Analysis I could be the first person asked to leave a Sydney pub for not talking. Drinking at an iconic Marrickville hotel a few years ago, a bouncer approached and told me to get out. “You haven’t said a word in five minutes, it’s time to leave” he said, accusing me of being drunk because I wasn’t speaking. I laughed, but he was dead serious. I explained to the power-hungry wannabe cop that I was on my first beer, and I showed him my car keys as proof I was driving home.