before leaving the restaurant. The two guys are getting up now. Before leaving the guy with the hat walks to the restroom, and the other guy waits by the door looking outside and scanning the entire establishment. The two guy leave when the one with the hat comes back.

A woman comes in some time later and goes over toward the woman and man with the boy and sits down for a minute before leaving and taking the boy with her. The man and woman in leather jackets leave sometime later. Now walking in is a man with a young boy. They stay and eat and talk for a while and leave, followed by the couple with the baby.

A family of five come in and go to the counter. They all find seat and wait and talk to each other. When it is time they get their food and eat. Later they leave as a woman comes in alone. This woman continues to eat alone for several minutes. The two teenagers with laptops leave as I gather my things and leave.

Exausting being in charge.

This evening was a busy one at the Pharmacy. Many people were picking up their medicines and doing general shopping. The real action was happening behind the scenes, though. In the back room, a meeting was being held to discuss the products not being counted in the back rooms.

“Mr. Lewis”, the store manager, was leading the discussion and inviting his employees to interject or ask questions when they felt like it. The other employee’s body language expressed interest by leaning forward, slightly, but their faces were glazed over with a look that said they were tuned out. This progressed for a while before a short lunch break was called.

I overheard on woman who I will call “Sally” mumble about how boring Mr. Lewis was and how it was hard to take any of this seriously. There were a few nods of agreement and some more statements made about how he was making them all fall asleep. Apparently no one notices Mr. Lewis slipping back into the room during their discussion. He coughed a few times then walked slowly to the front. He kind of loomed over Sally and the closest cohorts. He crossed his arms and even puffed out his chest while looking down at them.

He began to explain, in a firm voice, why this meeting was important. He told them, in no uncertain terms, that if there was failure to comply with the new stocking rules, none of them were irreplaceable. Sally wouldn’t look up the entire time he spoke to the group. Her face was red as could be. Her shoulders were a bit caved in and curled in on herself. Clearly, Sally was ashamed at being caught. The rest of the meeting continued on this tense note. As everyone began to get up to leave, Mr. Jones stood by the door. His arms were still crossed and he looked at each person from under his brows. His intimidation techniques seemed to work. Everyone walked by him with quick steps and downcast eyes.

The moment he thought no one was watching, his shoulders slumped and he began to rub his head as if he had a headache. I am thinking that being in charge and maintaining control is physically exhausting. He rubs his face a couple of times then makes his way to the office. The rest of the employees get back to the grind, but quieter and no one is talking to one another.

1,2,3 Testing headset

It is my second day as stage manager for this presentation.  The firs number was eleven minutes long and I did not have to worry about the performers being backstage.  They already were there.  During those eleven minutes, my house manager was off headset and had lighting and special effects to worry about.  I had seen his computer special effects system and it was very interesting.  The choreographers would let him know what kind of light colors, and screen color they needed and he would type into the program what they requested.  Being stage manager, I had to make sure that all props were backstage and that the performers were ready to start the number.  My headset has a very long cable so it was very important not to trip people. It almost happened a couple of times.  There was a performance that required live music, so I had to be ready to help the musicians place the microphone and chairs at the marked places.   I also had to control the screen projector in and out stage and had to close the curtains.  The second night I almost broke the rope wheel because I put all of my weight into it.   That curtain weighed more than me but it was fun being back stage and stage manager.  I was also stage manager for the first dance performance and it was much smaller than this one.  I actually got to work in a real stage.  The other stage was not very reliable with sound and lights.  At the end of the performance all of the dance members stayed to do a load out (leave everything organized).  Every performance is a team effort nobody every has a solo in or off stage.

Sloooooowww Day...

