Fall 09 / P1 / A Story

This semester is all about culture (Design as a Cultural Experience, to be exact). We could sit in the studio discussing culture round the clock (which I am sure we will take a stab at), and/or we could get out there and experience, observe, explore and wonder a bit. We start things off with the latter. For seminar we are to take a stab at a Thick Description (See Clifford Geertz's writings on this). The description is to be based off of observations in a local coffee shop. I camped out in a Starbucks on the corner of Gleenwood Ave. and Peace St. and the fun began. From our observations we began our first Studio Project...

The assignment: Write a story from the perspective of a player in the experience, i.e. a particular customer, barista, dishwasher, busboy, manager, delivery person, etc.

I choose a curiously contemplative customer. Check mine out:

Blessed rain. I hadn't had the heart to look out my park facing windows for several weeks now and watch as the grass turned to brown. Loraine would have loved this drop in temperature. She would have pulled out her fingerless gloves her daughter had made, then tugged at the imperfections. She would have reminisced about the good old days when we were neighbors, young mothers, with "tight assess", she would have said, on that Michigan cul-de-sac. I would have laughed then prayed that any foul language that finds its way out of her lips will taste like dirty gravel in her mouth.

Dear God, give Loraine's family the strength for another day and unwavering faith. I pray that you will soften their hearts to your words, to your guidance and that when unforgiveness tries to take root in their soul that YOU will pluck it out by the roots and replace it with the peace that passes all understanding. I pray that when all else fails...

Oh, is this a break in the rain? I should go now so I don't have to fumble with that awful umbrella.