Arnon Grunberg

Twisted Sex

Swanky

Two ladies who are more or less responsible for my stay in Lublin invited me for coffee at Gallery Café. A charming photographer was present as well.
The espresso was good; we talked about movies.
The photographer said: “There is something strange with titles in Poland. Do you know how the movie “Dirty Dancing” is called in Polish? “Twisted Sex” – bizarre isn’t it?” “Surreal,” I answered. “What’s twisted sex?” Shortly after this conversation a middle-aged man who appeared to be drunk entered the café. He was holding a plastic bag, which was dripping heavily. The bag and the man smelled like beer.
The man started an angry conversation with the waitress; my Polish is not very good but the man referred to the waitress as a prostitute.
“He calls her a hooker, doesn’t he?” I asked.
“Well,” one of my friends said. “He is drunk and he is not in a very good mood. He is complaining about several things. This is really unusual, we never see drunk people in this swanky place.” Then my friends from Lublin escorted me out of the lovely café.