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.

A lunch at applebee's

I had to move my field site this week because I cannot be at my usual cafe spot. The applebee's was very busy, of course this is not surprising because I came at peak lunch time, I got lucky to be seated as soon as I walked in. The restaurant was very noisy and loud, with waiters and waitresses running around in a frenzy. I could see some of the patrons had unhappy looks on their faces, probably haven't received their food yet. Based on the way the waitresses and waiters were moving around they were doing their best, trying to placate some of the irritated customers. Of course it is not their fault the food is taking so long, they can only work as fast as the kitchen. I think people have lost sight of that, people think that good quality food should take as long as it takes to get food at McDonalds. Also I know that Im not used to waiting for anything either, we live in a fast paced society where everything has to be instant, no waiting in lines, not waiting 3 seconds for a web page to load. I think we need a slow down, sometimes waiting can be the best time if the day. One of the waiters came over to me, he looked tired and stressed, he kept apologizing for the wait which I told him it was fine I wasnt in a rush. This seemed to surprise him, like he hasn't heard that all day. I ordered the sweet asian boneless wings for my appetizer and honey chipolte chicken finger platter. The waiter then quickly went to place my order, then there was a commotion two or three tables behind me and I turned to see what was going on. There were two gentleman sitting together at a table, they were maybe in there 40's, one was much shorter than the other one and bald, the other had graying curly hair, they both looked like bikers because of their jackets and there tattoos which matched. They were raising their voices at a waitress, she was tall for a girl with blonde hair and a attractive face, she was calm and trying to explain something to the men. This seemed to only make them angrier, they were complaining about how they had waited for 40 minutes without getting their food. Things like that irritate me, the waitress is not cooking the food and if you hate waiting dont go to a restaurant at 1 in the afternoon. Finally after 5 or 6 minutes of this the manager came over and talked to the men, he told them if they did not calm down he would ask them to leave. With this the two men calmed down a little bit, the waitress came over to me to fill up my water, she seemed pretty upset but hid it pretty well. I could not help but say that "I was sorry those jerks", loud enough for them to hear me. This put a smile on her face and she said it was fine and thanked me for apologizing. I dont know how a man  can raise his voice to a women unless its in self defense, if I pulled something like that there would be a line of family members ready to beat me. The first waiter came back with my wings and they were delicious, especially when dipped in ranch. Almost as soon as I finished my wings my entree was brought out, it was also really good. As soon as I finished my food I payed and tipped the waiter generously and left a tip for the waitress then left full and satisfied.

Monday at the Plaza

I arrive at the plaza on a cool Monday afternoon. There is a family taking group pictures around the plaza. They gather around various parts of the plaza and take group pictures. The corner café currently has no music. It might be too early. There are 2 groups of people sitting there talking and I occasionally hear a few laughs. The many shops around the plaza are open and there are tourists coming in and out of the shops. There is a man standing outside one of the shops snacking on something while looking towards the plaza. Out of the “Sunny Shop”, a lady comes out with a Mexican style poncho and she poses for some pictures while her friend takes pictures. The lady takes of the poncho and puts it back in the bag. On the bench beside me, there is a man and a woman playing with a weird wooden toy. They seem to try to balance the wooden ball on a stick. It seems really difficult. The man just hit himself on the face with it. He fails and then he lets the woman try. The woman eventually balances the ball on the stick. On top of the gazebo, there is a group of 4 kids that seem to be playing a card game. They seem to be very concentrated in their game because they are very quiet. One of the kids is being Called by his dad but he ignores him. The dad eventually goes up on the gazebo and pulls him by The arm. A woman walks up to me and offers me a cup of pecans. I accept them and then she refers me to the shop directly behind me if I would like to purchase some. I look into the shop and it is full of people looking around at the various food items. I walked in there and bought myself a New Mexico flag. As soon as I walk outside, a toddler walks up to me and tugs my leg. I wasn't sure who the toddler belonged to so I sort of just stood there until the mom walked up, gave me a weird look and took her away. As I walk back to my car, I notice many tourists walking towards the plaza. All of the cars have plates from different states ranging from Washington to North Carolina. Thee plaza seems to be a very popular tourists attraction overall.

