People-Watching Diaries Part 1

People get awfully funny about eating at a table-for-one.  They used to at least: I suspect that with the ubiquity of smartphones the fact that someone is eating or drinking alone does not mean they're not engaged in a detailed conversation about the football or the Morality of Inclusion or whatever.  Anyway, since I'm now in one of my bouts of averred singleness i had no qualms about having a Nigel-no-mates beer at the Charles Weston after getting groceries last night.  After I'd bought a pot and found my way to the beer garden I asked myself "what would Hemingway do?".  But I decided against getting into a fight with the bouncers and did some people-watching instead.  When I looked at my notes afterwards, it struck me that they were actually not a bad sketch of the area I live in, so with minimal editing I've made them into this blogpost.

7:40pm  I'm sitting solo in the beer garden of the Charles Weston Hotel in Brunswick enjoying a Mornington Sessions IPA.  Very into IPAs at the moment: I love that sharp, slightly fruity taste.

Charles Weston Hotel, Brunswick

7:48pm  To my left is a group of four men and one woman talking noisily. A sporting club perhaps?

Sitting at about 2 o’clock to me is a group of six, perhaps 3 men and 3 women.  One chap is sitting there quietly in a brown pullover looking politely bored and fundamentally miserable. It’s clear his partner has dragged him along. Been there, buddy. #introvertprobs.

At 4 o’clock to me is a couple.  Both are in their mid twenties. She has long coppery hair. He has a wispy beard and a man bun.

At one o’clock to me is another couple. He looks like a stout Leonard Hofstadter. She has a short haircut that makes her look angry (on reflection, it's of course possible she was angry)

In the 2 o'clock group nobody is browsing their phone, save for a young woman who seems to be showing a fellow a video.

There’s too much noise from conversations to isolate particular words.

Brown pullover just walked in the direction of the bathrooms. He’s oddly dressed: black shirt poking out which has a floral pattern. Jeans rolled up. Light brown elastic sided boots.  I'm suddenly aware of my own boots being black and somewhat scuffed.  That is, workboots rather than a fashion statement.

Another couple walk in: a woman with another angrily short haircut and a man of East Asian appearance (Vietnamese?).  He's wearing a weatherbeaten cap with the badge of the Wisconsin Badgers.  She walks in the direction of the bar.  He rolls a cigarette and looks like he’s waiting for time to pass.

8:07pm  I get a second beer. I haven’t eaten all day. The alcohol is starting to hit me. Thank heaven it’s a short hop to my digs.

Another few people join the 2 o’clock group. A few lines of "Happy Birthday" were sung. There are introductions. Interesting: it's a birthday where many of the people don 't know each other.

8:21pm  I call stumps. It’s getting cold and I’m only in a thin shirt.

Going home