Tamar Barnoon
It's not a personal antagonism toward me? Of course not!
Are you a fan of New York Press? I think I might have read it once or twice.
Did you like the comics? Is this about the bar or your publication?
It's about you. And speaking of you, do you like talking with customers? It seems like the folks here know you pretty well. I do. I don't often work Happy Hour. I usually work late nights, which is much busier, because it's a college bar. So it's really about being fast and getting to know your customers, knowing what they want and what they need.
We're near Columbia University. Were you a student there? I was. At Barnard.
Isn't there some sort of rivalry between girls who go to Columbia and girls who go to Barnard? Not that I know of.
Aren't Columbia students mad because Barnard students say they go to Columbia? I was never one of those Columbia girl students, so I can't tell you. You'll have to ask one of them.
Help me out here-I'm trying to sound like an actual journalist. I don't know. Really.
And how often do you work here? Now I work like twice a week. But you know, because it's a college bar and there's a lot of college kids, it's rotating. So I can come here three times a week.
And are you from Israel? I'm from Massachusetts. But my father is from Israel.
Are you an Israeli citizen? I am.
Did you have to serve in the military? No, I did not. I'm glad I didn't have to.
Are you astonished that I guessed your country of origin? No. The name's pretty Israeli.
Because I'm from Chad. Excuse me?
Sorry. I was trying to make you laugh. [Silence]
Serving students. How is it? I think it's a mix. I don't work the super-busy [nights]-like I don't work the Thursday nights, which tend to be the crazy nights when people are out partying. So I have a mix of the grad students and the undergrads.
Is there a difference? They have a different way of being at a bar. A lot of times, it's their first New York bar experience, so it's not always as straightforward as it would be working downtown, which I used to.
Meaning the undergrads? Don't always know the protocol.
Such as? They're more surprised about prices. And we're one of the cheaper bars in the area. They're surprised by the idea of tipping.
You're referring to those grad students from Europe, where tipping is unknown. No. They always tip. They're great.
So again, the Europeans are getting a bad rap. People from Europe generally don't know what [tipping] is, but they're more than happy to learn. Whereas someone who's just 21 and thinks they know everything, and is working off a budget they have no sense of, is not interested in being told what's what.
Now with all these youngsters here, there must be drama. There's always drama. It's a bar. That's what makes it fun.
Of course there's always routine. You have your neighborhood regulars who sing the same song, day in, day out. They take pleasure out of that.
Rather like a Billy Joel song. I, I wouldn't, um, associate it with Billy Joel but-
Was that a laugh? I wouldn't call it a laugh, it was a mild chuckle.
That's progress. Earlier you seemed filled with anger. I would say distaste, not anger.
"Distaste"! I'm just trying to write some nice stuff about you! Sorry, it's just that I'm not into doing interviews.
Fair enough. I'll let you sum it all up. It's the same old same. You work for long enough every year, you see people come in and celebrate graduation and finals, reunions and whatnot?
The circle of life. Yes. The circle of the academic life, as seen through the eyes of a bleary drunk.