Lunch 2

There was alot of new people in the cafe, they were much younger maybe high school aged. Different groups seemed to to stick together, partly separated by age and separated by gender. It is interesting how in high school the gender difference is very prominent, the guys sit with guys and the girls sit with girls. The interaction between them is far more awkward, the younger boys and girls were the most isolated. As the age of the kids increased mixed groups were more common, until with the college age kids mixed groups are the norm. There was a group of younger guys sitting near me, maybe in the 10th grade. They seemed nervous and kept glancing around. I suspect this is because of the college age girls sitting near them, these girls are quite attractive and the young guys talk very quietly. The group of boys seem very interested in the blonde girl, and the dark haired girl, constantly looking over and giggling and blushing whenever the girls look there way. The group sitting at the bar stool area is clearly older, Im guessing seniors, this is a mixed group with I suspect a few couples. This group looks mostly Hispanic, with a one Caucasian girl. This group was much louder than the younger boys and much more confident. Instead of moving as a group they would break off and get food by themselves, and would look around actively and make eye contact with others. Some of the tables are taken by older people, mostly women who seem to be in charge of the high school kids, They talk among themselves and seem to be parents to some of the kids. Every once in a while a kid would come up and ask for some money, the older woman would give them the money and the kid would sometimes say "thank you mom" or call her a Ms. More than likely the kid asking for money is the son or daughter of the older woman, with the other kids being their kids friends or a kid of one of their friends. The maturity difference between the age groups is very apparent, with the things they talk about and how they act.

Feel like Spain!!!

I accompanied my friend to her flamenco class at 1:30 pm.  Before the class there are two ballroom students practicing a tango to “Roxanne” one of my favorite songs.  A flamenco student walked in and had a little witch hat on and a small black cauldron with toffee candy in honor of Halloween.  A couple of students were deciding what Halloween custom looked better.  The students started changing into their black skirts and flamenco shoes as soon as the ballroom dancers left the room.  One of the students asked if they could listen to samba music while they warmed up.  The teacher then started playing Christmas music just for fun.  He then stopped the music and was talking to my friend.  He then did put samba.  He then started joking around and trying to dance samba with the student with the witch hat and the pointy top fell off.  My friend had a laugh attack.  The teacher then goes over what they need to practice for the show in two weeks.  The practice then starts.  I cannot reveal any movements for copyright reasons, but it is beautiful!!  Throughout the breaks the teacher explains to them what live performances might be on the show.  During the practices the teacher claps and stomps his foot to mark the timing.  During the second break a student puts deodorant on.  The students that are doing the piece help each other figure out how to correctly accomplish the movements that are difficult to learn. The teacher stands behind them and does the choreography to make sure they are executing it correctly.  The teacher corrects on what they mess up and need to practice.  The teacher and the flamenco group then practices without music to find the sound of the beat.

Average Joe's on an Average Day

To the left of my desk are several students conglomerated together. They're heavily invested in large textbooks. Two boys, five girls. All white. I'm not exaggerating when I say that every single one of them had a Starbucks cup.

To my right, where the wall used to be, there is a computer lab with all glass windows. Busy, busy students type the afternoon away.

There is a new custodial crew in the building. I guess that every few years they change out crews and send them to other buildings. Though it's nice to meet new people, I miss the old janitorial crew. We had grown close over the year and a half that we worked together. But I'm starting to get to know the new crew well. Martha has bright, blonde, curly hair. She wears thick make-up and speaks very little English. She is skinny, tall, and Hispanic. "Hola mija!" she says. "Que paso, Martha?" She strides away. Her friend, Martin, is a short, stubby, Mexican man. He is balding and has a large belly and cheery,  rose cheeks. He saunters around the building with his cleaning supplies.

My boss walks past my desk. She is a busy woman and is constantly brushing past the desk. She doesn't even acknowledge me this time because she is fixed on her phone. Her name is Hillary. Hillary is a heavy-set Hispanic woman in her fifties. She has short brown hair and a no-nonsense attitude.

Martha comes back. "Hola mija!" she says again.

