Carley Anderson

Journalism 210
Short assignment: observation

At high noon, the Barnes and Noble café catered to flocks of middle-aged women.  A five-strong group chatted animatedly as they waited for their book club to begin, three professionals held an informal business meeting, and one woman sat alone, reading a newspaper.  All wore dressy trousers or skirts.  And as if by some unspoken rule, the women wore their hair uniformly, just above the shoulders.

Classical music played almost inaudibly from speakers in the ceiling.  From behind the counter, faint café sounds – the foaming of milk, the clink of the espresso machine – created a background of white noise for the women’s conversations.

The café at Barnes and Noble was decorated in the same style as the adjoining bookstore.  Brass accents, dark wood chairs, and muted forest green tabletops combined in a way that smacked of distinction and order.  Two stately square columns marked the café entrance.  Above the counter hung a 4 x 20 foot painting of several distinguished authors, done in muted colors that complemented the café’s design.  The tables and floor appeared clean enough to eat from.

The trio of women spoke about their consulting firms.  After 15 minutes of small talk, they began to look uneasy, glancing around the café as though they expected someone. 

“I could have sworn that the committee meets today,” exclaimed a woman in a red jacket.  She whipped out her cell phone and made a few calls, determining that there was no such committee.  Apparently not terribly disappointed that their wait was in vain, the three went on chatting until one of them said goodbye, rose, and walked out of the cafe.  A moment of excitement broke out when it was discovered that she’d left her purse behind.  In a flash, the red-coated woman bolted for the door, arms flapping, purse dangling from her hand.  After she returned to the table, slightly out of breath, the duo settled back down to continue their business conversation.

Meanwhile, the book club members talked on and on about a range of subjects, from politics to ancient Greece to romance.  Their voices overlapped and they appeared fully engaged in their discussions.  Not even when the red-jacketed lady frantically bolted by them did they look up to notice their surroundings.

Every 20 minutes or so, someone would wander in and order a coffee.  Invariably, the person wandered right out of the café as soon as they had a drink, leaving the space to the domain of the middle-aged women.