Working in a bar has its perks, if you want to know information about someone all you have to do is get their friends a little liquored up or become friendly with them and they will spill the beans. I once had roommates of a guy tell me all of his dirty laundry that would probably make his now fiancé not want to marry him, since he was hiding a side of himself from her which would not shed a good light on him.
The stories never end but some of my favorite regulars are some of the nicest kindest people that I have ever met, but the others are normally the ones that servers stay away from, don’t try to talk to or interact with more than they have to. Small incidents of pretentious behavior can make someone remember you forever, trying to argue with the server that because it’s the next day somewhere else in the world just makes you look like an asshole. And then asking if their boss knows how argumentative they are (after you tried to explain that on Monday its Tuesday somewhere else thus you should get your bottle of wine half off) also makes you look like an asshole. Also hanging your coat on a chair at a different table when we have coat hangers makes you look like a huge asshole, and you will forever be know as coat guy.
Next we have the adulterers, they come from different directions, every day meeting at the bar. We know they are having an affair from the fact that she wears a wedding ring and he does not. But there are more subtle clues that made us come to this conclusion, they don’t dress the same, or drive the same class of cars she drives a brand new $50,000 car where as he drives an outdated suv. If you ever look around a restaurant you can tell what couple is together. Their clothes match, older couples even have a tendency to wear the same patterns, which I tend to believe is the wife having her husbands balls in a vice. *I am updating to say that not only do they come from different locations but leave going different ways. Meeting up 4-5 times a week at the same time every day.*
The worst is people who frequent places with their family and the person they are having an affair with. The sad part is that its not just something between two adults, you are now bringing your kids into a situation that is uncomfortable for the servers who have to wait on you. The example that I am thinking of is a sad one since the wife in the family situation is obviously unhappy, the husband strung out and the kids taking the brunt of their marital issues. They have been regulars for a while but only recently we have seen the wife with a younger more beefy guy who is all over her when they come in together.
There is nothing worse than annoying regulars but for every good regular there are a dozen or so regulars that could be done without. But it does give us something to talk about.
I don't know... my husband wears a wedding ring and I don't. He drives a very expensive car (work provides it) and I drive a beat up one. He does the suit thing and I wear goth style clothes. And we often meet up in a bar or cafe. So your generalisations are just that... generalisations. You might not know as much as you think you do.
There are always going to be exceptions to the rule but I am going to guess that you dont meet at the same time every day at the same bar, come from different directions and leave in different directions. Yes one or two of those things together may not seem abnormal but when you've watched the same two people do this for over a year 4-5 days a week, you notice more than you might think you would.