Numb to the Ordinary

It’s a dewy, early morning in Hatch, New Mexico. I sit on a bench outside a popular restaurant. It’s the weekend of the world famous, Chile Festival so people from all over have gathered to indulge in this yearly festivity.

A cheery family of four patiently wait in line for a world famous green Chile cheese burger. I quickly conclude that they are not familiar with the area by their quick glancing eyes, pointing, and the pictures they were taking of each other and surrounding objects. There’s a husband and a wife who both appear to be around the same age of 45 and they are accompanied by their two children. Both being male, one around 14 and the other around 10. The family, although eager, is obviously exhausted and in need of food, water, and air conditioning. The younger boy is adamant about going back to the festival to continue riding the rides, and is continuously asking when they are going back. The older brother is playing on his phone and is keeping to himself, not saying much. The parents converse on their further plans for the rest of the day and when they are planning on leaving and heading back home. The family then enters the restaurant and I can no longer study them.

Shortly after the previous family entered the restaurant, an elderly couple around the age of 65 got in line for the same restaurant. They were both Hispanic and did not display the same enthusiasm as the previous family. Instead they appeared to be irritated due to all the people that were at the restaurant. They were speaking in Spanish, so I could not understand what they were saying, but it was obvious that they were residents to the area and were not happy that all the tourists were there. About 30 minutes had gone by and the couple had still not ordered their food. At this moment the husband turned to his wife and said in Spanish, "Let’s go to the Pepper Pot." The two, frustrated, then proceeded to get in their car and drive down the street to try another restaurant.

Throughout the duration of my study, I found that I could very easily point out those that were living in Hatch, and those that were visiting. The shear look on their face or the tone in their voice was indication as to whether or not they were residents or not. The two family had distinguishing characteristics that set them apart from each other, and the reason being was fascination and gratefulness. Being that the first family had never seen or done anything in the area, they were fascinated with every little thing about the town. Whereas the elderly couple who had lived there for many years had seen everything and were only interested in getting a quick meal. It’s easy for us to become blind or numb to the little things in life if we live in the same place for a long time. Everyone is the first family when they go out of town or somewhere they haven't been before and then quickly transition into the second couple when we return home. We all look at things with ungrateful eyes and our attitude is a direct subconscious reflection of that. We need to realize the beautiful little things in our lives and not take things for granted.