The Stage

October, mid afternoon, 2016

Small coffee shop in Kamloops BC

It was a gloomy, overcast day. I entered the shop at about 3 pm on a Wednesday afternoon. I ordered a hot chocolate and a cookie and settled into a corner table. To anyone else I would just look like a student working on her homework on a cold afternoon at a cozy coffee shop.

The shop was a buzz with a continuos stream of customers. Some stayed and sipped their drinks in light conversation, or while reading or writing while others rushed out the door. The shop consists of natural forest type colours with wooden tables and chairs. The lighting is soft and most of it comes from large windows that cover two sides of the cafe. The shop had light background music playing that could barley be heard over the sound of buzzing conversation. There was the scraping of chairs, flipping of pages and if you sat close enough you could hear the light clicking of two students typing furiously on their laptops. Behind the counter there was small conversation between the three employees, the jingling of coins in the cash register, the clanking of spoons and grumping of milk as the barista made drinks. There is a constant aroma of coffee beans and steamed milk.

Blocking

The Players

There is a constant stream of people coming and going. Approximately twelve people were seated at the tables at one time, with the consistent changing of tables. The first two people I focused on were a middle aged white couple.
The man was bald, with thick black glasses. He was wearing a short sleeved burgundy shirt that was tucked into jeans with a black belt and back running shoes. The woman had short blond hair with streaks of grey. She had a black purse over her shoulder and was wearing a beige cardigan over a light green shirt with flowers around the collar and matching pants paired with short black boots.

I focused on them for about five minutes but they seemed to be at the end of their conversation so I made sure to note one other person. Shortly after I sat down a younger white girl sat at the table directly across from me. She looked to be about fourteen and had shoulder length light brown hair, and was wearing a jean vest over a grey hoodie and purple tank top with jeans tucked into knee height brown boots. She also had a small blue and purple backpack and a cell phone. She was drinking a large iced drink.

The Plot

The first couple seemed to be in light conversation. The man was seated with his legs beneath the table across from the woman, while she sat parallel with the table her legs cross infant of her upper body shifted to be facing the man.  This could be related to Wade’s thoughts on body language. The woman’s body was closed off while the man was seated in an open stance. a female “keeps her body small and contained” and “makes sure she doesn’t take up too much space or impose herself” (Wade, 2013:1) They both sipped their drinks in conversation that I couldn’t make out. The expresses on their faces were nonchalant and I suspect that they are married. The couple seemed to be of middle class status, I came to this conclusion because of the way they were dressed and the lack of expensive looking accessories. This couple was only there for about ten minutes.

As soon as the couple got up to leave the girl across from me pick up her back pack and moved to their table. She sat in the chair facing the door. This movement made me suspect that she was waiting to meet someone.  She went back to reading something on her phone as she had been doing while sitting closer to me. By this point she was half way though her drink. A few minutes after she moved two people joined her. One middle aged woman, perhaps in her late 30s. she looked to be of asian decent and was dressed in a pink and black dress with a black quarter sleeved cardigan. With her was a young girl perhaps a year or two older than the first girl. She looked to be East Indian due to her long straight black hair and dark skin tones. The older woman introduced herself, put her jacket on and went to he counter to order drinks. The girl sat down at the table and jumped into conversation with the other girl who was much more shy and answered the girl’s questions with small smiles and quick nods or short answers. The older woman brought over two small iced drinks and handed one to the second girl before jumping into conversation with the first girl. As the conversation went on it seemed that the two who had some in to meet the first girl were giving her information about some sort of event. It looked to be and informative conversation as well as an interview. The first girl began to engage more in the conversation and i noticed her warming up and answering with longer responses. The second girl would jump in every once in a while to ask a question or say something. They talked for about 15 minutes before the older woman stood up shook the hand of the first girl and began to put her coat on. The second girl got up and picked up her drink before smiling at the first girl and saying goodbye. the two left and the first girl picks up her things and exited.

Finale

I have done an assignment similar to this before and find it extremely interesting. Watching how the world around you interacts.  In a world that relies so much on technology i found it really interesting to watch and record communication between people in conversation.