Analysis of Second Fieldnotes

What surprised me?

They knew who I was and what I was doing this time! I didn't feel like such a creeper. It also surprised me that people talked to me this time and asked why I had a laptop and was all alone. A little boy in the booth next to said hi to me and showed me his little Lightning McQueen toy he was running all over the table, much to his twenty-something year old parents’ annoyance. It shocked me there were no stranger danger issues and his parents didn't yell at him for “bothering” me like another parent did.

What intrigued me?

The tattooed guy at the counter caught my interest. He didn't seem like the diner type, but looked perfectly comfortable, which was pretty cool. I thought a guy that looked like that would be at a sleazy club or a biker bar. It also intrigued me that they fixed the rip in the seat, usually if it didn't get done in a couple days it would stay like that for a while.

What disturbed me?

Now I’m going to rant. There was another kid with a smart phone. This time it wasn't her mother’s, it was hers. When I was nine I had Tetris, not Angry Birds or whatever she was playing. She was also so snotty to her parents when they told her to put it away for dinner when their food arrived. It kind of surprised me that they even made the effort to put their phones away, I was kind of proud that they made the effort. It disturbed me that after the little girl said no to her parents that they just let her get away with it. If I had done that the phone would've been gone for a week or five. It also disturbed me that parents yelled at their kid for “bothering” me, all the girl did was walk up and ask in the cutest voice ever “Whatcha doin’?” I thought it was cute, but apparently an eighteen year old girl with fries and a lap top was a danger to their child, or their four year old was a danger to me. Either way it was a weird thing for parents to get mad about, especially in a place like Zip’s.