Coke

Chapter Arts Centre has been transformed from what it was some years ago, a dingy, untidy sort of place much loved by artists and their ilk - layabouts, a lot of them - into a glossy, light, palace-like restaurant with surrounding rooms: cinemas, theatres, art galleries. I was prepared to believe that the artists and layabouts would have left and gone elsewhere since artists (and layabouts) prefer the down-to-earth sorts of places they believe bring them closer to reality.
But no, it's frequented by the same old, same old. Most have either long hair or no hair at all; most wear jeans and open-necked shirts; some wear hats - indoors! They all eat veggie food (it seems to me) or vegan food - the vegan soup I had was pretty awful: I think it had a lot of spinache in it, a green I have never liked but which, it seems, even in quality restaurants has become popular, probably because there is the idea prevalent amoung the chattering classes that it's good for you. Everybody is lean and healthy looking. Many brings kids with them and the kids run about as if it's a playground. But the beer and wine is good and the food isn't bad if you like pasta and veggie stuff and spinache.
The other day I was there to see a film, got there early and sat at a table with a glass of wine waiting for start of the film. In came a man who was not an artist or layabout; he looked a bit like a business man come there for a spot of lunch, no jacket on but trousers obviously part of a pin-striped suit. And he was fat. He was almost as wide as he was tall. Yet he didn't look unhealthy; he looked the sort of fellow who might, a few years ago, have taken his place comfortably (or maybe uncomfortably) in the front row of a rugby team.
He ordered something at the bar and sat at a table near me. He took out his laptop and proceeded to work on it. Then up came a lithe waiter with the man's order: a plate of beefburger with large bap and chips piled high. Turning from his computer he concentrated all his attention on his meal. He cut his bap down the middle and stuffed half of this into his mouth, followed by a drink of coke; then into the body of chips his fork went managing to spike four or five of them before levering them into his mouth. Soon the meal was gone and he returned to working on his laptop before leaving.
I got up to go to see the film and had a glance at the bottle of coke he had consumed.
Diet coke!
But to be fair to him, that's probably the only sort of coke they sell there at Chapter.