The study group is packing up their things. They head out the front door together. The Starbucks cups are now empty.

The mailman stops by today. George. I see George all of the time. "Como estas, hita?" he says. "Muy bien, y tu?" "Bien, bien, gracias." He hands me two large packages. Scrawny, hard working George heads out the door. I think he's probably in his late 40's.

Two people step off the elevator. They walk past me. One woman, probably in her thirties followed by a man who is probably in his sixties. She has short, red hair and her pale skin tells me she's Caucasian. He is too. He's thick and has no more hair on his head.

My time is up.

And.. Action

Today was interesting because there was a cameraman following around some guys throughout campus. They seemed to be everywhere that I was going, but further away from me. It was interesting because he was wearing a harness for the camera to steady it with control arms that came out and folded out. He looked robotic but also like he knew what he was doing. People would crowd around and watch and try to avoid being in the shot, some in a hurry, some just observing. Audio must not have been an issue because he kept talking to people and replied to questions that they asked him. Everyone seemed to be just as bewildered as I was and in no time, they had to stop filming so that they could do a Q and A. As I watched from afar, everyone spoke loud enough so that I could hear what they were saying.
They spoke mostly about the cameraman's career and college education. The poor actors that were with him were spooked by the crowd and insisted that they had to go. The ones forming a crowd were not the ones that I would expect to be so interested in the situation. Many of them seemed to be just random passerby's but the bulk of the group was actually staff. Of the about twenty or so people who stopped and asked him about what he was doing were Sodexo employees and professors it looked like. Apparently, he was an undergrad student that was trying to get his certification in camera works and needed to practice using his mechanism.
But the most bizarre and interesting thing was the people that either tried to make it in the shot or avoid being in the shot by turning around or walking around the scene altogether. Some people were annoyed by the camera and did not move at all or stormed off in the other direction.

Anyone there?

            This week as I made my way to my spot, it was clear the weather is starting to change more drastically. The atmosphere of my location is pretty average today. There was no one in line when I walked in, so I made a quick trip to the counter. I’m sitting down now, observing. There is a group sitting in the far corner. In the group is a boy with a skateboard propped up next to him. There is also two girls, both blonde, sitting with him, looking quite interested in what he has to say. Also with them is a tall looking boy who is also looking at the other boy with an interested look on his face.

            Also in the restaurant are two different families. One family is made up of a mom and a dad, and two girls. They are all eating, but the older girl looks bored. The other family looks older, the older man and woman are mostly quiet. Looking at each of the other adults who look like they could be college-aged people. They could easily be in their twenties. The two woman look older than the man, who may be the youngest of them all. Also here in the restaurant are two people sitting alone. The lone man is keeping his head down, and is not looking around for some reason. The lone girl is eating and looking at her cell phone.

            After a while of sitting here I notice that the group in the corner are each going around the table telling stories and exchanging personal experiences. I am curious as to what this group is. The older family seems to have been apart for some time. They are also exchanging stories with each other. The girl sitting alone is now putting earphones I her ears and is holding her phone sideways, probably watching a video. The lone man is rising now, rather quickly, and is leaving. The place seems slow for a while with not much excitement. After a while the woman working at the counter walks back to the kitchen area. I have a feeling I have seen her working here before.

           Now there is a woman walking in with sunglasses on and her purse tucked under her arm. She is standing at the counter now looking around. She turns around glances out at all of us sitting down. I can tell she is confused by the situation. After about a minute the worker comes back out apologizing. The woman seems to just wave off the apology and orders, still probably upset. The older couple and family seem to be leaving now as the woman is finding her seat. The family makes their way outside, still all talking to each other. The family with the two girls leave and the older girl still looks bored, but slightly glad to be leaving, while the younger girls is barraging her with a chatty voice asking questions and just talking loudly.
           
           The group in the corner finally leave after their group has said all they needed to say. They all say their goodbyes and one by one are leaving. The woman with the sunglasses is sitting alone and looking not too impressed.  She may just be having a bad day. A man and two boys walk in and the two boys immediately run to find a spot to sit. They have picked a spot near me. As they sit and talk about a T.V. show their father is ordering at the counter. The lone girl has apparently spent enough time alone and is going to the restroom, probably about to leave.
          
