Thanksgiving Lunch

 It's finally here week twelve, which means the semester is coming to an end.  To my surprise it's unpleasantly cold outside as I'm heading to my field site.

I'm greeted with a warm smile like always. I head over to the coffee station as soon as I walk in. However, as soon as I walk into the building I see a swarm of middle school students. Consequently, making it difficult for me to reach my point of interest. Their fresh baby faces and matching outfits seem in awe of all the food in the building.  I'm not surprised that most of them are surrounding the ice cream and dessert station.

Taos is having their special Thanksgiving lunch, which brings warmth to my heart.  It makes me even more excited to go home for a week, just as everyone else is. I think the thought of Thanksgiving break has everyone distracted and unfocused. I say this because of a few conversations I overheard around me. The girls sitting next to me can't stop talking about break and the semester ending.

I grab my plate of food and observe everyone in the building.  I soon realize there are more visiting students than actual NMSU students. I assume everyone has headed home.

 I finish my early Thanksgiving lunch and grab another cup of coffee. Everyone has left and by everyone I mean the noisy kids. There are a few students left. While I head out I notice most of the food is gone. I would say their Thanksgiving lunch was a success.

Win or Lose, We Still Booze

For this weeks blog I stayed with the college life and parties. I went to the final home game of the season for our mediocre 2-9 football team, which we lost of course. Being the final home game of the season i decided to show up to support our team. I don't think other students or even people from our city got the memo so the attendance was small for this final home game. With that being said i decided to leave since we were most likely going to lose anyways, this is where the fun began.

From there i decided to go to el paso for the UTEP vs NMSU basketball game which was a lot more exciting. I showed up late but that didnt stop the fun. I met up with some friends that had really great seats and the environment for the game is what i missed about basketball games. Thats the only time we have a packed house for the rivalry games or games against a damn good opponent. Being that the game was at the Don Haskins Center we were outnumbered by UTEP fans but it didnt stop us from supporting our team. It was a great game up to the end when we lost by 1 point. After the game in the parking lot there were the typical cool guys who acted like badasses and tried to fight everyone because their team won. We didnt want any drama and since we were already in El Paso we decided to go to a few parties and clubs  there.

The parties in el paso are really similar to the ones in Las Cruces, theres booze, woman, and people wanting to have a great time. So instead i will talk about the clubs since they are more interesting. We do not have that many great ones here but in el paso they are really exciting. At these clubs you will see a lot of people from las cruces for that reason. Once we entered they marked everyone who was underage so they couldnt drink but it wont stop people from trying to drink and still have fun. There is a country style club that a lot of people go to which is really fun. Even though im not a country guy myself, and a lot of people there arent really "country" we still have fun, dance to the country music and just let go. The music is only country being that it is a country bar but it is really fun and easy to "get down" to. When i thought the night was going good there had to be someone who ruined it, this time it was a group of guys that ruined it. For some reason people get really drunk and think everyone is out to get them and fight them when in reality we are all there to have fun and party. Not in these guys minds, they approached us wanting to start trouble and when they saw we didnt want to fight because we risked getting thrown out they got more angry. Finally the security did their job and threw these cool  guys out and the night became enjoyable again.

In el paso i did not see that many differences than parties in las cruces but the clubs are a lot more fun and interesting over there. You will see a lot of las cruces people there and the typical douche bag that tries to fight everyone but you see those guys every where. Theres no escaping it, but thats the party life.

Stinson Out 

Overhearing a Sad Story

I was at the coffee shop for about twenty minutes, it was early in the morning so most people were just going through the drive through. At around 9 am an older man and what I assumed to be his grandchild entered the coffee shop, as they walked towards a table near me I noticed that the boy had been crying, they then ended up sitting at the table in front of me. Linda approached them and took their order, as she walked away I noticed that the old man, Grandpa, smiled at the boy. Grandpa had a deep voice so I was able to overhear their conversation; apparently they had just gone to the cemetery. By what I was able to overhear, the little boy really liked to listen to the story of how his parents had met. At this point I assumed that Grandpa was the one raising the little boy.

Some of the story I wasn’t really able to hear because as Grandpa began to tell it he lowered his voice. I was able to hear how the little boy was sobbing as Grandpa told the story, every now and then I would hear a soft laughter. I was able to see Grandpas face as he told the story, because I was facing him. He would stare deeply at the boy, and every so often he would smile and laugh with him. After a couple of minutes I was able to hear how the little boy broke down, and as this happened Grandpa said, “Don’t cry! They loved you more than life itself. That’s why you’re still here, they’re watching over you!” When Grandpa said that I automatically assumed that both the little boy’s parents had passed away, this explained why Grandpa was who was raising him. The little boy then got up and went to hug Grandpa, as I saw them hug each other I choked up a bit.

