Sitting in the street in front of Bulldog Pub in the very center of modern Zagreb, I am watching the people sitting around me. And scurrying by me. One and all, they annoy me no end. I can see through their clothing. Through their innermost fears and desires. Through their thoughts, no matter how petty. Through all their futile attempts at mimicry. At some point I remind myself that there is no other place on earth where people annoy me so very much. And then I realize why. Out of the blue, it dawns on me that I understand these people better than any others precisely because I am one of them. I shake myself as if electrified by the revolting thought. For crying out loud, I was even born in this godforsaken place!