           The lone girl has left the restroom and is leaving a few minutes later. By now the two boy and the day are enjoying their meal. My hour is nearly up now and I decide to leave.

Take a lap!

Ouch! Some kids are playing football on the other side of the park. Right when I got here one of the guys caught a pass and the other guy pushed him as he was trying to catch it and he fell into the grass. It looked like it stung a little. He got up fast though so that is good news. They continued to play 3 on 3. The soccer team is practicing on this side of the park. They are barely getting here right now. A few of them have started warming up and stretching. There is no one at the basketball courts. The guys playing football are about 17 or 18 years old. They are football players from the looks of it. They are pretty decent as I am watching them play. One of the guys playing quarterback is very accurate with his throws. The other one is not so much but he is not horrible. But he did just over throw someone…. Anyways. The soccer team has started their favorite activity, running! They are running laps at the moment. One of the boys is wearing a white shirt and bright pink shorts. That is different. Their coach is on the phone watching them run. He seems to be laughing and he is smiling so I’m guessing the call is good. The boys playing football are sure getting their work out in today. They have just been going at it. One of the guys playing receiver just caught a touchdown pass over the guy that was covering him. It was impressive. The other team just got the ball now. They have the better quarterback so they should be able to do something. The soccer team started doing a shooting drill with the goalie. The goalie is a wall back there. Not much gets past him. One of the guys caught a pass playing football and as he was running away from the other guy he tripped and fell. All the other guys are laughing at him. It was funny to see but they shouldn’t laugh at him. I think it hurt because he was kind of slow to get off and had to walk it off a little bit. The soccer team is starting to scrimmage each other now. The guys are leaving the park. I guess they are done since that guy got hurt. Wow. That kid that usually dominates everyone scored already. He must be on today. It took him literally like 20 seconds from when the game started. Here comes some girl walking her dog. She is walking a huge dog. It is a black Great Dane. The dog is bigger than her. The sun is starting to go down now. The soccer team seems to be going back and forth now. I think the other team is just trying to keep it as far away as possible from that one kid. He is literally that good compared to the rest of them. Well for some reason the coach stopped them from playing and made them start running again. Poor kids.

Food market

I found myself roaming around town and finally stopping at a food market that was completely unknown to me.  Luckily, there is a little tiny restaurant/fast food type of place that sells some good food and I am here using my time wisely in an uncommon area.  There are a vast variety of ethnicities that I have seen so far.  I'm surprised.  Then again, this market seems to sell almost everything.  From the looks of it, a lot of families come here to shop together.  The usual parents with the number of kids saying, "Oh, Dad I want that!"
The workers here seem to be loving their job.  They're chatting and laughing amongst each other with no worries or stress whatsoever.  Another thing I really like about this market is how the colors stand out on the walls or even on advertisements on the floor.  Very artfully made and attention-grabbing.  Probably explains the workers' feelings and mood.  Even the workers are different; almost no two workers are the same.  Literally.  I've only seen two workers that are of the same ethnicity and they've been sneaking some Spanish between each other here and there.
Trying to catch habits and actions in a variety of cultures and ethnicities is pretty hard now.  Every one acts the same since most of us have lived in the same area for a long while.  It is just rare now to find someone that's visiting from a new place and catch them expressing themselves in a way that is culturally not the norm.  I find difference so appealing, that I'm willing to wait and try to find it.
Yet, there has been no luck.

Coffee, floats and pups.