This little boy had lost both of his parents, and Grandpa was the only person he had left. Overhearing that this morning was pretty sad, I didn’t know them, or their story. I only knew what I was able to overhear and as I watched them I was able to tell that, that little boy meant everything to Grandpa.

The Cold is Here

It is Thursday evening and this is the last week of fieldwork. This is good because the days are starting to get colder out here at the duck pond. It seems like as the days get colder the number of people out here decreases.

There is an older woman, Misty, sitting under a tree reading a book. Occasionally she stands up and takes a few steps around before continuing to read, I assume she must be standing up to stretch her muscles for a bit.  She sticks around until a little before the sun goes down.

A young man, Norman, is walking his dog down international mall. He throws a ball forward and the dog brings it back. They continue to do this as they keep walking and never stop in my area.

A group of students come out of Piñon hall and sit on the grass for a few minutes. They don’t stay long and head back to the dorms right away, I didn’t really see the point of them coming out.

A larger group of about ten students approach the pond and gather around the edge of the water. They came very close to me and set up about 15 yards away. They gather around in a circle and light candles. They stand in the grass speaking but not very loud. From the looks of it I believe they might be praying. They stick around for about 15 minutes before they blow out the candles and head back where they came from.

Across the water I could hear a few people who appear to be arguing. They didn’t come here together, they might just of had an unfriendly encounter. I think they might be arguing over a fishing spot or something to do with the fishing. They are raising their voice and one of them appears to give up. He picks up his things and heads over by the bridge.

A young couple, Olson and Patricia, dressed in workout clothes jog down the sidewalk.  Olson stops and talks with one of the fisherman for a few seconds before they continue their run.

The number of people out here seems to have gone down since the first week. Nowadays most people I see are people passing by heading somewhere else not many stick around anymore. I use to see kids occasionally playing in the grass and you don’t see them very much anymore.

Hasta la vista!

I walk into the restaurant at about 6:00PM and two people were present. It was pretty quiet and all that could be heard was the television and the juicers. Outside seemed very lively, the traffic could be seen bustling in the city streets and the trees were swaying in the strong wind.

There was Mr. Regular who I’ve seen here a couple of times. He seemed to be occupied by his phone which is usually the case. He’s wearing his work uniform like a lot of the people I usually see here on a Friday evening. This restaurant seems to be the hang out spot for various employees following a long week of work.

The other person I mentioned is a Caucasian male. Bill seems to be in his late twenties and is casually dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He sat at the table nearest to the counter and was watching the sports commentators on television. Unlike Mr. Regular Bill didn’t seem to be the texting type, I only saw him look at his phone once which I believe was to check the time. He waited for about five minutes until Wayne the waiter brought over his order and left thereafter.

About five minutes went buy and a family of three stepped in. Mom and dad seem to be in their thirties and they brought along their little baby girl. I’ll call this couple Tom and Jenny. Tom is a Hispanic guy who wore long black jeans and a white t-shirt and Nike sneakers. His head was shaved bald but he was growing a beard. Jenny was also of Hispanic descent and wore a black skirt and a dark blue blouse. She seemed to be a very good mom and her and the toddler could be seen having fun. The little baby girl seems to be in the early stages of learning how to walk and did not wanted to be held by anyone. She kept marching around the front of the restaurant and her mom was following behind her like a shadow. Like I said she seems to be a great mother and is enjoying the family time.

The door opens and two male teenagers walk in. They came up to the counter and Wayne the Waiter gave them a menu to look at. These two guys seemed to be around the age of fifteen, judging from the way they dress. They wore black t-shirts that fit really tight, skinny jeans and converse. Both had their head phones and seem to be into heavy metal. They ordered their food to go and were out the store in six minutes.

It’s certainly sad to say, but we have reached week twelve of field work and it’s time for me to say good bye. World Wide Love is out!

 

Grand China buffet

This week I went to the grand china buffet. There were so many people there I did not know who to observe. Where to begin, to be honest I’m not that big on Chinese food but my parents like it more than I do, so I decided to take them there. When we walking to our table, almost every table on the way there were full with families friends and couples. It ceases to amaze how there are so many people here yet there are a whole lot of people who die each day.

On a table next to us there was a family of four, the two girls seemed to be around the ages of 14 and 16. And as every other teen girl here, they were consumed by their phones. The light from their screens could be seen in their eyes. Their parents didn't seem to care that they were on their phones, but they didn't seem so happy that that is all they were doing.