Sandwich and a Survey

Saturday. 9:27 a.m.
I'm actually up early to make it to a survey for my Heritage Spanish class. My head is pounding and I'm super dehydrated. Breakfast is a must. I snag a hoodie and head to a restaurant up the street before going to campus. Mmm...OJ and an egg sandwich sound like a good plan. I walk in and there are customers scattered about. There are families, groups of young people (who look to be nourishing after a long night), and quite a few elderly couples. There is a short line of people waiting to order and a long line of people waiting for their orders to come out. The crew behind the counter is in the weeds and getting slammed. A woman at the register, in her 50's takes the customer's orders. She looks more frazzled than anyone else. She barely mumbles out, "May I take your order?" as a woman in her 40's and five teenage boys, between 13 and 16, walk up to the counter. Mom places the order while two of the boys pay attention to what is her and the other two joke and screw around behind them. Behind the lady and teens is a woman in her 70's who is waiting patiently. A man in his 50's wearing a leather jacket, has  a full head of silver hair and and handle bar moustache, cuts in line. He looks like a curmudgeon of a greaser brat and has full blown DGAF on his face. I don't have time to regulate and I just want food, so I let Fonzie order and wait patiently. While waiting in line, a buddy from my improv group walks in and gets in line behind me. "Hey Lucy! Long time no see!" Al greets me cheerfully in his thick New England accent. We catch up a bit and talk about our next meeting and I notice the older dude in front of me has stopped ordering and the counter lady is stuck. She waits for the manager to come help her with the register. A hispanic woman in her mid 50's comes to her aid. She looks annoyed and I now understand that the counter lady is a new employee. They fix the problem and take care of the dude. Finally, I get my order in and step aside. Al orders after me. Fonzie is waiting for his order and when it comes out he explains his order is wrong and that it was to go. The manger takes the tray back and apologizes. She tells him she'll fix it and walks away huffing and puffing. Déjà vu.
After a long while my order comes out. I eat my sandwich and not much has happened after. I head to campus for the survey.
10:06.
 As I drive in from Jordan, campus looks like a ghost town. Corbett looks dead except for 2 female students who exit the building. I park my car and head toward Breland. When I walk in there is a table with marketing, fliers and sign in sheets spread about. There are three people in their 50's sitting at the table, greeting people as they walk in.
"I'm here for the survey. Can you tell me where it's being held?"
They look at me comfused and explain they don't know about any survey. I say thanks and look around for a sign or some sort of guidance. As I walk past one classroom with a Japanese flag on the door, I can see it's filled with elementary school aged kids making Origami. I pass a college
aged male in the hallway. He greets me and I reply as I pass. I don't see any sign of a survey so I head upstairs to see if my professor is around.
10:15.
I locate my professor in her office. She tells me the room number and that it will start at 10:30 so I head downstairs.
10:20.
I find the room and wait in the hallway. A few of my classmates start to show up. A female student  who is from France arrives. She looks stressed and distraught. I ask if everyone back home is ok. She says her family is fine but one of her friends died in Paris. I give her my condolences and another student strikes up a conversation about the situation with ISIS. The French student gets lost in her phone.
10:30
The professor shows up right on time and opens the room. She shows us in and tells us to take o a seat at a computer with a white sheet on the keyboard. I find a free one at the back of the room. My friend Denisse from class takes the computer to my left. The professor instructs the room on how to begin taking the survey. She explains that once we are done, she will take our picture and we can leave. We begin
10:37.
Another student from class arrives and there are now two dozen students in the room. I begin the survey and more students begin to arrive.
11:06
One of my classmates finishes and leaves just as I finish writing a short essay for the survey. Several students are wearing headsets with microphones and are recording audio to their computer. I complete the computer session and have my photo taken. The survey is complete so I take off.