Saturday, 9:30am.
My roomate Josh and I are up early to hit the homecoming parade. We have about half an hour before it begins so we make a quick trip to a locally owned coffe shop up the street. He brings his dog Eva along for the ride. We arrive at the shop and Josh and I head on in. As we wait, two women in 50's chat as they wait in line. A couple in their 30s are in front of them ordering. A female barista in her late 20's takes their order. The coffee shop is extremely busy today. She looks a bit overwhelmed but is still managing to get the job done. 3 males in their their 20's are standing in a circle, waiting for their orders. They stand in front of the creamer station and a male in his 50's walks in between them and says excuse me, in order to grab sugar. The barista multitasks between making drinks and getting orders. This has to be the busiest I've ever seen the shop.  There are about 25 to 30 people scattered throughout the dining room. Everyone might be here  for the parade or its just a busy Saturday. There are various groups scattered about, eating drinking and engaged in conversation. At one table 2 women are seated. One is in her 30's the other is in her 50's. The 30 year old looks like she was studying at one point because of the open book on the table with glasses placed on top of it. They  laugh and chat. At another table are a 60 year old male and 45 year old female.  They seem to be in a heated conversation. He looks irrate and waving his arms while she sits and listens with her arms crossed. If things weren't busy enough for the barista the 3 guys waiting by the creamer station get their orders and they appear to be wrong. The male barist who brought the 3 plates out puts them back on his tray and runs it back to the kitchen with a frustrated look on his face. We get our orders and we head out to the parade. We find find a free location on University and sit.
By us are a pair of male students a a dad in his 30's with his toddler and a mom in her 40's with her daugher who is about 7.
There are many familes and students scattered about. A platoon of about 50 soldiers  marches as a female soldier calls cadence.  Behind them follow a group of 3 students handing out candy to kids. One of them a male, greets one of the male students sitting by us. More families arrive. A woman in her 40s walks by with 2 Corgies. The dogs stop and greet Eva. The owner carries on and the dogs follow. Another float comes by with a pop song and students dancing to the tune. Some throw candy and the kids run for it.
The front of the Parade Parade which has passed  us  comes to halt at Espina while the rest of the parade joins A group of three girls hand out fliers. One pets my roomates dog and says she's cute. She then makes baby noises at Eva then apologies for doing it. They walk off.
Another float blaring modern  country with a group of 40 students passes. A Males points his fingers at the kids and says "put your guns up! No one responds or copies him. He walks up to one child and tries to make him mimic the gun shape with his fingers but the boy who is about 4, isn't feeling it or doesn't get it. He halfway attempts the barrel of the gun with his tiny midde and index fingers and releases them. The parade ends and everyone heads out, so we do the same. FIN

Monday Morning Grind

Getting back at this homework life here at Corner Café. Its ten o’clock on this lovely Monday morning. There are actually quite a few people in here today. The work tables are full of study groups everywhere and the comfy chairs are almost all full also. The music is very upbeat and fairly loud. The noise level in general is high because people are trying to talk over the music. Everyone that is in here is dressed for the chilly fall weather with scarfs and boots and jackets.         

The drinks that are being ordered are about half cold drinks and half hot drinks. A lot of the people studying only have medium or small sized drinks, like observed earlier in the semester. There aren’t a lot of older people here today, but there are a lot of people who are just here to relax. There are a few people in the comfy chairs that do not even have drinks. I think they just come here for the free wi-fi because they are on their computers. Or maybe they are in between classes or don’t want to be home. I know form me, I come here to do homework because I get nothing done at my apartment. There is one elderly man who is sitting right by the door and reading a book. He looks so peaceful and happy. Every once in a while he will look up at everyone in front of him and then look down. Sometimes he even smirks. That smirk can be taken in many ways; I take it as “Awh. Look at these young kids who have homework to do. Glad I’m done with that stage of my life” type of smirk.

The four main tables are full with study partners. The smaller tables are just people working on homework, but the people at the other tables look like they are having a group study session. Everyone has their laptops out and something to write on in front of them. Some people are just staring hardcore at their screens like they are trying to retain as much information as they possibly can. There is one girl who is sitting in the middle of the group but she has ear phones in and is very focused on what she is reading. Its surprising to me how she is not getting distracted and how much she can really focus. Everyone else around her is talking to each other and getting help from one another but she is in her own little world and keeping to herself. At another table, there is a group of two or three people who are talking in sign language. There is one man who is learning and I think the rest of them are deaf. It’s really interesting to see him try to interact with them and attempt to do simple signs. There is one more person who was teaching him the correct way to sign, but by the way she was talking I think she is also a slightly hearing impaired also. They look like they are having such a great time and they are all laughing and look so happy.

