Observation and Description Exercise: One hour of interrupted listening

I went to Borders at 7:30 p.m on a Wednesday night. I ordered a coffee and sat down in the café. There were students on laptops, a mother and child, and some older adults scattered sitting in the café. The café is connected to the actual book store, so I tried to scan the whole store from where I was sitting. The mother and child sitting at the table beside me were talking about how the child’s day went at school and the homework he had to do that night. He said he had a turkey sandwich for lunch and he drew pictures. The mother and child didn’t stay long, probably because the child seemed restless. Two girls ordering coffee at the register were chatting about how their day went and what one of the girls was doing with her boyfriend for Valentine’s Day. They wondered into the book section and disappeared out of vision. I also observed everyone who walked through the café door. There were so many different people. More than half of the people who walked in that door walked in to go to the book section, not the café. Most of the people who went to the café counter stood a few feet away and studied the menu before approaching the cashier. Other customers who walked in went straight to the counter and ordered quickly as though they were regulars or maybe just in a hurry. After sitting there for a while, a student came in with, who I assume, was a tutor. The student seemed frustrated as they time they worked together progressed, but the tutor seemed patient and seemed to explain everything in great length. People who sat down sat for a while and seemed to be sipping a beverage while working, or reading. Those who rushed in seemed to walk out or move into the bookstore. When I went to leave, it was closer to closing time and there was very few people settled in the café. Most people had left or seemed to be finishing up. I watched the many people in the café blend into the hustle and bustle of the early evening. As I was watching them, they all seemed to become interconnected. Their busy lives all seemed to be a smaller part of the bigger whole of the day.