That "gold thing" is a Hookah, used for smoking tobbaco in nearly every Arab country in the world. Why he would be even aware of such a thing, unless he was a Syrian or Lebonese guy that just moved to Detroit, is the mysterious thing. It's just a water pipe, and pretty much anything you could smoke could be smoked in it.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hookah
On second thought, why get blasted when you've got a naked woman with an apron on, serving you a beer and a sandwich?
