Activity 1:To be a Flaneur

Rosedelle A Chery

Activity 1: To be a Flaneur

So for this first activity I decided to Queens Place mall, near Queens Center Mall, on Valentine’s Day. I figured it would be fun to watch couples pack the mall, trying to get a seat at Red Lobster or the Outback Steak House and to see how they would pass the time. Also I hadn’t been to this mall in a couple of years, so it was nice going back. I decided to go later in the day, around 6, and you can already guess that mall was super packed. I don’t think I have ever seen a mall so packed in my life. I decided to sit at the waiting tables in front of Red Lobster so I could blend in; I didn’t want to look like a crazy lonely person watching people on Valentine’s Day. I sat there for about 2 hours and literally saw only about 3 parties enter the restaurant. As people waited there, they sat hugging each other and showing massive amounts of PDA, I guess they were trying to make the best of the situation. One of the weirdest things I saw was a couple sitting on the stairs playing cards. I know that’s not super weird but I couldn’t help but to wonder who brings a deck of cards on a Valentine’s Day date. Then it hit me that they could just be friends caught up in the Valentine’s Day frenzy. Eventually after the girl won like 5 times, the guy decided to give up and they left.

After about 15 minutes there, this guy and girl sat next to me and the guy looked really nervous. About an hour later, when they realized that they weren’t going to get a seat in the restaurant anytime soon, he decided to give his date her valentine gift. I don’t know why he decided to do it in such an unromantic space, but hey to each his own. Since my role there was to observe, I felt obligated to see what he was giving his date. The guy, who looked like he was in his early 20s, definitely pulled out that magical blue box that most females love to see, a Tiffany’s box. The girl was so ecstatic when she opened up the box and saw a silver charm bracelet. Then she started kissing her date and they really started starting going at it right there in the waiting area. I guess their excitement overwhelmed their common sense because they started touching inappropriately. I couldn't help but laugh as I crept away from this couple who obviously needed their space. I found a seat on the stairs near by and sat there for about an hour. I started to see employees come out looking very tired. One of the employees just came out shaking her head in disbelief when she saw the massive line of people still waiting to get in. Once I saw people starting to lay on the floor either because they were tired or there were no more seats left, I decided that it was time to go. I figured I might as well give up my seat to one of the couples so they can at least relax as they wait. Overall, it was a pretty interesting night in which I learned that there is a desperate need for more restaurants in Queens and the importance of reservations in the city, especially on Valentine’s Day. With that, I decided that one day I want to open up my own restaurant because there is big business and big money to be made there.