To the right of us there was a family of three, they were all enjoying their mountainous plates of food and their plates were beginning to pile up on the end of the table. This family was not one of the healthier looking families, but they didn't seem to care what other thought. As I began to observe other people around them, those other people were looking at them as well. The way they ate was a little disturbing. All I could think about was how can one person fit that much food in their stomach. Then I remembered that in one of my classes, a person’s stomach can adapt in eating so much food that they become “efficient” eaters, which is not a good thing.

In front of us there was a larger group of a family, they all looked alike except for of course the girls or boys that had their significant other. Together they took up three of the long tables. While most of them were chatting away, there were a couple of them that were glued to their phones. There was also those that were in a conversation but then they would stop what they were saying to read whatever was on their phone and then they’d continue to say what they were intending to say in the first place. Has replying to someone that is not physically there with us become more important than replying to someone who is actually there with us? What is becoming of our attention?

Out of all the people that were here there was a vast majority of people on their phones, even some of the waitresses would sneak around to where the fountain drinks were and check their phones and send a quick text back. I think that is why they have begun to install cameras in the restaurant.

Coffee Crazed pt 12

            As the Holiday season is approaching and the weather is changing the mood of the shop has seemed to change to reflect the change in seasons. It seems like less people are coming in to enjoy the coffee and drinks now that it is becoming colder but also because its thanksgiving break.  Many people were in the shop today as it was particularly cold outside so the number of people sitting on the outside patio was at a minimum.  Everybody was dressed warm, and seemed to be happy that their thanksgiving breaks were starting. There was a lack of students, which did not come as a surprise as most probably took off as soon as their last class was over on Friday.

            There was a group of teenage girls, presumably high schoolers talking and drinking their holiday drinks. They were very secretive as to what they were taking about and would look around the room looking to see if anybody was listening in on their conversation. a mother and father both wearing big jackets helped their young daughter, wearing a big jacket and a beanie, sip from her hot chocolate.

            Two men walked in laughing about their favorite football teams. They ordered their drinks and walked out. The shop was dead today. The liveliest people were the workers and they were mostly calm. Hopefully next week will be more eventful.

Au Revoir, Family Zoo!

It was that time of the week, for the gathering at the watering hole for our neighborly animals. Mr. Zebra and Mr. Meerkat- along with everyone else: Minnie, Cool Shades, Round Face, Wildebeest.
We were all speaking, led by Mr. Meerkat, and Cool Shades made a stunning announcement. He seemed to have tears in his eyes, but didn't sound sad. The rest of us were deadpanned and not really sure what to say. Round Face was just staring at his hands and Mr. Zebra moved around in his seat a bit. Mr. Meerkat kept his normal stolid demeanor and didn't really show emotion, other than a lack of surprise.
The conversation kept going after that, but there was more of an underlying quiet behind it.
After that, when everyone stayed behind to further converse on their own terms, it seemed to go a little quicker, although it was just as amicable.
Cool Shades seemed more eager to leave the atmosphere he had inadvertently created; although he had a smile on his face, his eyes looked incredibly glassy.
Mr. Zebra spoke loudly about a joke we had, and had the whole group laughing from it.
Everyone seemed to echo a certain expression in their faces of either non-surprise or a derivative of sadness.
A day later, almost the whole group was there again- minus Round Face. And Cool Shades seemed to be nervous, in the way he carried himself- too stiffly, and in his manner of tossing out words too quickly and interrupting people with his speech- which was unusual. Mr. Meerkat seemed a tad taken aback by it, but did not get ruffled. Wildebeest seemed a bit taken aback as well. Cool Shades seemed to attempt to subtly dominate the conversation until it was his time to exit the small group.
The group always seemed to be growing closer and Mr. Meerkat has been maintained as a constant, with his friendly, yet stoic, facial expressions, that seemed to be a social cohesive for the rest of the group.

