Stories from the pub.

Over and over and over and over and over,
Like a monkey with a miniature cymbal,
The joy of repetition really is in you ..

One thing that could do with being done at the pub where I work is a new playlist for our iPod. As it stands, we have just the one, and when you work 5 days a week with a playlist consisting of only 12 songs, it becomes so soul destroying that you'd rather have stony, clinical silence. 

Marvin Gaye's album I Heard it Through the Grapevine was the relentlessly mind-numbing choice of 2 years back, which we grudgingly worked to every weekend for 3 years. In October 2012, it's an eclectic mix of generally better stuff, permeated on track no. 7 by Bryan Ferry doing his rendition of John Lennon's Jealous Guy, which is essentially musical blasphemy.

This problem of repetition is compounded during the week, when it's much quieter and there's not much else to do other than stand around and try and chat to drown the music out, but you've turned into such a zombie after 3 hours of Bryan Ferry that the conversations never really take off. This is my favourite from earlier, when we were polishing cutlery. 

Louise: "I don't mind polishing cutlery, it's not that interesting but it's quite relaxing"

Me: "I hate it, this is probably the most boring job going"

Louise: "I really don't like polishing spoons though. I don't know why, they're just more awkward than the others"

Me: "Oh, I don't mind doing spoons. They're all smooth and really easy to do. I don't like doing forks though, I always end up stabbing through whatever I'm polishing them with"

Louise: "Mmm, yeah, I know what you mean. Knives are ok though"

Me: "Yeah, knives are easy"

Louise: "I like the knives. The big ones though, not the little ones for the side plates"

Me: "Mmm, I know what you mean. The steak knives can be awkward, y'know, with the spiky blade?"

Louise: "Oh, yeah."

Steph walks round from the other side of the bar

Louise: "What's your least favourite cutlery to polish Steph?"

Steph: "Ummm .. forks probably. I always poke holes through the cloth"

Me: "Yeah, that's what I just said"

Steph: "I don't mind teaspoons though, they're probably my favourite"

Altogether: "Oooh yeah teaspoons are good, hmm, yeah, nice and easy"

The mundanity levels can occasionally go off the chart.