Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Cheers – the place where everyone knows your name.

Hmmm…

What if you don’t actually want everyone to know your name? I don’t. Maybe that makes me twisted or mad or simply a tad unusual, but when I go to a pub, I’m content that no one knows who the fuck I am.

Except the bartender, of course. That cheery welcome from the one person who knows me – the smile, the greeting, the reaching over the bar for a handshake and the, “How ya doing?” - all goes to show other people, to whom I’m still a mystery, that perhaps I’m worth getting to know.

I want that. That’s why I don’t stay too long. The mystery would be shot to hell if I sat in the same seat, sucking down beers, staring into space for increasingly longer periods and finally slurring at someone who sits down in close proximity.

Not being known is the best way to get known. Keep quiet, acknowledge those who say, ‘Hello’, stay a short time - then move on.

Anonymity – it’s the way to get known.