Christmas pic

When research calls

I am frantically collecting data for the paper I will be giving in two short weeks in Chicago. I needed some more Russian subjects and a friend at work volunteered that at the divey coffee place he likes to hang out at they are aplenty. So last night I popped the kids into bed and headed out to the Coffee Break. You get old and forget that places like this exist (ok, probably this is the only one in SLC). A pretty large place divided into three spaces. Back room with couches and comfy chairs. Main room with tables and the counter for ordering. Many pierced and tatooed young people bustling behind it. Then outside with heat lamps for the smokers. It looked like I had a big crowd, but the numbers shrank when it became clear that the task involved reading words on a screen. Many of them had come to the states prior to much schooling and simply weren't up for it. Still I got half a dozen which was pleasing.