Today the restaurant seems pretty empty even though it is around lunch time. The weather is cloudy. Still the drive thru has probably one or two cars.  It Sunday, so maybe everyone wants to stay home.  That is what I want to do right now. There is a tall lady with brown hair and a kid that has long blond hair. He seems around five or six years old. In the booth in front of me a worker is eating his lunch.  He is a mature man around forty years old.  He is Hispanic/Latino looking. He wears black thick reading glasses. Seems very humble, because he haunches. the other workers are wearing the same uniform and he is very quiet.  The cashier guy is very young, probably a teenager.  He was very happy to see me.  Guess not many young people had walked in. When he was attending the couple before me, he did not seem interested enough to engage as he did with me.  There is a medium size Christmas tree with red and silver glitter decorations and yellow twinkling lights.  A white family comes in.  The guardians are old looking enough to be the three boys grandparents  The oldest is a teenager and the two other siblings look below thirteen.  An old white man walks in and says he has not been in this restaurant since he was ten.  His attitude was pretty upbeat and cheerful.  Like he was a kid all over again.  The sky seems to be clearing up a bit.  Two ladies and a girl come into the restaurant.  The shorter woman is wearing a pink camouflage jacket and jeans, the taller woman is more dressed up in leggings and black boots and the little girl is wearing a pink sweatshirt and jeans. The two woman looked Hispanic and the little girl seemed like she had an African-American characteristics with Hispanic characteristics. A man in a brown hat and a woman (does not look very womanly) come in with a little girl and a baby in a baby carriage. They looked Anglo descendance.  For this day, maybe because it is so close to the holidays, most people are out of town and there is not many customers coming in.

The Empty Chair

The Historic meeting was fairly short this evening. People were quiet in the fallout of the last meeting. Elderly Lady wasn’t at tonight’s meeting and her chair was left empty. Thin Man showed up but was quieter. This is usually the fun night of the month. We all play games and socialize. The conversation is dramatically stilted in the beginning. This lasts until Redheaded Woman comes in and asks why everyone is so quiet. We should be having fun. She asks if we are all friends here and the answer is a resounding yes. She huffs and sits down to continue her painting project.

Everyone makes their way to the back table where our games are set up and ready to be played. Viking seems to take charge and organizes the games and groups. It took a bit before people began to converse and lighten up to have fun.

Thin Man was as boisterous as ever and took a back seat to Viking and Redheaded Woman taking leadership. The two sat together and talked in quiet tones while encouraging everyone else to play the games and have a good time. It wasn’t until about half way through that Viking stood up and made the announcement that Elderly Lady would not be joining us on a regular basis anymore. She had decided to pull back a bit and work on some other projects that she had going. This sounded like a convenient excuse not to face up to the fact that Redheaded Woman and Viking had taken her perceived place of power.

Thin Man said that this was a shame and that she should come back out because we would all miss her. His reaction felt a bit forced and untrue to his actual feelings on the matter. Viking took him aside and they had a little meeting. They came back out and called a few people to the back room with them. I was one of the lucky ones called.

In the backroom, Viking, Redheaded Woman, Thin Man, Roman, and I all sat around a little table. They began discussing the leadership of our group. Listening to what makes good leaders was an interesting topic. Apparently someone that can listen to disputes objectively, make recommendations on the issues at hand, respect all of the members 9regardless of personal feeling), and collaborate with the group as a whole to achieve their goals is what was being looked for. In the end, it was decided that Viking would step into leadership of the historic society and that Thin Man would support this decision. I was a bit confused because I didn’t know our group even had a leadership role. Apparently is isn’t a formal position but an understood one. It was interesting for me to note that this decision was made by a minority of the group instead of by the group at large. Maybe the thought of Elderly Ladies empty chair is what set this off. With a split group for so long, having one leader again would be nice to most of the people.

POWER STRUGGLE

The Historic society is quiet as people straggle in.  The Elderly Lady is greeting everyone as usual. Around her the younger members are sitting. She talks quietly with each of them and tends to dominate the interactions. Around her are four young men and three young ladies. They are all around the age of 20-25 and are respectfully quiet when she speaks. The Redheaded woman is sitting there as well and quietly painting on a piece of fabric. Elderly lady is asking questions to each of her gathered youth. Most of it is about proper etiquette in court or how they need to behave on a daily basis.

As usual, another group begins to gather at the far side of the meeting hall. It is boisterous, loud, and full of laughter. A very tall man with glasses, a short woman with thick curls, a quieter man dressed as a Viking, a roman,  and a graying,  elderly, couple are all gathered around a table playing a dice game. The Thin Man walks in with a loud hello and makes his way around the room again. It is his usual custom to greet everyone with a hug. All but the Elderly lady. They don’t even look at each other. Thin Man goes over to the dice game and joins right in. This continues until the redhead woman calls for the meeting to begin.

