Nov. 8: Writing in restaurants
David Mamet once said that when you're writing in a restaurant, you
are both observed and unobserved. I think what he's saying is that
everyone sees that you're writing but no one is going to bother you
about it. That's not because they're courteous; it's because they don't
care.
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I enjoy writing in restaurants. I prefer writing with fountain pens on either yellow legal pads or unlined notebooks. I am not above taking a laptop to a restaurant, though that restaurant won't be a high end place where three courses will cost me more than a hundred dollars. I'll take my writing to a café or a coffee shop, but not to Gaston's Fine Dining, thank you very much.
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I have seen people writing in restaurants. I usually ask them what they are writing. If they are young people on laptops, it's usually a school assignment. If they're professional people in business suits, it's usually a business plan. If they're wearing berets, it's usually poetry.
People are never upset with me for asking. People like to know that they're important.
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Sometimes, when I'm writing in a restaurant, people ask me what I'm writing. This usually doesn't happen in a coffee shop, where writing is such a common thing that no one really notices it. But if I'm in a nightclub and I'm writing in a notebook while young people are doing shots or dancing to rock and roll or showing off their new tattoos, people will often be curious about me.
Here are things people have said to me when I tell them I am writing:
"That is so cool. I'm a writer too. I write poetry. I wrote a poem for my grandma once and it made her cry."
"Whoa. That's trippy, man. I read a book once. It was - aw shit - I was in junior high. It was about this kid and he lived with his brothers and there was a fire. They made a movie about it and that guy from Dirty Dancing was in it."
"Do you always come to bars to write?" (Said in an aggressive manner. His girlfriend tries to calm him down.) "No, he's coming in here with his little notebook thinking he's smarter than everyone here... I... HEY! YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!!!"
"Have you read the complete works of Mark Twain? If the answer is no, you shouldn't write a word until you've done so."
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One of my favourite writers, David Mamet, once penned an essay about his favourite restaurants to write. He identified one of them as the Rainbow Sweets in downstate Vermont. I lived close to Vermont at the time so I climbed into my 1985 Pontiac T-1000 and drove down to the Rainbow Sweets. It was a rainy day and it was pretty far away, but I made it and when I went inside, I discovered that David Mamet was not there. There was a framed photo on the wall. David Mamet had taken it and autographed it for the proprietor, who was not at all eager to discuss Mamet with me. All he wanted to do was sell me an expensive piece of cake. I bought one and I settled down to write.
But no words came.
-
I enjoy writing in restaurants. I prefer writing with fountain pens on either yellow legal pads or unlined notebooks. I am not above taking a laptop to a restaurant, though that restaurant won't be a high end place where three courses will cost me more than a hundred dollars. I'll take my writing to a café or a coffee shop, but not to Gaston's Fine Dining, thank you very much.
-
I have seen people writing in restaurants. I usually ask them what they are writing. If they are young people on laptops, it's usually a school assignment. If they're professional people in business suits, it's usually a business plan. If they're wearing berets, it's usually poetry.
People are never upset with me for asking. People like to know that they're important.
-
Sometimes, when I'm writing in a restaurant, people ask me what I'm writing. This usually doesn't happen in a coffee shop, where writing is such a common thing that no one really notices it. But if I'm in a nightclub and I'm writing in a notebook while young people are doing shots or dancing to rock and roll or showing off their new tattoos, people will often be curious about me.
Here are things people have said to me when I tell them I am writing:
"That is so cool. I'm a writer too. I write poetry. I wrote a poem for my grandma once and it made her cry."
"Whoa. That's trippy, man. I read a book once. It was - aw shit - I was in junior high. It was about this kid and he lived with his brothers and there was a fire. They made a movie about it and that guy from Dirty Dancing was in it."
"Do you always come to bars to write?" (Said in an aggressive manner. His girlfriend tries to calm him down.) "No, he's coming in here with his little notebook thinking he's smarter than everyone here... I... HEY! YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!!!"
"Have you read the complete works of Mark Twain? If the answer is no, you shouldn't write a word until you've done so."
-
One of my favourite writers, David Mamet, once penned an essay about his favourite restaurants to write. He identified one of them as the Rainbow Sweets in downstate Vermont. I lived close to Vermont at the time so I climbed into my 1985 Pontiac T-1000 and drove down to the Rainbow Sweets. It was a rainy day and it was pretty far away, but I made it and when I went inside, I discovered that David Mamet was not there. There was a framed photo on the wall. David Mamet had taken it and autographed it for the proprietor, who was not at all eager to discuss Mamet with me. All he wanted to do was sell me an expensive piece of cake. I bought one and I settled down to write.
But no words came.
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