Children in the restaurant observation

Research paper Introduction Tasha and Jean (not their real s) are the s of my research. Tasha is six-year-old white girl with brown curly hair and blue eyes while Jean is a four-year-old African American boy with short black hair. The two kids both enter a fast foods restaurant at 1100 hours accompanied by their mothers at almost the same time with Tasha and her mum getting in only five minutes before Jean and her mum gets through the restaurant door. These two kids make the best candidates for my research and, as a result, I begin to study their behavior as they commence their eating experience in the restaurant.
Running notes
1100: Tasha enters through the door and seems to be dragging her mum inside as though she cannot wait to have a taste of the delicacies served in the restaurant. She shouts, “ I want French fries, mum I need those” as she points to one of the customer’s plates that is loaded with nicely plated brown French fries with strands of red ketchup. Just as expected, Tasha and her mum are both served, and they head for their seats. Tasha eats hurriedly while focusing all her attention on her plate and seems to care less about her mum seated right in front of her. Neither does she care about adding ketchup or salt to her food.
1105: Jean gets into the hotel with his mother. He does not seem to be in a hurry and stops at the door to watch the restaurant’s cowboy statue erected at the entrance. It is not until his mum drags him that he finds a seat opposite Tasha’s. He seems to care less about the food. His mum joins him with two plates of French fries, and they begin to eat.
1110: Tasha stretches her left hand to reach for a bottle of ketchup. Her mum mumbles a few words before she goes on picking her chips one after the other. Tasha seems reluctant to add ketchup to her half full plate of French fries. She gazes around aimlessly like though she had not noticed the presence of their customers in the restaurant before she finally squeezes the ketchup on her plate wastefully. Her mum seems irritated and grabs the bottle.
1115: Jean eats slowly but steadily. He is not distracted by the melee caused in the restaurant when a group of rowdy teenagers enter the premise. Jean only lifts his head for a moment as if to confirm his mum’s presence then resumes his slow but steady eating.
1120: Tasha seems a little distracted by the food on her plate and begins to play with the sticks of chips. She rolls her sleeves up and begins to rearrange the food on her plate as if to create some sought of artwork. She nods her head in amusement and nudges her mum to have a look.
1125: Jean’s plate is almost empty. He walks to his mother and stretches out his hands to her. His mother quickly notices that he needs to clean his hands and pulls a few soviets from the table and hands them over to him. They both then head to the door leaving only a few sticks of chips on both their plates on the table.
1130: Tasha’s mother seems to be asking one of the waiters to pack the food on Tasha’s plate. After packing the food in a takeaway tin, the waiter hands the tin to Tasha. Her mother then drags her towards the door as they walk away.
Summary
The restaurant in which Tasha, Jean and their mums took their meals was welcoming to all age brackets of customers. The fact that both children seemed amazed to take their meals in the restaurant confirms that the place was meant for all. Additionally, the ambience and décor of the place served their purposes since the color and decoration created a dinning mood.
Jean and Tasha are awkwardly different in their modes of eating despite being both kids. I am particularly impressed by Jean’s patience and display of respect to a public place. His actions in the restaurant made me believe that he is a humble and well-behaved child. Tasha, on the other hand, is playful and does not seem to notice the difference between a public restaurant and her dining table at home. Tasha is a funny girl. She made me laugh when she began playing with the sticks of French fries only a few minutes after she began eating selfishly. I was particularly flabbergasted by her nagging. She seemed to be impatient to have her meal served but soon after she ate only a portion of her meal, she began playing with the food as though it did not bother her anymore.