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.

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.

MAZEL TOV!

I arrived to the event 20 minutes early. Parking was full and a charter bus was dropping guests off in front of a house. There are many different circles or groups of people chatting. There are old friends and many new ones being made. There are many familiar faces from near and far. A lot of introductions and many reunions. There is a line of people waiting to sign a guest book.  A middle-aged, anglo woman is at the head of the line, smiling while she signs the book. She has a look of content and fesiciousness. A large, middle-aged, anglo man announced that the ceremony was about to begin and to please take our seats. Nearly all the seats were taken so I stood in the back to observe better and hang out with a couple of buddies. The rabbi introduced himself and gave a rundown of how the ceremony was going to go. He explained some of the traditions that were to take place as well. When he finished the explanation, the groom and his groomsmen walked out in a line. The groom is anglo, in his 20's, obviously Jewish with blue eyes. There were 6 groomsmen all varying in ethnic background and between the ages of 25-40. The best man was referred to as the best person, who was actually the grooms older sister.  Then followed the bridal party which included 5 anglo females and a hispanic one. Two of the bridesmaids were holding new born babies as they approached the huppah. Once both parties were in their place, the bride came to the huppa and was accompanied by her father.The bride is in her 20's, tall and blonde. Her father was a larger man and in his late 50's, early 60's.  Once they were both under the huppah, the bride and groom went through a series of traditions including one where they held hands as he circled her about a dozen times and the exchange of vows. Once the traditions abd prayers were through, a pair of glasses was place inside of a fabric bag and as a symbol of the marriage commencing, the groom stomped on the bag breaking the glasses and the party begins.
Mazel Tov!