Cafe Lives of Yesteryear
“Joe’s is a Portuguese Cafe. It was the first in Vancouver to serve a latte, back in the 70s,” said Bob. “Do you want to go?”
“Sure,” I said.
Bob pronounces cafe as kuh-fay. I’m picking up such particularities of accent now that I’m living in this part of the world. Bob is near-abouts 70 years of age, and he grew up in Victoria, on Vancouver Island. So I trust him to be a reliable marker of the “local accent”. We’ve met up twice to sketch, and he’s taken me to interesting cafes on both occasions.
Bob went backpacking and hitch-hiking through Europe, the Middle-East, India, and some other parts of South Asia in the mid-1970s. He has sketches from that time, which are fascinating, and stories of the things he saw. He told me about drawing outside the shop of a sexologist in New Delhi, in the early weeks of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency.
Joe’s Cafe is an interesting landmark of Vancouver, or at least what is known as Little Italy in Vancouver, because of another incident that occurred in the 70s. Two women French-kissed inside the cafe, and it became a big scandal. Joe, the name-sake owner, was apoplectic in rage.
Joe also had other issues. He had a poster inside the cafe of Salazar, the Portuguese dictator. He caught a lot of flak for it, and allegedly apologized for his authoritative leanings in later times. There is a picture of Joe high on the wall behind the counter. In front of the counter are two screens, both playing sports. The tables are serviceable, and the tissue dispenser belongs to the 70s. It’s something you would see today in a cafe playing as a retro-cafe. The seats are bright red, and comfortable from being worn by use. There are posters on the walls of events years and decades ago. There are cheap bull-fighting posters. There are nondescript paintings of middling skill. There are flags of dozens of countries. I tried to identify the theme that unified them, but gave up after some time.
It is populated almost exclusively by men. They are watching a Euro Qualifiers match on the larger of the two screens. England is playing Andorra. The only other women in the cafe is sitting right in front, a visibly enthusiastic supporter of the English football team. She is at the edge of her seat, following every move. The rest of the men are much older. They speak amongst themselves. Occasionally one of them takes time out to berate the barista. They share an odd equation.
The barista is Filipino, and used to the crowd here. In any case, it looks like new customers don’t come to Joe’s Cafe. It’s a place for regulars. All heads turned when I entered with Bob, and conversation ceases for a moment whenever the door is pushed open. You know the regulars are long-time regulars when they invite you in to take a seat. It’s an odd equation, like I said, and quite rare today.
Joe’s belongs in another time. That idea is reinforced for me when I go to order my coffee. They only accept cash. There is a grubby ATM machine beside the counter which I can use, with a predictably predatory surcharge. It’s too late for me to leave, and I don’t want to make Bob get up and pack his things. I sigh and withdraw a $20 bill.
Joe’s belongs in another time. As I draw, an altercation breaks out between one of the elderly regulars and the barista. “Go back to your island!” he cries at him. “Stupid, old man!” he shouts back. “Go back to your island!” he repeats, with singular focus. “You go back to where YOU came from,” shouts back the barista. The other regulars don’t seem affected by this. I wonder if it is normal. I wonder if this is some kind of camaraderie. They seem genuinely upset at each other. But no one moves or reacts.
After a few more exchanges, the elderly regular goes quiet. Maybe he ran out of breath. The barista continues calling him a stupid, old man. He is rattled. I can imagine.
I didn’t say anything while this happened. But once my sketch ended, I knew I didn’t want to stick around any longer. The friendliness of the retro setting was lost to me.
Joe’s belongs in another time. And that time is not my time. I had an interesting time and I liked the ambience. But I would not go back.