I have to leave for a meeting now, but the Corner Café is still ridiculously packed. There aren’t any sales or anything like that. I think that Monday mornings are just the perfect time for coffee. Maybe everyone just needs a Monday pick-me-up and they are drowning their school sorrows in a strong cup of espresso.

Owls of Cruces

The day is Friday the 23rd of October. Halloween in around the corner and I came up to a group of people wearing costumes; there was Superman, a nurse, and Thor. There was no celebration just people expressing themselves through costumes. The day was warm and chilly by night. Everyone still wearing shorts like any normal summer day. I like that fact that southern New Mexico is slightly warmer than other places but not too hot like Phoenix, AZ. The group of people in customs got seated as I still waited. The bar appeared to be full with no seats, so I waited. I looked around and saw the place was pretty busy and still full. Families seated everywhere; laughing, joking, and drinking. In the distance I heard a birthday song. A couple near me were talking about how desperately they were seeking Pinon nuts from anyone. I couldn't help myself and say, "I have Pinon but it's at my apartment." They were shocked because I just threw myself into their conversation. I couldn't help myself and laughed. They were curious and wanted to know more. I told them I have some roasted and salted. It's Pinon season this fall and it is harvested every four years. I know the understanding of why they were seeking some Pinon. I was finally seated for one. It was like any other night anyone goes out; being seated, asked for drinks, orders food, waiter brings food, and pays the tab. It was a quite night to observe.

Today was another normal Monday in Corbett center. Another short weekend has gone by and its time to start another week of classes and work. As the morning begins I see a few people buying their daily dose of caffine at the Einstein bros coffee shop. As I begin my observations I notice that there are many people who seem to be sluggish and unmotivated by the start of another long Monday.

As I look around Corbett I fix my eyes on a guy with with black hair wearing a blue shirt. He is on the computer and seems to be writing some type of paper. I assume that he is trying to rush to finish it before his class. I change my assumption when I see him pause while he is typing and then sets his head down on the table. He closes his eyes and seems to have fallen asleep. He stays like this for about five minutes before he wakes up and begins to continue writing his paper

The good and the bad weather outside the Revolutionary Cafe

            During the afternoon the sky was cloudy and the air was cool. Many people are taking advantage of this beautiful weather outside. Stormy weather is coming in and it shapes the clouds into interesting formations. People outside were frequently turning their heads to look up at the sky, and the weather itself was a topic of conversation for quite some time with a group of 5 people sitting next to me. They were of Hispanic descent and were all probably in their 50's. One of them was remarking about the approaching Hurricane that was about to hit the west coast of Mexico as well. The general consensus was that the stormy weather was a welcomed break from the sun and a sign of fall. I predict that the fall weather will make more people want to come to the coffee shop. There is something about the atmosphere that makes you crave a hot coffee. Pumpkin spice is especially popular right now here too. And indeed this day is a busy day. Many people are arriving in their cars and leaving with their beverage.

            It began to get a little too chilly for me outside so I decided to come into the warmth of the building. There were about the same number of people sitting inside with a few tables still empty. But there were alot of people waiting to the side on their orders. The lines are usually a general indication of how busy it is and today it was getting longer than normal. You can tell that some of these people are in a rush when they constantly stare at the barista or pace back and forth. One man kept doing this as well as constantly look at his phone probably to check the time or see if he received a message. Finally when he got his coffee he didn't even say thank you as he grabbed it quickly and went out the door. From my observations it seems that lines in general are not very enjoyable. Many people expressed a bored attitude which is exhibited by crossing the arms, yawning, or only looking at a phone screen. This has become a daily activity of modern humans though. We must wait in order to receive the conviences of society. Multiple times I have seen people become irritated due to this fact. Yet at the cafe a friendly atmosphere is usually maintained.