The Mustache Man

The mustache. That is the first thing that I notice when I walk into the shop. There is a man at a table that has the best sculptured mustache I have ever seen in my life. I wait in line to take my order but notice that the shop is really busy so I go and put my bag down on the only available table. I get back in line and order my usual: Chai Tea. The employee that is working today is the same as last time. I haven’t given him a name… I will call him Mr. Green as his eyes are really green. I see the other employee I call Jared working in the back dong something. I make my order and then go sit down. Me and the mustache man keep making eye contact and I am facing him straight on. My table is right next to him. As I sit a customer walks in and recognizes mustache man and says, “Oh my god dude, no way!” and everybody laughs because they know they are talking about his wonderful stache. There is a woman sitting behind me and a younger gentleman is standing there talking to her but I cannot hear what about. There is another customer that has a rugged beanie look and he is listening to music. There is a rather old couple that looks like they are in their 70’s.They are so cute! Jared comes up to me and says, “You didn’t happen to order a Chai Tea did you?” I say yes and he hands me my drink. I’ve noticed that he always has his nails painted. Last week they were black and this week they are a St. Patrick’s Green. Mustache man and his friends are talking about school and how he has to get an A in one of his class. His friend that came up t him is a long boarder and he has those shoes where you can see the toes but they are inside the shoe. Does that make sense? Now they are talking about his stache again. My Chai Tea actually tastes the way it usually does. I bet it’s because Jared made it. Mr. Green doesn’t make them the same. No! Moustache man and his friends are leaving!! The old man is one of the cutest old man’s I’ve seen in a while. He sits there kind of slumped in his chair slowly drinking out of his smoothie. And his smile is the sweetest. Overhead NPR is playing as usual. Today the music is more happy and lively than it has been in a while. Sort of sounds like ballet music. This shop always has flowers. I don’t think I’ve been here when there wasn’t. The ones at my table as dead yet they are still beautiful. They have a red, maroon, purple color with hints of yellow.  Across the room at other tables are the new flowers. Bright yellow flowers that look like they just got cut they are so fresh.  I’m in love with this old man, I just want to go up to him and listen to his life story but I don’t have the time! I got to head back home and get ready for the holidays! Until next time? Or wait… is this going to be the last time? Ah if It I kind of enjoyed going to this shop every Friday and seeing all the different people that came in. Farewell.

Smh....

       Going to work the other day I kind of figured it was going to be just another day. Another day of showing up, all dressed in black with steel toes boots on, and back brace "to show" that they actually help me lift heavy things. Another day of a handheld in my hand scanning bar-codes to make sure they are in the right place, in a warehouse, not even seeing the sunlight unless I'm on the dock. Sounds pretty bad, i know, but thank God to my fellow employees who make that job as fun as it is. This week has been a little differently though because we are getting closer and closer Black Friday, and the amount of stock we are getting is ridiculous.
       Today was different though, I do not know if it was just the fact that it was Friday, and it was the last day of school before break, but I actually felt pretty good going into work today. I actually was really freaking hyper, which rubbed off onto some of my fellow associates because sooner or later we all were all hyped up, and having a blast. Once I got in there and all settled. I got all my gear on, and started getting into the normal routine of things I have to do that day. Looking back before I entered the building, I passed by a cop car that was posted outside of the store, and the first thing that popped into my mind was," Oooooooo someone busted!". I was not wrong either, I guess there were two people that tried to steal something in our store and ended up getting caught, and I am laughing because like how could you be so stupid to get caught stealing? Like why would you want to steal in the first place? Especially in our store haha. So as I am trying to gather information on who was it, and how they got busted. They came out of the LP office were they were in a way being interrogated, and it was a woman, and a man. The girl was I would say about teen ages, and the guy was older, he kind of looked like he was her dad, and that was the first thing that I assumed when I first saw them. The girl was crying, so it was obvious to me that she was the one who was caught stealing and her dad had to come and pick her up. Turns out that that was not his daughter, and they both were the ones that were stealing. Turns out they were given warnings, and banned from the store. Because that is was we usually do to the people that we catch trying to steal stuff from our store.  I don't know what it is about when people get caught, but it gets me all hyped up, and I get all excited because it's like a rush, and a half to witness it.
       Later on that day, someone I guess was trying to steal something again. So being the size that I am, our head security guy, called me into his office and told me to take off my nametag, and back belt to look like a normal shopper, and go with him to in a way corner this dude in that looked suspicious. So i had to go stand in front of the exit while our head LP guy went to get a better look. Turns out this guy actually did steal something, and had it in his pocket while he walked towards the exit that i was standing out. My heart was beating like a 100 times a minute because from the camera footage, and the location of where it looked like he was opening a package. He stole a knife, and a utility knife. According to our rules we can not put our hands on a shopper to stop them from leaving the store. We can only stop the once they leave the store, and ask them to come inside before we call the cops. So as this guy is walking towards me, he has in hand in his pocket to where he was obviously hiding something. No matter how bad I wanted to stop him, I could not do that because of the rules. So I kind of gave a look to our LP guy and he ran towards me to stop this guy once he left the store. He did, and would not cooperate with us, so we called the cops, and that was that. Turned out that it was a dad stealing something while his son was by his side. Like he was teaching him how to steal, and when i found that out. I could not believe that he would do that to his child. Some people should not be able to take care of their child especially if they are teaching them something like that. It was sad.