At the end of week, all the above mentioned head for the bar. It's warm-up time till midnight, drinks at half-price. Then the stereo explodes on the dance floor and the party slides into madness. Partners are found at the bar or on the dance floor, and interaction is continued at home or in the toilets for those who can't wait. In the morning, taxi drivers haul away the lonely, half-asleep left-over people with signs taped to them reading 'take me home'. But only for a while, and not too long a while, say for 5 days maximum. Then again there's the lure of the bar.

The stability of all social layers hinges on this dynamic. Stress yourself out, then relax, and all is well. Some speak of evasion of reality in this context. And what is this reality? Crises, wars and elections? You can get that all on television, and no one regards office life as real anyway. Reality is here and now, without past or future. Eternity can be attained only there where the consumption of alcohol manages to halt the automatic functioning of the brain. And there it is, then, reality, unfolding.