Culturally Incorrect

Today's traffic through the halls has died down a lot compared to other days. People have been skipping classes and going home for Thanksgiving, I figure that most of the people ho are still here are from out of state or have more work to do than they can afford to forget about. The people who are here are mostly employees and people hurriedly trying to finish work before they go home, I assume. Those who aren't workers don't seem to care about how they look, they are dressed comfortably and wrapped up. There is a group of sorority girls, wearing their ZTA sweatshirts and talking loudly, huddled around a laptop. I've seen most of them around, had one of them in my Human Sexuality class as a Sophomore. I don't know much about any of them but I'm thinking about how awful it would be for them to only be stuck here because of sorority events, which is most likely the cause.
Everyone who works here is giving off the impression that they don't want to be here either and for good cause, but someone has to work throughout the holiday to keep things from going to chaos. Specifically, the people working at Einstein's are just sitting around drinking coffee and talking while on their phones. It doesn't look like they have had a customer all day, especially since everyone drinking coffee here have Starbucks cups. Out of curiosity, I went to the second floor of Corbett to see if there were more people in the computer lab or doing work anywhere else since it is much nicer than the first floor. I was partially surprised to find that the computer lap had more people, but not by much. I suspect that they are the ones that have the most work to do and no laptop of their own. If they were to go home and didn't have a way to do their work, it would be very problematic.
The girl working at the desk on the second floor is also playing on her phone and looks very bored. Actually, several of the people in the computer lab are not doing work, they are talking and on Facebook. If they aren't there to work, I'm wondering why they are there at all? Perhaps I am assuming that everyone is from somewhere else like I am and that they must leave to enjoy it. However, now that I think about it, Thanksgiving is an American holiday that probably most people don't even know about. I didn't even consider that people don't always understand it, even Americans.

eXtra Normal

A girl and a guy sit across from each other. They both have laptops sitting in front of them. They do not talk to each other instead concentrating on the laptops. The girls seems more concentrated on her work than the guy. The guy types on his computer than looks around the room.

A girl, Videl, and a guy, Jeff, walk past my table heading to the table behind me. They both hold cups with something warm in it. They hold on tightly to the cups as if they are trying to take the warmth from the cups. They stand in front of their table for a while. They table has many books and a laptop on the table. The both move the bags that had been previously set on the chair and move them on to the floor. They sit and start talking they both take sips of their beverage.

A girl, Miranda, sits by herself she is occupied on her phone. Miranda sits alone for a while until another girl, Claudia, joins her. Claudia seems to be in a hurry she opens her backpack and looks for something then closes it again. Claudia looks around the room for a while than looks down at her phone for a while. After a while she doesn't look as hurried as before. Claudia and Miranda talk for a while. Claudia stands in front of the table and a while later Miranda makes a motion toward the empty seat next to her. They conversation resumes and while talking both of the girls look around the room. Miranda puts her legs on the chair with her and plays with her hair twisting it around her finger as Claudia talks. At some point they both get on their phones. While on their phones Miranda continues to twist her hair around her finger. Claudia puts down her phone and then continues the conversation with Miranda. Claudia plays with the purse sitting in front of her. When Claudia is talking Miranda chews on the strings of her hoodie. Shortly after two girls join, Sandra and Whitney. Sandra and Whitney greet Miranda and Claudia but then both start talking mostly to Claudia. After a while Whitney begins speaking to Miranda. Sandra sees a cup sitting on the table and asks whose it is. Claudia answers that it had previously been Miranda’s but that Sandra could have it because Miranda no longer wanted the drink. Sandra prepares the drink given to her then takes sips from it. Sandra and Whitney finally pull up chairs and sit down. They all begin speaking to one another in Spanish while talking all four leave forward in their chairs. The four girls seems invested in their conversation. Another girl comes up to their table greets everyone at the table then just as quickly as she arrives she leaves.

A man, Bart, sits at a table alone he’s on his phone. While on his phone he eats sweet bread. Bart seems to have the sweetness of the bread on all of his fingers. He only scrolls with his pinky finger. He licks the fingers that have the sweetness of the bread on them. Bart finally finishes up the bread. Once he finishes eating the bread he cleans up the crumbs left behind by the bread. He goes over to trash can and throws his trash away, He goes back to his table and stands by it for a while. Bart looks around the room and then moves to gather his belongings. He stuffs the notebooks that were on the table into his backpack. Bart then walks out of the room.      

Last Day's Thoughts...