            Around 130p.m. the clouds started to come in more and rain began to fall. Soon the rain turned to hail, and the hail turned into a severe storm that seemed as if the gods were angry. Many people from outside ran inside to gain cover from the large chunks of hail. However others ran out and got into their cars and then drove off. I presume this was so they could find a place where the hail would not damage the car. One woman was complaining to her friend that her car was already damaged so she didn't care that much, so she humorously carried on the conversation. I thought I should get home before it got worse nonetheless since I did not have a car, So I put my book over my head and ran outside.

Homecoming

                I get to the game and the home team is wearing pink jerseys. They are showing their strong support against breast cancer.  I'm sitting on the side where I get a great few of the visiting team. It looks like a group of them are getting coached. There are different groups getting coached by different coaches. The visiting team are still very well in the game finding ways to improve even though they are up by 22 points. Both teams keep their helmets on while they are on the sideline. They all cheer each other in with high fives and slaps to the helmets. I also notice the visiting team’s defense come to the same area and sit down while the same coach comes and tells them what they need to work on. They all make eye contact showing they are paying attention. I also notice a particular coach yell out different colors and I see a group of players stand up and prepare to go in for action. The home team’s quarterback makes a scramble and when he gets tackled one of his line man is there to pick him up. This is how a team should work together even when the odds are against them. The quarterback makes another scramble but this time number 20 makes the tackle and causes a fumble. The rest of the team runs to it and number 7 scoops it up and runs it in. The team erupts and shows their excitement by jumping up and down. I notice one player dancing with a little swagger to him. The team congratulate the two men who made the play by giving those high fives. Number 20 is very humble he just goes to the bench and shows no sign of emotion. Simply just high fives his teammates. I see a tall player from the visiting warming up throwing passes with his teammate and of course the next possession he goes in. As the sun dancers from the home team make their way back to their positions they pass behind the visiting team. Of course all their attentions moves to them. One players actually tells his teammate, “yo man it's your birthday!" I think he is trying to imply that he deserves a New Mexico sun dancer. Two fans sitting real close yell out, "Ay the games over there!" I also see two workers offering drinks to the players and coaches showing our courtesy. I also see most of the visiting players have last names not very common around this area. Sanders, Lebbie, Lucas, smiley. The last chance for the home team to score was denied and the visiting teams coach is very proud. He yells at his players, "yeah!"

Everything Store

As I approach the entrance there is a guy walking out with a huge case of beer and his dog.  HIS DOG!  He took his dog to the store with him?!  The dog doesn't have anything to signify that it's a service dog, and there's no apparent reason that the owner would need one.  Interesting.

At the bakery there are four girls looking at the cake book.  One of them says, "I like this one."  Another says, "that is cute."  The teenaged girl has headphones in.  There's also the Mom, and a younger girl, probably about 6 years old.  The fourth woman is an oddball age, and I'm unsure of what role she plays in the group.  Mom says, "Oh, that's pretty."  The youngest girl starts walking off, but as soon as the rest of the group leaves in another direction, she turns around to catch up to them.

A few aisles over two workers are stocking the shelves.  The woman has a pink clip in her hair.  Pinkie is trying to find the right place on the shelf for a certain type of pasta.  Both the workers inspect the boxes of pasta as if they're foreign objects, looking at all sides of the box.  Pinkie, with a huge lack of confidence, mumbles "this goes here" and she bends down to organize the shelf.  A moment later I notice that her the other worker is completely moving one section of the pasta.  It looks like it was put in the wrong place.  I wonder how hard it can be to organize pasta.

I walk down the soda aisle.  There I find the Quiet Couple looking at 12-packs of Pepsi.  They don't say anything, and they look a little akward.  After a few minutes of observing them and waiting for them to do something, I realize that they aren't going to speak.  They eventually walk down the aisle and leave.  I leave in the opposite direction.

