Main Street
Poughkeepsie, NY
Tuesday September 25, 5:56
I must preface this with a confession. I did not follow the assignment exactly as it was given, though I feel my method achieved the same outcome as any other would have. I drove up Main Street and parked in a space on the street, and spend about ten minuets observing everything I was able to see from where I was parked; the traveled up the street a bit and did the same. My observations are as follows:
I’m parked next to a bridal shop with the name “Mary H. Abdoo & You” printed above it in large script. Under that sign there is another that says “Mary’s Bridal Shop.” The windows of the shop contain two mannequins, a smiling brunette and a redhead with a pensive and passive expression. Both are dressed in lacey white wedding dresses and gloves. The shop next to it has a few signs in the windows, all of which are stenciled and faded, and look as though they have been hanging there for many years. One says “NURSES UNIFORMS,” and a set of two separate signs hung together say “COLD SODA WATER ¢ 75” and “COFFEE ¢ 50.” The actual name of the store, EXPRESS, is declared above the windows in large white lettering. A large yellow sign with red lettering hangs above the door on the shop to the left of that one, declaring Thrifty Check Cashing. A large SUV pulls into the spot in front of me and two college age girls get out. One is carrying a large purple bag and the other is wearing a flowing tan skirt. They cross the street and walk up the sidewalk out of my sight. Across the street, a man with a very large stomach and very little hair and a thin woman in a white dress walk down the sidewalk in the direction I’m facing. Upon first glance I see them both quickly and my mind blurs the two of them into one pregnant man, no idea how that happens. A very loud motorcycle comes down the road then and makes me jump. The motorcyclist is wearing all black, which matches his bike, except for a bright green shirt that is slightly longer than his jacket. I continue to observe the opposite side of the street, and see a man wearing a black burette backwards and a woman with dark hair and glasses sitting on the curb of the sidewalk, partially obscured by a black car with a very flat finish. The two seem to be deep in conversation, though I thought I saw the man look at me as I watched them. I look past them to the large, clean, white building behind them and notice the title “Wellcare Health Plans” on a maroon awning above the first floor of the building. My eyes follow the awning, which spans the entire building, and read “The Plaza Kafé” and “City Footwear” further down the street. The corners of the building are curved and it looks much cleaner than the opposite side of the street. My attention is drawn back to the side of the street on which I am parked and I notice a sign that says EMERGENCY SNOW ROUTE in red lettering, and includes a large blue snowflake. A woman, who I assumed to be a mother, and two young boys walk down the sidewalk, the woman looks annoyed and the boys seem absorbed in the very animated conversation they are having. A young woman passes them on the sidewalk, walking in the opposite direction and talking on a cell phone while eating. She seems oblivious to what is happening around her and quite carefree. Down the sidewalk a bit there is another shop, with a table set up in front of it. There is a plastic sign hanging from the awning of the shop advertising WDST 100.1 and a man sits at the table. He is wearing headphones and a white hat, and another man wearing a white shirt with a bright red cast on his arm walks up to the table to speak to the first man. They seem to be friends, or at least know one another. The same girl who had walked by earlier now walks by in the opposite direction, still talking on her phone but no longer eating. A man with a very long, dark beard rides by on a bicycle that has a small black crate attached to the back. Attached to that crate is a fairly large American flag, which waves in the breeze created by the man’s movement down the sidewalk. Once more I turn my attention to the opposite side of the street, where a large mural of storefronts is painted on the side of a building. There are 7 storefronts altogether all of which are vividly painted. Perhaps they were part of the “Beautify Poughkeepsie” project?
At this point, I drove up the street a few minutes and found a new place to park. Here, I got out of the car and walked around a bit to observe. The first thing I saw was a large white sign in the window of a building titled The Sandbar in large gold letters. The sign said “FOR RENT: new studio 800.00 mo/ 1 bedroom 900.00 mo /Office 15000 sq ft 1100.00 mo. A & K Smoke Shop / Gift Shop was located a bit down the road, it looked to be cluttered and full of random things. On the left of that shop was 911>Uniform, the shop itself had a large gate over the windows and the windows were dark. I crossed the street and noticed some law offices, a restaurant called The Artist’s Palate, a glance inside revealed artwork on the walls and a bar made of dark stained wood. Near that restaurant was a coffee shop; Muddycup Coffee House. The door was open and it was filled with overstuffed and well-loved chairs and couches. The walls displayed various pieces of art, all of which were for sale. Near this shop was another establishment, which looked to be a business. A printed paper sign in the window declared “One Stop Shop for Starting Your Own Business”. Nearby a large plastic sign hung over the entire front of a building declaring “Restoring the Image of Poughkeepsie / 319 Main Street / Office Space Available”. The sign itself was tattered and ripped, which was rather ironic, considering its message. At this point I began to walk back to my car, when I first heard, then saw a man with an empty shopping cart walking down the sidewalk toward me. I crossed the street, back to my car, where I continued to observe for a few more minutes.
A large, black, very clean car drove by me, blasting rap music. I noticed a shop with a large red sign above it; in white lettering it said “La International”. A woman wearing a yellow shirt came out of the store with two children, a girl with long braided pigtails, and a boy in a stripped collared shirt. They came walking down the sidewalk toward my car, when the woman suddenly turned as if she had forgotten something and the children followed, looking slightly annoyed. Moments later, a large group of people came out of the store, and the woman with her two children reemerged. The fairly large group of people walked out of my sight, obscured by the cars in front of me but the woman and her two children stopped in front of the store. The woman was talking to a man in a green shirt, the two were gesturing and pointing, as if he was giving her directions and she was trying to understand them. The boy and girl paid no attention to the conversation between the two; they were involved in a conversation of their own. After a few moments of conversation and more gesturing, the women calls for the children and they walk down the sidewalk and cross in front of my car. They walk across the street to a black Outback, and as they do so the little girl gasps “Whoa, look at that Momma!” The woman glances up and smiles, while reaching for the little girl. She eventually puts her hand on the girls shoulder and steers her to the car, the boy follows them both. I look up, where the girl had pointed, and see the moon. It is dazzling and blindingly bright, I am shocked and in awe of its beauty. It is almost full. The three get in their car and the women pulls out into the street and drives away. After admiring the moon for a few more moments, I follow suit.
This entire experience was very interesting, though I wish I had been able to use a tape recorder rather than having to take notes on everything. It was strenuous and rather stressful to attempt to see everything and take note of every detail of both the people and the places. However, I found myself looking at things that I would not have paid the slightest bit of attention to otherwise. Placing this much emphasis on observation and detail at all times would be fascinating, but intellectually draining and very over stimulating.
