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I’m a quiet man. I don’t talk much. I like a quiet drink. Sometimes a bit more, sometimes too much. I have this quiet spot at the Royal pub. Just a little spot around from the bar near the corner. They always serve me a beer as soon as I walk in. A bit of a nod, a bit of a wink, and then I slide on to the stool and rest my elbow on the bar. This is what I do. I watch people. They think I’m looking straight into my beer glass. Well, I am, sort of. But most of the time I am looking at people. Looking at the regulars, the steady drunks, the bludgers, and the rough women. And, I might tell you, there are a few of them as well.
But this is what I do. I watch people. I watch them because I want to check on them to see if they are watching me. Sometimes they can be a bit rowdy. Pay night for example. On these nights I do not care much what they say and do; it’s just the grog talking and all that stuff. A bit of a laugh here and a giggle there and sly winks when they are talking about their women and the latest one they have on the side. I know all these things. Not that I give too much away about how I know. I just do, and that’s all there is to it.
There was a bloke last week. I know he was staring at me. I could tell by the way he was resting his elbow on the bar. He had his elbow sort of curved up and he had one finger going up the side of his face. I know he did this to make out he was sort of intelligent and educated like. So, I did the same, I put my finger to the side of my face so that the top of my finger was about level with my right eye. Then I stared into the mirror behind the bar until I started to get bored with this, so I started to make little circles in the beer on the bar. I did this for quite a while, in between ordering another beer. The bloke ordered some potato chips and then he made circles on the bar too. Then he left.
Another bloke came in. He was a big fat bloke. I don’t like fat blokes. I ordered another beer. He had a stud in one ear and another in the side of his nose. I don’t like studs in the ear and in the nose. I made some circles in the beer on the bar.