It is my last day here at Alderman Ave. Bokhandle, so I suppose today should mostly be a day of reflection. First off, I would like to start off by discussing my location as a whole: cosy, fairly quiet, user-friendly, conveniently located and all-around inviting. It has a certain leisurely charm to it, as demonstrated by the relaxed natures of the clientele, and is large enough to accommodate and small enough to envelope. It caters to people of all races, nationalities, and ethnic groups, and has managed to invite in more than enough persons to keep the lights on and the doors open. It is located in the area that without a doubt needs it the most, and it stocks its shelves accordingly. It manages to attractive the kind of people that will eventually serve as clients, as well as those who simply are looking for a place to sit down, study, and relax (and oftentimes people who just come in to take a load off eventually end up making purchases). Bean and Brew Coffee Shoppe is strategically located downstairs near the front entrance, as to invite people in immediately if only for that (many of whom, again, eventually end up staying and buying something). All of these aspects and more contribute to the overall success of Alderman.
    Second off, I would like to discuss my overall experience at Alderman Ave. Bokhandle. I have been a pretty satisfied visitor, all in all. The personnel are quite friendly (despite almost never being present at the Customer Service counter) and ranging from all ages and ethnic backgrounds, are just as diverse as the customers. I also noticed that they each manage to make people of different races and nationalities all feel comfortable enough to freely call on them (which is to say, the Hispanic customers don’t only go to the Hispanic employees, and the Black customers don’t only go to the Black employees, which is arguably a fairly common occurrence at many other establishments). The diverse range of customers has also given me a chance to see sociocultural customs/norms up close (e.g. the fact that teenagers tend to be the loudest in a store, but many, when speaking in Spanish, tend to lower their voices a tad, or the fact that African Americans were the least likely group of people to come and stay for a while at the store, or the fact that Asians [Chinese, Indians, Koreans, etc.] were the quietest group I observed, even among the teenagers) and has sparked my interest as to why those norms exist, amongst new immigrants as well as the descendants of immigrants. My time at the store has also given me a new spin on the little habits of people. They seemed so insignificant before, but now I tend to notice them more and often find myself trying to rationalize them. I am starting to see the world as not one big whole full of little parts, but as little parts working side-by-side and meshing together to form a whole.
    Overall, I must admit, there were slower days at my location during which I had to scour through the junk of human nature to see the treasure of the human psyche, but many a day was filled with interesting and thought provoking tidbits about people that that have expanded my worldview scope. I mean, even today, where I once would have only seen a middle-aged woman and her companion and about four to six teenagers, I now see about 5-6 people with Bean and Brew (no doubt an integral part of their daily habituation) and a few people without it in comparison who are contented with only their water bottles or nothing at all.

Traveling Companions

My field site was a little different this time but was probably one of my favorites to encounter with and see all the people this place had to offer. My field site was a very popular place to be for everyone to go and relax and have some food before they had to sit on a plane for over an hour. I actually had no choice but to encounter with people around me instead of just observing them because of the fact that I was alone, they sat me at the bar of my field site. Immediately I was asked what I wanted to drink and was given a weird look by the bartender when I said Dr. Pepper. The bartender seemed like he had been having a busy day but still kept a smile on his face while doing his job because what is better than seeing people slowly get drunk at your bar? He started to make jokes at the fact that I was the only underage person sitting at this bar and other people sipping on their drinks started to join in on the laughter. There was a guy that sat down across from me who started to join in on the conversation thinking he was the youngest out of everybody only to come to realize that he was 7 years older than me. He did not look that much older and he actually looked like the famous country singer, Thomas Rhett, but he was very surprised that he was not the youngest one there.
What caused for the end of my field site day to be very interesting was this 29 year old guy that sat right next to me. As soon as he sat down I could tell he has already been here before because the girl close to me was asking why he was back and the bartender said what he wanted this time. I was a little confused and curious so I listened in on their conversation which caused this guy to notice and then he started his whole story over again to me. He ended up missing his flight back to Charlotte, which is where I was going, because the aircraft ended up over booking the flight so they referred him to a later flight. Well when he was talking to me I thought him and I ended up on the same flight and that the plane was boarding at 2:40pm. If it wasn't for that 29 year old, fishing loving, veteran to ask me where I was sitting I wouldn't have looked at my ticket and I would have missed my flight. My plane started boarding at 2:10pm and I didn't get to my gate until 2:30pm, 10 minutes before the plane was scheduled to take off. Traveling is always one of my favorite things because that is where I get to meet some of the best people the world has to offer.

The Calm Before The Storm

Date: Saturday November 21, 2015
Location: Mall - El Paso, TX
Time: 2:50 pm - 3:50 pm

It is a warm, yet at the same time cool, November day. There are a lot of cars in the mall's parking lot, so there should a lot of people to observe inside. I get to the mall late today, and my usual place of observing is taken. I go to a place that is farther away from my usual observation point, so some areas I usually observe are obscured from view. I decide to observe from the balcony.

