What makes an Irish pub? A crowd? Boisterous talk? Music?

Guinness. Pictures of Irish poets on the walls. Lots of browns and greens and grays. The slightly sour urinal smell of spilt beer.

I went to my local Irish pub last night & was surprised to be assaulted by smells. They banned smoking recently so all the other smells crawl out of the woodwork. Guy smells like sweat, dust, fish & chips and hair products. And girl smells like perfume. Both synthetic & the natural kind i'll just call "girl smell". I'll sniff Pola's hair & smile & she'll say "what's the matter, do I smell funny" and I'll say, "no you just smell like a girl". That smell.

I used to work in an Irish pub called "Liam Mcguires" as a line cook on sautee. At the end of every shift I'd shuffle out of the florescent stainless steel white walled kitchen into the emptying dark wood-paneled common room and squint. I almost always skipped my complementary after-shift-beer and drove home on empty roads that led to empty spaces.