Observation 1: They Come for the Milkshakes

    I walk into the Perk at 9:45 on a Tuesday night. Evidently, this is not their busiest time as there are only 3 customers in the establishment, and the employees look bored. A look at the menu makes it clear what kind of food that they serve, and the college crowd that they are catering to. It includes milkshakes, many types of coffee (including the “red eye” which just sounds like the perfect drink for an all-nighter), as well as many snack foods such as dino-nuggets and waffle fries. I go up to order, deciding on a milkshake, and it is ready in about 5 minutes (the fastest that it has ever come out, further evidence that it is not their most popular hour). However, I imagine that it tends to get somewhat busier when events are put on in the Perk, such as this one that is advertised on their Instagram page:

This is of course not the only event, they also bring in DJs and have many other events designed to draw in more customers.

    As I am sitting there drinking my shake, more people begin to trickle in, and the volume starts to rise. A few people come in individually, but they tend to wait for their food and then leave. The large portion of people coming are in a group, typically of 3 or more. They go up to the counter, order their food, and sit down at a table to await their order number being called. And there were two large things that I noticed: the fact that almost everybody orders a milkshake, and the surprising lack of technology being used. Sure there were a couple of people on there phones (and even a few people huddled around a computer, but I suspect that they were doing some kind of group project), but for the large part it was people who were just sitting around and talking. They greeted the people who came through the door, often rather loudly, and were just generally very friendly and social. Perhaps the reason for the lack of cell-phone usage is because most people were only there for about 15-20 minutes, so they wanted to enjoy this short study break with their friends, absent of technology. 

    The types of conversations that people were having varied from talking about practice, to various drama in their friend groups, to something funny that they heard about on the internet. All in all very typical conversations.

    For next time, I think I will make an effort to go during a time that they are busier, and I also would like to know if there is a more regular crowd that comes there, or if it is different people every time. By going during a time that is busier I will have more to observe, and might even find some interaction that occurs there that I want to look into further.