Everyone sits at the long tables but Elderly lady keeps her youth gathered around her. It reminds me of a shield or a barricade. The topics of discussion range from upcoming and past events, to the group budget and necessities that need to be bought. Everything is happening at a civil level. The discussion is quiet and very level headed at this point. Things took a turn for the worst when Thin Man brought up an idea for a future event that he and several others wanted to host.

The idea was that at the next large event, our brewers club, host a donation tavern. People make donations to the group and in exchange get some of our home brewed alcohols. Many people on both sides of the table speak up about how they would love to do this and what event it could be done at. The idea is a popular one with everyone but the Elderly Lady. She sits there quietly and glares at any of her group that speak up in favor of it.

It was amazing how quickly the tables turned. The pleasant afternoon soon became much tenser. While the discussion was in full swing, Elderly lady brought her hand down on the table over and over. The loud sound startled everyone out of conversation and made us all look that direction. She exclaimed that The Thin Mans’ idea was stupid and that we shouldn’t listen to his ideas. They never have any merit. I think that this kind of shocked us all. She kind of leaned back in her chair and looked very satisfied with herself. Thin Man recovered quickly and leaned forward on the table with both hands. Kind of looked like an intimidation tactic to me. He stated that she should let the group make that decision and butt out. Arguing erupted from the two, too fast for me to pick out what was being said but the both got up and were standing toe to toe at one point. Neither was willing to back down. Redhead woman had finally had enough and stood up shouting for quiet.

The Viking came over to her side and said that this was no way for two adults to be behaving. Thin Man retorted that the Elderly lady was using the young group members as lackeys and servants. She declared that she didn’t make them do anything they didn’t want to. The two looked over at the group of younger people. None of them would meet the eyes of the arguers. I think they felt highly uncomfortable. Viking said that there were many issues that needed to be worked out and asked Thin Man and Elderly lady to step outside and solve their issues. Redheaded woman agreed to go with them to make sure that nothing bad happened.

As soon as they were outside, whispers erupted from both ends of the room. Viking cleared his throat and brought everyone’s attention back to the meeting. The meeting continued in an organized fashion from that point onwards. Eventually redheaded woman came back in to say that Elderly lady and Thin Man had left for the evening.

The meeting wrapped up with a strange sort of silence. Both ends of the table, being without their normal leaders seemed to have to talk together for the first time in a long time. This has been extremely awkward for me to write as it was happening.

Sunday Night Slice

Sunday. 6:06 PM.
It's getting pretty late and I'm getting hungry. Time to go grab a slice. I head to the local pizzeria down the road. As I approach the plaza a white late model Dodge  truck with a college aged girl behind the wheel approaches me at the entrance, then peels out
6:18. As I walk in, there is no one in line. 3 males are working behind the counter. 2 of the guys working look like they're in their late 30's and the third is a kid who barely looks 20, if that. For all I know he could a be freshman in high school, it's difficult to guess. I order my slices. The big kis tells me that I need to wait on the second slice so I grab my tray and head to a table. I notice behind me  in line are an older man in his 50's and a girl in her 20's. Behind them are 2 guys in their 20's. In the dining room there are several customers spread about. At one table is a couple in their 50's.
The lady is wearing a NASCAR
jacket and a camouflage cap. The male is wearing a plain white shirt  and a solid camo green cap. I grab a table right in the middle of the room for a better view. To my left 2 girls in their 20's chat and enjoy their food. One Takes a bite while the other begins to cough. Through the meal she coughs quite a bit. She might be sick. I
 finish my slice and head to the counter for the rest of my order.
6:36. A woman in her 40's walks in and joins male and female that were behind me in line. A male in his 20's walks in and orders.
6:40. The kid at the counter calls a males name out and the trio at the table get up for their to go order. As the male grabs the 2 large pizza boxes, the woman in her 40s waits for him with the door open. He walks through and the younger girl follows.
I'm pretty much done here so I head home.
6:52. Most of the original subjects have departed and no new ones have arrived. I think I'll call it a night.

