Last night, I was at a bar listening to live bands play loud music with friends. It was a fun night out. And it always is fun when we go anywhere. On this particular occasion, we started to have a conversation about the dynamics of the people who go to bars.
In the bar we were at, one side of the bar is, well, the bar. Where you buy your drinks. It lines one whole side of the room. There are tables everywhere else, with a dance floor centrally located in front of a stage area where the live bands perform. The bathrooms are beside the stage, so that when you’re in there, you could literally have your own private dance party.
After a couple of songs, there will be people who get the dance floor started. It usually doesn’t take too long. And there are people who will always dance, no matter what. On this particular night, I witnessed a unique event. Three men who decided to liven up the dance floor by themselves, no women in sight. Or at least, none that would be dancing with them.
On the side of the dance floor are the people who have no interest in dancing, are still in their thirties perhaps, and who like to listen to the music and watch the dancers. They are your usual bar crowd. The people who may be persuaded to dance if the right song came along, or if they were drunk enough. Or if the right person wanted to dance with them.
On the farthest wall, underneath the stairs, are a set of tables, where the older crowd tend to sit. They’re the usual grey-haired, balding variety. A bit creepy, a bit sketchy, and you always wonder what they’re doing there in the first place. This is how the whole conversation started with me last night. We were wondering about this group of people, as we’d seen them over there the last time we’d been to this bar.
I’ve already gotten quite the plot of a short story going in my head for who these people are, and what their story is. They don’t get up much, and they don’t dance. They rarely make any noise. It’s so dark in the bar that they even blend right into the wall, like wood. Because that’s how still and quiet they are. It’s really something you have to see.
I’m a person who loves to dance, so my place is always on the dance floor, as long as I have at least a few other friends with me. And I’m very lucky to have friends who also love to dance as much as I do. And if my sister had been there, she would have been dancing. Cause she is a dancer. I mean, she has moves. She’s trained.
As we’re dancing, we all notice that there is this guy on the side of the stage, watching the band, and just dancing to himself, quietly, holding his drink gingerly in one hand. He’s older, but not too old. And we gathered from the bartenders that he was a regular who is at the bar all the time. At one point he did make it onto the dance floor, but didn’t really dance, just watched others. It was a bit strange.
I like thinking about the different people you find at bars. It’s a very social place, but sometimes, the people there aren’t that social. In this particular bar, it’s generally dark once the bands start playing, as they dim the lights. It’s a cozy place. The music is so loud that you can hardly hear yourself think, much less hear your friends talking. Which requires everyone to shout and by the end of the night you’ve lost your voice.
Some people will stay only to watch the bands they know. Others will stay for the whole show, closing down the bar. I always find it interesting to watch the people in bars. Well, anywhere, really, but in bars especially, cause it’s such an intriguing place for people to interact. Everyone has a motive in a bar, whether they know it or not. An agenda. And it all depends on who’s there, what you’re there to do, what you’re drinking, and how much you can get away with.
Think about that the next time you find yourself at a bar. Look around at the people, listen to the music, watch the dance floor. See the dynamic that is at play. I promise, it will be entertaining, if not enlightening.