Something I have noticed during the past weeks is that little kids love trying to climb up the glass balconies. They do not even seem to be afraid of falling through or falling over the balcony. A little boy next to me tries climbing up the balcony, but his mother yells at him to get off. The boy does and sits next to his mother.

The cinnamon roll place has a whole bunch of customers waiting in line. The pretzel place has like a couple of customers. The ice cream place gets a few customers. The cinnamon roll place has the most customers as usual.

A lot of families are sitting at the benches today. There are four families sitting at the benches in the rest area, each one with a baby stroller. Three of the families are young (young mother and father), though one young family has the grandparents there. The other family seemed to be the child and his grandparents. The grandparents are having fun pushing the child in the stroller around the area. The young families are just sitting there, adults talking to each other.

The kids play area on the lower level of the mall is filled with kids. I can see the parents/grandparents sitting on the provided chairs as chaos swirls around them. The adults are cool, calm, and collected while the kids run on, climb on, and slide down the obstacles. The kids seem to be having fun.

The ethnic groups this week are: Latinos (majority), Caucasian, black/African-American, and Asian. There is some mixing of ethnic groups this week.

A majority of the people are wearing coats or jackets. Those that aren't are wearing long-sleeved shirts of some kind. I have seen a few males wearing short-sleeved shirts, though.

The amount of people walking through the area is consistently large. There has been some clogging of the passageways between the rest area and the restaurant area. Everyone is being polite and cordial. No one is in a rush, and no one is being rude. Everyone is keeping to themselves.

Security guards roll through the area frequently on their segways. Is there trouble here today? I have not noticed anything strange or suspect, but that is perhaps because the security guards are doing their jobs. No one seems bothered by the security guards' presence.

Verbal/ Non Verbal

Today at my field sight it is an average day. The customers are going through their normal routine and when it comes to the outside environment it is actually a little cold now that the seasons are changing to winter. I don’t believe that climate change has an effect of the population within the organization that I am absorbing but I do think that the time at which I came to observe with alter that factor. I decided to come to my field sight in the evening so I’m expecting slow customer activity. As far as the population that is within my field sight there are a few families but they do seem rushed or busy to go somewhere. As I glance over to the lounge section of my field sight there are a few individuals that are relaxing on the couches that are provided. What I notice is that one individual is sitting on one end of the couch while the other is sitting on the opposite end of the couch instead of sitting right next to each other. That goes to display how people feel more comfortable when they have their own level of personal space when being in contact with an individual they don’t know. As for as actions one of the individuals, which is female, is on her laptop as in she’s doing some type of work or browsing. Her body expression seems a little more conserved as she has her legs crossed and elbows tucked in while she is typing. On the other end of the couch there is a male but instead of being on a laptop he is listening to music and interacting with his phone. His body posture doesn’t seem as conserved but he does seem like he’s not completely comfortable in his situation. I can tell because although he has his legs extended to some point and is sitting more casual on the couch, he is also tucking his elbows is as if he is trying to cover what he s viewing on his telephone. Although this is a simple and common situation that happens on a daily basis I find it unique how people would rather be antisocial instead of opening up to those around them even if the two individuals are not familiar with each other. This is a prime example of how generations have changed as technology is revolutionizing society in a drastic fashion.

Accept our Appreciation With Complimentary Bagels and Mediocre Coffee

The Building smells of coffee. Freshly burned coffee. There are several kettles lined up on a long plastic table. It's Employee Appreciation Day today. There are a few women setting up the table still. They spread out bagels with tubs of cream cheese and a stack of napkins are placed at the beginning of the table. I watch as the three women who set up the table and who are wearing cafeteria uniforms, each grab a cup of coffee and a bagel. They sit down together and eat. 

It's 9:00am now and I see people slowly starting to filter through the line of food and (burned) coffee. I recognize the first wave of people who go through the line as administration. They all wear slacks and button-up shirts or polos. They greet each other with half smiles and handshakes. After they go through the line they sit down and mingle with one another.

While the administration employees were getting their food I noticed the janitorial staff greeting each other near the janitorial closet. They give warm smiles and hugs to one another. They pile behind the administration and grab some (still burned) coffee and bagels. 

I watch as the administration and the janitorial staff greet each other once everyone  has gotten their food and drinks. They all stand in the main area talking to one another for a few minutes before everyone separates and sits down with their friends. In this case, the administration sits with the administration while the janitors sit with the janitors. 

