Way to kill the mood

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

Finals and Other Endings

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

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

Fin

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

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

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

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

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

Exausting being in charge.

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

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

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

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

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