As I come near the end of the aisle, I notice a shopping cart overfilled with containers of Hawaiian Punch.  The cart is filled to the max!  There's another cart right next to it in which Shrimpy, another store employee, is filling with boxes of saltine crackers.  He gets the cracker cart filled and starts to walk away, he tries to pull the Hawaiian Punch cart but realizes it's to heavy and leaves it there.  I follow him to see where he's going.  He turns onto an aisle just a few feet away from where he was loading the cart.  Then I realize he's re shelving things.  The crackers that were once on the endcap display are now being put in their proper place on the shelf.

I move onto the next section.  As I'm walking down one of the main aisles, a middle aged couple is walking towards me.  Curly Haired Wife tells her husband, "No, it's right here babe."  They enter into the baby clothes section.   Curly practically repeats herself, "It's this section right here."  At first they just wadner through, and I wonder if they're looking for a certain kind of clothing.  Curly makes comments like, "oh, this is cute."  Then it looks like they found what they were originally looking for.  They stop to look at jeans.  Husband ends up on his keens looking for the right pair and size on the bottom shelf.  Once they find a pair that they like, he gets back up and they continue browsing the section.  Then Curly realizes that the jean shelf/display has another side to it.  She tells Husband, "I think we got the boys kind."  At first he doesn't understand, but then they restart the jean hunt with the pile of girls' jeans.  As I walk past them one more time, I notice that Curly has a butterfly tattoo.  I surprisingly like it.

A ways down the main aisle, close to electronics, there's a family of five.  The first thing I see is PJ Mom, wearing her fleece pajama pants, messing around with the dad.  The entire family is being loud, but they look happy.  The kids are all laughing, especially the youngest one.  There's a ten or eleven year old pushing the cart, which only has two items- men's razors, and a couple of DVDs.

I begin making my way to the front of the store.  There's an older (40-50 year old) woman and a younger woman (early 20s) with a baby.  The baby must have been upset, ans the older lady is getting him out of his carseat.  They stop at an endcap to look at some sort of Eeyore merchandise.  Three feet later they stop again for an Eeyore Christmas ornament.  They talk of how it would be for the baby.  When I pass them I notice that the baby is wide awake.  He's dressed in his pajamas.

I hear two people talking behind me.  One asks, "What time do you get off?"  The other responds, "In 10 Minutes."  "Must be nice... You gonna go home or go out?"  I look over my shoulder to confirm that they're to employees.  Yep, they're wearing their uniform.  Before I hear the response, I exit the store.

The future of technology's past...

Another day at Alderman Ave. Bokhandle (though thankfully not as empty as the last), quiet and fairly empty, but yet still bustling with noise — a phenomenon I have yet to crack: how a place so seemingly empty is so filled with volume pollution. Perhaps all the noise is spilling from Bean and Brew (only once did I visit Alderman and that place was empty), I mean, after all, people need their morning — and midday, and afternoon, and evening — caffeinated beverage. But what particularly struck my interest today was how, whenever I see teenagers alone at Alderman, they are usually on their electronic devices to compensate for the late of physical company (though in truth, even when they are accompanied by someone, I often see them on their cell phones or tablets or laptop computers), no doubt texting or social networking. Another tidbit I would like to point out is that, in a store such as this, I would expect to see more people reading a book or newspaper, even if they are younger (the YA genre is one that is vastly growing and yet, rarely do I ever see any young adults [aka the target audience] actually reading).
     But, alas no. As with every other location I visit, I see young adults (and these days, even more and more adults) typing or texting or tweeting away for extended hours. Even when I look up the Tumblr pages of others, I am often surprised by how often people update their pages, and I’m usually left thinking “don’t you people have lives, or have to go to school, or work, or… Something that would otherwise keep you off of these sites at all hours of the day”? But so much of our daily lives is electronic these days it’s hard to revert back to simpler times, even just for a moment to hold an actual newspaper in your hands or read a new book with that new-book smell. I mean, they have online newspapers now right? And not to mention e-books. And so why wouldn’t you, while you already have your phone or computer out, just check Facebook or Twitter or Instagram real quick?
       Although, yes, there are still some people out there who prefer the classical mode of operation (by which I mean actually holding a book in your hands and having that old debate of paper vs. hardback covers [of which I am one; and I, personally have no preference to either], or socializing face to face with your neighbor as opposed to someone hundreds or thousands of miles away), I feel like many people would look at these ways as archaic and out of touch with the modern era. And don’t get me wrong, I am a computer/tablet lover myself, but I also love the smell of a book, and the feel of holding it in my hands while and read and loathe the idea of an e-book. At the same time, I favor the recent local and statewide trend of schools trying to computerize tests (even if there are still some kinks that need to be worked out). Testing doesn’t have to be “stuck in the dark ages,” but at the same time, some tests, for now, due to their innate need for scratch-paper work, should probably stay on paper. We need to move forward into the future with advances in interpersonal technology as well, but that doesn’t have to come at the price of older ways of communication. All in all, a balance must be found between what we can make of for the future and what we still take from the past.