While all of this is going on, there are young students walking in and out of the administration and janitorial staff. They need to cut through in order to get to down stairs where there are open tables and an Einstein's Coffee shop. There is no communication between these students and the employees in any situation aside from a few "excuse me" and "pardon me"'s. 

Now, after everyone has gone through the line for food, the Building's head honcho makes her way to the center of the room. Ms. Watkins. She is an older Hispanic woman. Maybe in her fifties. She has freshly dyed brown hair and some dark lipstick on. "Good morning, team," she says, "I just want to say thank you for all of your hard work. I know how much you each do to make this center as successful as possible. Please accept our appreciation with these bagels and coffee. Keep up the great work." There's a considerably long and awkward pause while people debate whether they should clap or not. They decide to applaud, but it was so weak it was probably best that they kept silent. 

Everyone goes back to chit-chattin' with their friends. 

Students still stumble in and out of the crowd of employees. Both students and employees remain indifferent to one another. 

Looking at the crowd before me, I notice that it is easily identified as two groups. The janitorial staff sit together on the right wearing their matching maroon uniforms. The administration sits on the left in their array of Aggie colors. 

When the breakfast starts winding down to an end, however, I notice that the groups start to mingle again before they separate. They say their good-byes as they finish their cups of coffee. Eventually, by 10 o'clock, the breakfast has finished and everyone parts ways to go back to work. 

Run till you puke

Hardly anyone is here today. There is a guy running his dog around the park but other than that nobody is here. The dog looks like a pit bull. He is a nice looking dog from here. The wind is starting to pick up. It has been blowing all day. The man and his dog are running fast and at a distance. The soccer team is beginning to show up. The coach and his son are the first one here. The boy is kicking the ball in the air and chasing it. The coach is setting up cones preparing for practice. Slowly more kids start to show up. Many of them start playing with the coach’s son but one goes and talks to the coach by himself. After a while the coach looks upset with what the boy was telling him. The coach made the boy start running while the rest of the team starts practicing. I am guessing the boy got in trouble or did something wrong. The coach is making him pay the price now. The team starts a dribbling drill. The objective is to dribble through the cones as fast as you can. The kids are having a hard time controlling the ball with this wind right now. The kid running doesn’t look like he’s enjoying running in this wind either. He is already struggling to breathe as it seems. They do the dribbling drill for a while then they start a shooting drill. They put a new goalie in for the shooting drill today. This goalie isn’t as good as the original but he isn’t that bad. He is blocking some good shots. The coach signals for the boy running to continue running and not to slow down. That is brutal. He is gasping for air now. The wind isn’t helping him at all. It is starting to get cold now so he is really going to have trouble breathing in a minute. The coach calls for everyone to take a water break. Except the boy running. The team then starts doing one on one drills. These drills are interesting because you get to go against someone one on one and see who is better. The defenders are really shining on this drill. Not one person has gotten past a defender and scored yet. The coach looks mighty frustrated with his offense right now. That can’t be good. The boy running is bending over by a tree at the moment. I think he is throwing up. That’s not fun. The coach all of a sudden makes everyone start running. Probably for lack of offense in that last drill. The coach seems to be a real hard coach. The sun is starting to go down. After about 10 minutes running in the wind and cold the coach calls everyone in. The kid that he made start running at the beginning of practice ran the entire practice without stopping except to throw up. I wonder what he told the coach.

