For nearly four years, I worked in one of those suburban pubs in which every staff member either looked no older than eighteen or no younger than sixty-five. One of those pubs where the barman knows which pony to pick every time and making suggestive comments to the barmaid is considered a perfectly appropriate pastime. In other words, it was not the sort of place where one wished to stay too long unless there was patently no other choice. The euphemism us younger ones liked to use was in reference to our long-planned escape - “I’ve got to get out of here” becomes a mantra oft-repeated.
to work less in the dining room and more in the gaming room. When your average $500-a-day gambler ambled down the thoroughfare, change jangling in his pockets as he approached the cash register, they left a dark aura in their trail that was practically visible. They were often rude; if there is one thing pub staff bitch about more than anything else, it’s a rude gambler. It’s part of the make-believe that what is happening when you hand over their coin cup is a perfectly normal market transaction - “Geez, what’s his problem?” The answer: it’s that you’ve sold a bullet to a suicidal man.
This is not about working in hospitality. There are worse things in the world than being forced to smile against one’s will. It’s about the paradox of the Australian family pub: a strange territory fielded to the north by a clean, well-lit dining room (Hemingway would probably find it too well-lit), to the south by a comfortably spacious gaming room. Close your eyes and you’ll remember the sounds of the arcade at the Royal Show. Open your eyes, now: it is the violent, flashing lights of the Show as seen in one of those drab liminal spaces that appear in a dream. Anything is possible in this room, if you dream hard enough.
The poker machine industry in Australia made a turnover of around 20 billion dollars in 2018. The venue where I worked had a weekly turnover of about $1 million, which is in the upper crust compared to most venues. Part of it was because the suburb adjacent was of a low-socioeconomic status, and any study will show you there is a correlation between one’s desperation for money and a predisposition to gambling. Actually, common sense says the exact same thing. But once again, part of the make-believe is that there isn’t a problem. At worst, it is a symptom of the great liberal tendency to let others ruin their lives as long as you’re not forced to see the consequences of it.
I made a point of evading every request
WORDS BY JIALUN QI
WORDS BY ivan bucalo
Memoir: The Great Australian Pub
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