Rough Day

It’s an early Sunday morning and I have finally gotten to sit down and take a break from my Sunday activities. I sat down at my original field of observation, the coffee shop and order my beloved coconut iced coffee. It was a little cold outside, but many decided to gather there for their morning drink, so I did the same.

I look up from my computer to see a lone woman sitting at the table in front of me. She had with her a book and her baby daughter who was fast asleep next to her in her car seat. We will call this woman Samantha. Samantha had long brown hair that she had pulled back in a ponytail, brown eyes and was around the age of 20. She is wearing a white button up shirt with jeans and has on a black apron. I found the apron strange, but I figured she worked at the restaurant and was taking a break. I wonder why she has her baby with her if she is working. I have never seen her working here any of the times I have come to get coffee, which is very often. The book she is reading was a decent sized book and it looked as if she had just been reading it for a few days. Samantha seems to be having a hard time staying focused on her book, frequently looking around or at her phone. Her sorrowful expression and the gloomy look in her eyes tells me that she is not having a good day. Samantha gets a phone call and appears to be making arrangements with her mom to drop her daughter off. The phone call lasts about two minutes and then Samantha returns to her book. At this point, Samantha and I are the only two outside of the coffee shop. Suddenly I hear the baby wake up, and she sounds grumpy. Samantha tends to her upset baby desperately trying to keep her from crying but she is not successful. The baby bursts out into a loud wailing cry. Samantha try’s everything she can to calm her child but nothing is working. After about a minute of crying, Samantha stands up apologizes to me for the crying and leaves the coffee shop with her things. I feel bad for Samantha and wish I could help her out, but I can’t help but wonder why she was wearing a black apron if she wasn’t working there. Perhaps she had just gotten off work, or was taking a break from a separate restaurant. 

Football Sunday

My field site was pretty crowded on this past Sunday afternoon and it was great because I got to see all the people that came in to watch the football games. Football Sunday is probably my favorite day of the week because I can relax and watch football and see everyone get filled with all kinds of emotions while their favorite team is playing. As soon as I sat down at the table the hostess brought us to, I realized I had the perfect view of this odd looking family. I don't think the parents said more than two words the whole time I was there which made for an awkward situation for them. The kids on the other hand couldn't find the time to stop talking. I'm positive that the only time they were not talking was when they were taking a bite of their food. The older boy had long hair and his ball cap on sideways and had his whole conversation about girls. The funny thing was was that he was probably 11 years old and he had his ears pierced and the best part was that the piercings were really off. Both of his earrings were not even close to being centered and he most likely got them pierced at Walmart.
From where I was sitting I was not close enough to hear what all the grown men were talking about but I was sure able to see all of their reactions to every play that was happening for the Texans vs Dolphins game. I don't really care for either of those teams but there were some guys that were really getting heated about this game. One guy had probably just finished drinking three beers and went crazy once he realized that Houston was going to lose. Another guy that was near me this past Sunday was another football fan like me. Staring at the tv the whole time and would only look away during a commercial or when he wanted his food. The only thing odd about this guy is that he would not stop eating. He probably ate 3 different meals with different sides and many refills of his drink. I guess if I was alone and spending my Sunday watching football games I wouldn't stop eating either. I'm giving props to that guy for the whole time I was at my field site.