All In Favor Of Skipping Winter This Year

A sharp wave of blistering cold whips the ground picking up millions of specs of brown earth and sharp pebbles, then, whipping them upward in one great motion, snaps the debris forward, sideways, against exposed legs, into eyes,  book bags, and open door ways. This was the scene I was met by upon journeying to my observation location. Much dust, cold, and unpleasantness. To my relief the inside of the lounge area is warm and inviting, serving in sheer contrast to the hellish conditions outside. I note that there were a handful of people outside the library walking. In fact I image those inside are more refugees than individuals looking for a place to work. Right off I see Jack and Jill, whom had been sitting at a table closest to the library entrance. As I watch they begin to gather their belongings and stand. Jack stands close to the entrance to the library while Jill enters the library. A few minutes pass and Jill returns to the scene and the two exit out through the lounge together. Almost directly in front of me, (but one chair to the right) sits a man of the same ethnicity as cover. He wears a black hat, and has a red roller desk pulled to him to hold a white apple laptop and water bottle. The man (Let’s call him Green) sits up straight in his plush chair, feet planted firmly on the carpet below, a blue backpack held in-between his legs. Green takes a swig of the water in the few minutes I have been watching him. I note that he, unlike most I have seen in the lounge on previous observations, is not touching his laptop, he merely watches the screen, headphones bridging him to the material online. When Green is not watching the screen of his laptop, I note that he looks at me oddly, perhaps catching onto my observation. To the right of me sits Cap, shoulders buried deep into her plush chair, legs crossed, and the higher up right leg supporting her famous black laptop. She whispers softly into the screen of her device as she rubs her neck and head with one hand. I am close enough to her to see that she is video chatting a young man. Two tables in front of me sits a man in a blue shirt, he sits alone, phone in hand, headphones attaching him to the device, and demanding his attention. (Let’s call this man Plug,) Beside the man’s chair is a black backpack, and another backpack is set on the pulled out seat to his right. A single fast food soda drink resides on the table. The time is now 3:14, a new woman enters the lounge scene, she takes a seat two display cases and four seats to my right. After placing her belongings by the chair she stands again and pulls a red roller desk in front of her so that it may hold her laptop and drink. Upon sitting again, the woman (let’s call her Erika) pulls out a cellphone and begins to fidget on it. At that moment, a woman in a red hoodie comes in through the library and assumes her place in the pulled out desk by Plug. (Let’s call this newcomer Heel.) As soon as she takes a seat, she touches plugs wrist, gets out her phone, and shows him something on it. The two talk in hushed excited voices above the tiny screen. A few minutes later Green packs up his belongings and leaves the scene, as he exits out an assaulting blast of cool air temporarily freezing the library scene, I shiver bitterly in my seat, as I am the closest one to the exit. After, a young man in blue jeans enters from the library, reading one of two jumbled packets as he makes his way toward the lounge exit. A soon stops at the exit and flips through a few pages, reading for about a minute, then exits. A young couple exits through the lounge. Back at Plug and Heel’s desk, Plug seems to now be showing heel a video on his own device, both are smiling. A young blonde girl now enters the lounge, she approaches Heel, making the girl turn her attention away from Plug. The two girls seem to greet each other, the blonde girl takes a seat, and the two talk. The blonde girl soon greets plug and he excitedly shows the two girls a video. Back at Caps video chatting area of the room, I observe that she still talks quietly to the screen of her laptop, despite the screen now changed to a word document. Her posture has not shifted greatly. Surveying the lounge, I also notice that many leaves have found their way into the lounge floor. Likely all of them hitched a ride on the bursts of air sent through the lounge by the open door. A handful of leaves has even reached has far as the center of the room. The new blonde girl by Plug and Heel now stands, the other two follow in her lead and exit the lounge. After, a middle aged looking woman enter the lounge from the library, and takes her time looking at a rotating display case full of articles, she eventually heads back into the library. Meanwhile, in Erica’s side of the room she types intently, her phone no longer compromising her attention. A young woman dressed warmly, reading a cellphone enters the library. Following are two men in a dark pink/purple, who exit through the lounge, the younger of the two holding a latter, and the older holding a tool bag. Next, two young women, followed by two middle aged women enter into the library. To end this scene with only minutes of observation remaining, I would like to fill the audience in on what scene I shall be leaving today. Cap is still taking softly, but now instead of doing nothing but this, she instead types and scrolls on her laptop, a word document open. Erica does the same on her laptop. The inside of the library is full of low talking, and a comforting warmth. This in particular depresses me as I look out the glass doors at the raging wind and brown skies. The outside does not look fun. 

samedi

            This week I noticed right away that business was good when I got to my location. First of all I saw in the parking lot that there were several vehicles in the parking lot. Now, inside I see that there are several people inside. While I was in line I noticed that the worker I am used to seeing is here today. I also notice a group of teenage girls sitting in a booth, in the corner. They all seem to be the same age. Also here today is a woman with three children with her. Sitting at a table not too far are two men. They may be related. One of them has long hair and a laptop. The other man has short hair and is eating his burger with an angry look on his face. Also here is a man woman with a young boy. The boy is probably three or four. Also at the location today is a couple sitting together. The girl is laughing at the man for some reason and the man is looking like he is trying to explain something. The man is wearing glasses.