Cafe on Break

On this monday of thanksgiving break I have come to get a coffee and panini at lunchtime. Oddly there are not a lot of people here today except for a few students. I imagine most students went home for the break or are not concerned with homework but there were at least two seperate groups that looked like they were studying. A few minutes later a male student walked in and joined the smaller group which was mainly females. He pulled out his laptop and looked a little nervous as if aware that he was the only male in the group. He started talking more and joined the discussion about the topic, it sounded like anatomy.                 

There was a new girl with blonde hair working today that I did not recognize. She must be another new employee. Her work was done quickly, she seemed to be very good at multi tasking and was polite to the customers. When my panini was ready she gave it to me with a smile and said "enjoy", I replied thank you.

When I arrived there were only a few cars in the parking lot but as the hour progressed it started to fill up. Although not many people were choosing to sit down. They would come in and leave quickly.  Yet again however there seems to be a rude customer who is frustrated that her drink is taking long to make even though she is the 3rd person waiting and has only been here for about 5 minutes. Not only does this irritate the barista who is a new girl and working hard but it also irritates the others waiting. Most people in line just dont make eye contact with her and act like nothing is happening. The lady continues to look impatient with her arms crossed. After about 2 more minutes she finally receives her drink but actually decides to say thank you to the barista. The line has gotten longer due to this small wait.

I saw the first old person to enter today now.  It seems like its not a normal day when there arent any older folks. This man with medium grey hair and a red flannel ordered a lemonade of all drinks and a cookie. He went outside and sat down on the patio chairs near the entrance to enjoy them.  Although there was music playing overhead he even brought his own little radio to listen to.

A man who appears to be in his late 20s walks in with a baby holder on his chest and a small baby girl dressed in pink. He wears khaki shorts and flip flops surprisingly in this colder weather. His baby however looks very warm.  He orders three drinks and then departs soon after.

I decide to leave when a big group of students come in. The tables were filling up and I was sitting at one of the only remaining four person tables so I thought I should leave.

Thanksgiving Coffee

     Holidays are the best time of year to spend time with family, eat, and get coffee! Because it is Thanksgiving break, I went home to visit my family, but I've also been hitting up the local coffee shops. Today I'm here at the most popular coffee shop in town. It is about ten o'clock in the morning and I am meeting  my sister to catch up! When I walked in, there were not a lot of people in there, maybe three. There is not a whole lot of seating, there are about 6 tables and two couches. It is a nice and calming place with a bookstore to go with it. There is only one barista working, probably because it is so slow.
     It is pretty gloomy outside and it has been on and off raining all morning. The people are dressed in warm clothing, such as jackets and boots. It's pretty warm in the coffee shop, most likely because the heat from the coffee machine is permeating throughout the building. There are a lot of warm drinks being made and a couple of frappe's but no iced drinks. It is very quiet inside, not a lot of people are talking, and since there is only one barista, she really doesn't have anyone to talk to.
     I am sitting in the corner when you first walk in so that I can get a good view of everyone in the shop. There is an old man sitting in front of me drinking a hot coffee and reading a newspaper. There is a younger couple, probably high school, sitting to my right just sitting their and talking to each other with frozen drinks. Even though they are not talking a lot, they still seem to be having a good time just sitting with each other. i would definitely never expect this from a high school couple, especially because i know that when i was in high school all of the couples were super annoying and "lovey-dovey". It's nice to be able to see "young people" having a mature time with each other without being the stereotypical annoying teenage couple.
     When my sister came in, she was surprised at how quiet it was and how there were not a lot of people in here today. She said that its usually pretty crazy and busy and takes a while to get drinks out. She was also surprised that there was only one barista, but then we realized... It's Thanksgiving... DUH! We got our coffee and we started to talk, and a few more people came in and grabbed coffee but did not stay. There is a grocery store right next to us so we assumed that they were all people who were last minute Thanksgiving food shopping and decided they needed coffee.
     It always makes me laugh seeing people rush around town and stress out over Thanksgiving because they waited until the last minute to get the food. For some people I understand because they are busy and they have to work or other stuff like that. But my family ALWAYS puts off shopping until the last minute and my mom is always stressed out and always gets mad when places are sold out of what she needs. She also always sends me to fight off all the people at Wal Mart for the groceries because I'm the only one still living at home.
     Like I said, the Holidays are the best time for family, friends, food, and coffee... but it can also be one of the most stressful times of the year! Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you have a great day!

