People

A bar/lounge occupies the space at 163 Allen Street. Called People, it's a long cavernous box, where the music runs the gamut of 80's hip hop and synth bands to modern electronica. A bartender and a waiter are all that made up the staff this particular Wednesday. When I walked in a small party of four sat by the windows looking out onto the street. I had to walk father back into the bar to find my friend Li.Le., who sat with two of her friends half hidden in an alcove. The eight of us were the only patrons.

The bartender tells me they have been open for a year. He has worked there since its inception. It has its good nights and bad, he said. Tonight was a bad night. He blames it on the summer and the fact that everyone is travelling. He hasn't seen his regulars in three weeks. On the weekends, he tells me they're not generally so busy. The tourists seem to stick to the west side and midtown. But when a tourist wanders in, he tells me it's obvious they're not from around here.

Li.Le. is about to leave for Barcelona. She's studying painting there for a month, after which she plans to tour south and western Europe. She's just graduated from a design program and is trying to decide what to do with this next year. She's thinking of a master's program the year following. It's strange, but I feel again I'm at a point where I'm rethinking what I want to be doing, the problem being that I never really figured it out in the first place. Or maybe it has to do with the passing of another year. I do find my curiosity rising.

Tonight I'm listening to Franz Ferdinand. Posted by eku at June 17, 2004 2:07 AM