            At the counter right now is a man all alone with a beanie on, it is pretty cold today. The group of girls in the corner now have an older woman sitting with them. I think this may be a team of some sort and the older woman their coach. Some girls are talking about “beating someone” so they must be a sports team. The three kids with their mother are making her laugh now. She is laughing really loudly. The kids look embarrassed now. Now entering is a woman with a little boy, presumably her son.

            The man with the beanie is sitting down now close to the couple without kids. That same couple is actually leaving now. The girl is getting a refill, and is now following the man out. The mother of the three kids is sounding like she is ready to leave, as she is telling her children to hurry up. The two brothers (I’m assuming they are brothers) are getting ready to leave now. The one with the short hair is standing up and saying something to the other, which has a strange look on his face. The angry one leaves and the brother with the laptop stays a bit longer and finally packs up his laptop and throws away his trash before leaving.

            The parents with the young child are getting ready to leave and the mom walks the child outside. The dad is not far behind. As they leave a young woman and a little girl walk through the door. They are quiet while they order and wait for their food. The group of teenage girls is leaving now and all twelve of them make their way out the door. I notice the older woman, who may or may not be the coach go towards the restrooms. Awhile after the coach leaves the woman and the little boy also leave.

            As the hour goes on the woman with the three kids also leaves. As they leave I can hear them saying something about the Thanksgiving holiday. The lone man with the beanie also leaves as does the young woman with the little boy. Later, as I am getting ready to leave I see the worker behind the counter disappear to the back. Hopefully she won’t cause any trouble for the customers.

 

Cold Weather, Hot Coffee, Coughs, and New Friends

It is one blustery day and everyone is packed into the corner café like sardines. It is about six o’clock at night and there is a lot of people seeking shelter from the crazy cold wind. No one is sitting outside because of how cold it is, so everyone and their mothers are inside. There is maybe two or three seats open out of all the seating. Even the bar area is full. There is no one coming in, but there is also no one leaving, so traffic is slow.

There is some upbeat music playing inside and the lights are low because all the light is coming through the windows. There are a lot of people studying at the tables, this could be because there are “pre-break” exams this week. There are no couples this week, thank goodness! But there are a couple of study groups. The sign language group aren’t here today, which is probably a good thing because those poor people would have nowhere to sit! Aside from the two groups of students, the rest of the people are just here to relax and drink coffee. Surprisingly, there are very few people here that are on laptops and on their phones today… WEIRD!

I had to sit at one of the comfy chairs today and the person to my left is reading a newspaper and the person to my right is just sitting there thinking about life, so it seems. The man to my left is right next to the door so every time someone comes in he looks at the door slightly irritated and sinks a little more into his jacket and chair to warm himself up. The people across from me at the other comfy chairs are also not on their phones or computers. One person is listening to music and enjoying her coffee, the other two are just talking to each other.

Since there is no traffic of people, it is pretty quiet inside because the coffee machine isn’t running. You can hear the baristas talking to the people at the bar. I am almost positive that the people sitting at the bar also work here but they are just not on the clock. The baristas are always talking and laughing and having such a good time, they must really enjoy the fact that they have fun at work! One of the workers is putting out all of the Christmas mugs and there is at least three people looking at them. Mugs with designs on them are the best, and I think people tend to buy them, not only because they are ‘limited edition’ or for Christmas presents, but because they allow them to make hot drinks! Everyone inside the café has a hot drink right now with the exception of two crazy people who got frapps.

There is also a lot of sniffling and coughing going on, including myself. This weather has definitely been affecting us poor southern New Mexicans. And when people start feeling bad or get sick, where do they go? Coffee shops. Whether its to get tea, hot coffee, or to get the cozy feeling and vibe of a coffee shop. That’s why I’m here, I want some hot tea! There are two girls sitting at the table in front of me and they are both in hoodies and sweatpants, such as myself, and drinking tea also! We actually just joked about how we were triplets because we were all dressed the same, drinking tea with honey, and working on homework. This is another example of how people are so nice and how people can get bond over the silliest things. Now, I’m sitting at the table with them and doing homework. Pretty sure they just felt bad that I was trying to write on paper on my leg. But hey! New friends!

Well, that about wraps up my night here at the corner café!