French music plays over the speaker. A chocolate drenched waffle sits on the plastic table that’s painted like black marble. My table faces the door and I have a good view of the parking lot through all the glass windows. Crepeccino. Originally a creperie, now pictures of sandwiches and pasta slideshow their way across the three big screens above the cash register. Their waffles are their best item, however.
Several patrons are enjoying a sweet treat. A young couple with tattoos simlar in style, a group of three older women speaking Mexican Spanish, a guy and a girl whose matching blond hair could make them either siblings or a couple. One of the older women is wearing a cardigan, the other an off-the-shoulder top, proof that Texas does not know the definition of Spring. A woman with a curly, ginger bun orders a pistachio gelato. Her voice is inaudible except for a loudly projected “pistachio.”
A middle-aged man with a slightly chubby build, hunched shoulders, and longer blond-gray hair comes to my table. He asks me if it’s my first time here, even though I have been here several time throughout the years and he has asked me this question almost as many times. A fellow face-blindness-afflicted-being? As every time before, he points to the QR code on the table and asks me to leave a review.
I assure him I already have. He leaves with a soft smile of thanks and continues going to the other tables, armed with his two questions. He has never introduced himself, but I assume he is the owner of the store. An Asian couple walks in and begin discussing the menu. I know it’s not Korean, but beyond that I’m not sure what language they are speaking. The cashier from earlier waves her hand at the other workers and leaves. The end of her shift. And the end of my 20 minutes of observation.
Creative Writing Becomes Research
This was my assignment for Social Science Research Methods. It felt strangely similar to my creative writing assignments back in college, but the ultimate aim was different. In creative writing, we learned how to capture a scene and make it come alive. Here, we were learning about ethnography, the study of cultures. Therefore, in addition to describing the scene, I was instructed to note patterns.
What I noticed was language. Clearly, if I had chosen to become a social scientist rather than an ecologist, language would be my main topic of interest. But isn’t it fascinating how in the space of 20 minutes, I encountered French, Spanish, and an unknown Asian language? And though outside of my observation period, I often see large groups of middle-eastern people come in for dessert after dinner at the next door middle-eastern cuisine restaurant. In one single space, people from all walks of life, their worldview informed by various languages, all united by a (nearly) universal love of sweet treats.
I further find it endearing and inspiring that the owner of the shop is someone so introverted to the point of not remembering my face, someone who sometimes paces past my table several times before finding the courage to come up and ask his routine questions. I imagine it was him who approved the charity for foster children to set up a booth right next to his door.
Overall, I have always found this to be a safe and comfortable place to come read a book, chat with friends, or do some work. But today I leave with a deeper appreciation of why that is: because one man put care, love, and determination to create a place where any person is welcome. And what brings people more together than a sweet treat?
Writing as self-care
Perhaps this assignment might also be called mindfulness, reflective journaling, any matter of self-care buzz words. For me, writing has always been an essential way to put my thoughts in order and I’m grateful that this assignment reminded me of that. And since I think blogs are supposed to end with some sort of call to action…I will popcorn my assignment on to all you readers!
Find a public spot and write everything you see in the span of 20 minutes. What do you notice?
Bird Lover's Musings 