Another Everything... But Somewhere Else

*This Field Note was taken in a location outside of the state of New Mexico.

When I walk in the door, it smells of fried chicken.  When I reach the deli section though, the display cases where the fried food is kept is empty.  The silver shines like it's just been cleaned.  Behind the counter I can hear people cleaning.  There's water running and spraying something down.

A guy is walking towards me quickly.  He's talking on the phone, and in a hurry to leave.  He's walking towards the door.

There's another lady, Army Green, on her phone.  She's in front of the produce- the cold section where the broccoli, and bagged salads are.  She has a dark green shirt on and jeans, but she looks comfy.  She's moving slowly as she pushes her cart to the end of the produce.  She has a mini cart instead of a full sized shopping cart.  In the bottom section there are a lot (at least 8) boxes of saltine crackers.  There are a few other things in the top basket, including celery.

Over in the main aisle there is an older couple standing to one side.  They're talking, and trying to figure something out.  They're looking at a display of soup cans, but I can't hear what they're saying.  A moment later they turn down the aisle, which oddly enough, contains the store's soup selection.  The old lady picks up two cartons of chicken broth.  They exchange a few other words, but I still can't pick up on anything they're saying.  When they leave, I notice that they have two loafs of bread and a large tub of ice cream in their cart.  I briefly see Army Green again too.

I browse for a few moments, and then head over to another section of the store.  It's towards the front, near the checkout.  I see the old couple again, and they're using one of the self-checkout lanes.  They're not scanning anything, instead they look around, almost as if confused or in need of help.  The light above their cash register is blinking red, and I can see an error message that has popped up on their screen.  As they wait for the problem to either disappear or be solve, the lady begins opening up some bags.  She's brought her own shopping bags to take home the items.  Her husband places an item (some sort of produce) on the register to weigh it.  That must've been the problem- figuring out how to weigh the produce.

Back in the food section, I walk down the aisle with the potato chips.  There is a guy, Big Joe, who's very tall, at least 6'2" and wearing jeans and big black shoes.  He's African American, and wearing a long sleeve blue shirt.  He's carrying a shopping basket with him, and it's filled with drinks.  He reaches to grab a bag of the generic chips, but then stops.  Then he goes for them again, and this time they make it to the basket.  Almost immediately, he pulls them out of the basket and puts them back on the shelf.  He continues to ponder his chip decision.  He shifts the basket to his other hand, as I imagine the weight of the drinks were heavy.  He grabs another bag of the generic version (the exact same chips he originally chose, but a slightly smaller bag), but then puts them back again.  He finally grabs the large bag of generic chips, the very first bag he picked up and puts them in his basket.  he leaves the aisle.

I walk out to the main aisle and take a few steps before stopping.  Right inside the drink aisle, I see a little boy playing with packets of grape Kool Aid.  He notices that I'm watching him and stops to look at me.  He puts the packets of drink back into their box and puts it on the shelf.  He runs down the aisle, towards who I assume are his parents down at the other end of the aisle.  About half way down the aisle, he looks over his shoulder and looks at me as he continues to run.  He meets the group at the end of the aisle, and they proceed to move on in their shopping trip.

In the main aisle between the food section and the pharmacy area, there is a man wearing a sports jacket.  He's carrying a baby that's probably close to one year old.  She's dressed in all pink.  He walks up and down the aisle, peeking his head over to look down each of the aisles he passes.  He's looking for something.  I notice that the baby has a box of dryer sheets that she's holding.  On about the man's third trip down the aisle, the baby squeals, but it doesn't provoke a response from the man.

In the soda aisle, there's a worker stocking drinks.  He's cutting plastic off of a pack of flavored water.   There are a couple pairs of people on this aisle.  One guy and his son are looking at soda.  The son asks, "Can we get this?"  The dad says no, with his reasoning being that it "tastes nasty".  There's a another couple, Skinny Blonde, and Wine Guy.  Wine Guy stops to look at something, but Skinny Blonde keeps on moving.  She eventually stops about half way down the aisle to wait for him.  They end up leaving and going to the next aisle over, but I see them there too.

I notice that Wine Guy has his horseshoes on.  He tells her Skinny Blonde something about the kind of salad he likes.  I decide to keep moving.

