Observation #5

This week I did my observation at Bruno's in Cedar City. It's not a very big restaurant, so it was easy to observe the other people that were also there. At the table next to us was a young girl, approximately four years old, her mother and an adult female friend. Sitting at the table behind them were an older couple, probably in their sixties, and their grandson, probably about twelve. I observed the most non-verbal interaction between the young girl and her mother. She was full of energy and had a hard time sitting still. Several times I watched her mother take her by the arm and sit her down while giving her an irritated look. The young girl was all smiles, especially when they brought out the plate of spaghetti. Her smile quickly turned to a frown and she began to cry when her mother put a small amount of spaghetti on a separate plate and cut it up for the girl. She seemed to think that she needed the entire plate of food, and was not afraid to let the entire restaurant know it. After several minutes of crying and pouting her hunger must have gotten the best of her because she decided to eat what her mom have fixed for her. The woman that was with them seemed a bit embarrassed and uncomfortable when the girl was crying and displaying her discontent. The mother was calm to begin with, but that soon changed to a look of anger and frustration. I don't know if the girl saw the look on her mom's face and that's why she decided to eat, or just that she was hungry. The girl's wiggles returned quickly, and she seemed to have a need to use the bathroom based on the way she danced in her chair and wrinkled her forehead. The mom noticed this too, and quickly took her to the restroom.
The grandson with his grandparents was much less entertaining. He, of course, spent time on his phone and showed his own content with whatever it was he was looking at. I assume it was a game based on his facial expressions. The grandparents carried on their own conversation and every once in a while would address the boy. I didn't notice any eye contact between the boy and them until their food arrived and the phone had to be put away. After that, there was a lot of conversation, mostly about whether or not the grandpa was going to eat his food or the boy was going to finish for him. You gotta love a growing boy! Overall, I only observed a few different non-verbal communications.

Location: Bruno's Restaurant, Cedar City

Joy
Irritation
Embarassment
Discomfort
Sadness
Anger
Frustration
Content
Hunger