Ethnography

Ethnography

September 12, 2015

Busy Day at Corner Cafe

Here again at Corner Café. There is so much more people here today! I am here with a couple of friends doing homework and studying for an upcoming test. To my right, there is another group of girls also studying for a test. It is pretty ironic because they directly mirror us, in ethnicity, hair color, and the subject of study. There is also a man sitting to my left in the “comfy” chairs and one man in front of me. There are also people in the far corner on their computers. It seems as though they are studying also.
The quirky barista is working again, and as usual, she greets everyone that walks in and never loses an ounce of spirit in her tone of voice. Everyone… and I mean EVERYONE has more than one type of electronic device in front of them, computer, phone, tablet, etc. There is also another reoccurring patter in the size of drinks everyone gets. Like last time, all the people who look like students or that are studying have either medium or small drinks. Those who look older and do not seem to be students get large drinks. Maybe because college students are broke and older people are like YOLO!!! Who knows!
The man sitting in front of me keeps his drink in his hand that is rested on his chest/stomach. He keeps the straw on his lips or in his mouth. Even if he is not drinking anything. He is pre-occupied with his phone. It seems as something very interesting is happening on his screen. Everyone is in their own little world. Even the girls I came with are dazed in “homework” land.
The other group next to us seem to have really good conversation about their homework, but after answering one question or talking about one topic, like all girls, they start gossiping about literally everything. I pretty much know their life story. I don’t pay attention enough to get all the details but their conversations sound a little like, “Well Jennifer was supposed to go to the party with Tommy, but she ended up going with Billy and now Becky is angry.” And “Ugh, that teacher is so rough, like, I totally didn’t like even want to do this assignment, but like I did it anyway! And he gave me like a C!” Words cannot describe how entertaining they are. It’s like a TV show or a movie scene. They seem to be studying for a anatomy or other health class because now they are trying to find all the places in their body where they can take pulse.
The girl in the corner on her computer seems to be struggling with her studying. She is in the position of “WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!” With her hands in her hair, eyes wide open, with the occasional fed up head drop. She has gone up and gotten about three drinks since we’ve been here. She is very perplexed.
The third and fourth weeks of school are when everyone seems to be crazy studying because that about the time when teacher schedule their first exams. And because they are the first exams of the class, everyone wants to do good so, like almost everyone else in this café, including perplexed girl, we are are studying our little hearts out to ace these exams!
I am sitting at a table where I can see the windows to outside. There are a lot of people in costumes and interesting outfits with intense face make-up on. It wasn’t until the fifth person that I realized Comic-con was in town. I am expecting to see much more people to walk by and come in with their little costumes and superhero shirts.

Music also seems to be a reoccurring thing that people enjoy during homework. Out of the ten people that are in here studying, six of us have headphones in and are periodically shaking our heads to the beat. There is more upbeat music playing in the background this time. Probably because it is daytime and bright outside. As I get ready to leave, there are still a lot of people studying but there doesn’t seem to be more people than when I came in. It’s pretty busy for the middle of the day on a Saturday!

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