I pass two African American girls in another main aisle.  The only thing they have in their cart is bread rolls, but I find it odd that they have those in their cart, but are going towards the food section.  The older lady is pushing the cart, and a younger one is walking behind her.  I wonder if they're mother and daughter.  They're talking about having enough forks and how it would be cute for their "little party".  The younger girl in the back laugh's a little.  She's eating an ice cream treat from a fast-food restaurant.

Close to the home section, I see Wine Guy and Skinny Blonde again.  I can hear them a little better this time.  They both have very Texan accents.  Their cart is full of food, and they have a large package of dog food on the bottom too.  I look at their hands to see if they have wedding rings on, and I don't see any.  Skinny Blonde says something along the lines of "I don't see any," but Wine Guy is to the rescue!  He tells her, "there's another spot we need to look. . . let's go back here."  I turn around to watch them walk away.  Wine Guy is pushing the cart now, and he's walking quite a bit in front of Skinny Blonde.

Now that I'm on the opposite side of the store, i notice that's it's a lot quieter and cleaner.  There are a lot of holiday displays set up too.

At the check out, I choose an aisle that's empty.  It's hard to see if the store associate is even there when I first walk up.  There's a male worker, probably a manager walking past her register.  As I put a couple items on the counter, the first words out of her mouth are shouted over to the manager.  "What about my break?"  He replies, "Carol's getting it", but then he hesitates a little.  He mumbles- "uh, yeah", and then says something into his head piece.  The worker, Asia, continues to help me.  She doesn't seem happy though.  For some reason, I take special note of her wedding ring that's jammed on her fat finger.  She finishes my transaction, and there's another person behind me she starts to help.

Hard work

Today i was in Stack's Pancake house around 1:00. I walked in and sat down at my usual table. A waiter named Joe came up to me he looked about 30 he had his long hair drawn into a ponytail and was probably around 6 feet tall. He asked what i wanted to order in a polite voice so i ordered the strawberry crepes and a black coffee. there were few people at stacks on a Wednesday afternoon. There were two college students doing homework, One appeared to be middle-eastern or maybe Indian he had a short beard  and was dressed in a red flannel shirt. There was a short blond girl next to him she was slightly over weight, but seemed very happy and energetic as she help josh with his work. "Ugh i hate Biology its so hard to understand!" exclaimed josh. Abbey said, "come on josh most of it is just studying. You just need to focus and do you work and this mid-term wont be tough at all." Josh replied, "You don't get it Abbey I try to study,  but i just get so distracted i can't do it." "That is the worst excuse I've ever heard" yelled Abbey as she slapped josh on the back of the head. "Now get to work! Don't worry i'm here to help." she told Josh. "Alright alright just don't hit me again!" exclaimed Josh. Josh and Abbey then went over some flash cards, when a tall man in his 60's walked in. He was probably 6'5 with a weather beaten face to show hes worked outside a lot of his life. There was a young boy with him probably around 13 or 14 he had dark brown hair cut neatly combed over to the side. both the man and the boy were white. They were followed by a short Hispanic woman probably in her late 50's. She was was dressed in a very nice all black suit with a white undershirt. While both men were in dirty jeans and t-shirts.The Woman Angela asked, "How many bags did you fill with pine needles?" Carl replied, You should've seen it me and Uncle Greg filled like 22 trash bags worth." Greg stated "Yup, Carl sure helped out. It took us almost two hours to do." "What did Greg have you do for the rest of the time?" Angela inquired. "We walked around and filled buckets with rocks." Carl replied. The Waiter Joe came buy and took their order Greg got a melt with water, Angela got scrambled eggs and white toast, with a coffee, and Carl got a stack of blueberry pancakes with a tall glass of orange juice. Carl called his dad and handed the phone to Greg. "Oh yeah Craigo he did a great job." Greg said into the phone. "Nope no problems what so ever. He worked hard the whole time!" "Alright you have a good one to." Greg said before he hung up the phone. The food came and both Greg and Carl ate liked starved animals while Angela took her time and stated, "Wow you two sure worked up an appetite!" With a mouth full of pancakes Carl exclaimed well it was hard work!" They then proceeded to finish their meals in silence and Carl gulped down 2 glasses of orange juice. As they payed the bill Angela thanked Carl for working so hard and for going to lunch with her and Greg.