Going Down The Pub?

[Roobarb]

Tony, I hope your shift is going/has gone well. It must be a very daunting prospect, particularly when you haven't been out and about in public places. It certainly sounds like your employers and your manager have done everything to keep staff and customers safe. I hope you manage to relax a bit after the initial anxious time.

My local newspaper app showed photos of men having a pint at 9am! Couldn't fancy that in any circumstances - at that time of day I just need tea! Each to their own I suppose. On a local forum someone said that he'd been in the pub that's my local and there was only one other person there. I'm certainly not tempted, I think a lot of people are fooling themselves that this means that the virus has gone. Going with a friend would also mean we'd have to sit at least a metre apart, not conducive to good conversation, I'd rather wait.

[louisa maud]

Never been able to understand why pubs open at 9am, whilst my husband is nowhere near henpecked I would be very annoyed if he left home to be at the pub by 9am, perhaps PM is more realistic but we rarely visit a pub unless it includes a meal nowadays

Louisa Maud

[Nick_Ips]

On a local forum someone said that he'd been in the pub that's my local and there was only one other person there.

It's possible Tony has had a very quiet day....  perhaps everyone has gone to Hay-on-Wye instead.

[BushInn1746]

Hope all is well too, Tony.

'Builders Tea' (2 mugs) little milk, one small teaspoon of sugar first thing for me Roobarb.

Louisa, my lady H is wanting a meal out too!

We have been to a rural farm shop in Leicestershire, even the Farm Shop are taking measures very seriously, even a traffic light entry system, etc and good observance of distancing etc., seems to be the norm around here.

In the Market Square of a nearby town, we saw drinkers sat at tables and seats with plastic pint beakers, all looks good, well very spaced and relaxed so far earlier this pm and no over crowding.

It reminded me of Champs-Élysées, Paris attitude, relaxed social street drinking. It seems some councils must have set aside areas, let us hope nobody spoils it!

Our local Pub is trading and I suspect many will sit in the rear garden, let's hope his first casks are not empty    and weather mild & dry for mid-week!

Mark

[Nick_Ips]

Never been able to understand why pubs open at 9am....

I think there are quite a few pubs doing food that have started opening early in the morning to serve breakfasts in order to increase income and offset their ever increasing costs.

It is a bit like the supermarkets opening 24 hours - if you've got staff in anyway then opening the doors to allow customers in doesn't add much in the way of expenses, and a few extra quid in the till might make the difference between closing for good or keep on going another month.

The walking group I'm in meets at 10am at our chosen lunch pub (we use the car park and toilets, if available).  Increasingly we've been invited to order coffees or snacks before heading off, whereas in the past the landlords tended to scribble down the lunch orders and usher us back out as quickly as possible.  It feels like part of the trend for pubs to be something other than a place to pour alcohol down your throat.

[Jomot]

Managed to nip into the pub for a quick vodka on my way back from shopping, and it was all very civilised.  Names & postcodes taken, everyone had to be seated, and table service only.  It was quite warm so we sat outside, where everything was spaced so that no-one was within a metre of anyone from another table. 

Music was playing inside just about loud enough to hear it and create a little atmosphere outside too, and as soon as we got up to leave someone came to disinfected the table & chairs. 

It might be different later on an evening, but overall I'd say it was no more 'risky' than a trip to the supermarket and infinitely more enjoyable.

[Rishile]

I'm not sure how our local pub is operating.  They have seats outside the pub but the best seats by far are the ones across the road overlooking the beach.  However, this area does not belong to the pub.  So I doubt they get table service and I also doubt the tables are cleaned after each customer but when we walked past there earlier, there was a lot of people sitting there drinking.

The pub has got through the lockdown by selling take-away drinks and snacks and the tables overlooking the beach have been full every day with people drinking out of cans and bottles (yuk) and occasionally plastic glasses.  The same people have been there every day (we see them on our daily walk) and each day the amount of people seems to increase and sit at one table for six people.  One day there was about 10 people - all from different households.

The joys of village life.

Rishile

[antonymark]

Thanks all for your kind thoughts. Much appreciated.

I am happy to report that it has all gone very smoothly and been very calm and civilized. Numbers of people way down on what would be expected on a normal Saturday. More like a wet Monday in January. Just what was needed really for the first day back, easing us in gently and giving space for us to adapt to the new ways of working.

We had a visit from the Regional Manager with one of the company 'suits' in tow. Her comment was that "safe and steady" was the way to go and that numbers through the door and targets were less of a priority to start with. I was reminded a little of 'Young Mr Grace' and "You've all done very well!". 

Almost everyone coming had pre-booked or phoned ahead. All fell in quite readily with all the various changes that have been made. One lady commented that she and her family felt very safe and that everything seemed to have been thought of.

I think that the situation in nearby Leicester has had some effect. At least two parties cancelled their bookings citing the Leicester outbreak as their reason for caution. For the ones that came I'm sure it has been a reminder that this awful time is not all over and we all need to be careful and considerate of each other.

There has been laughter too and it's been great to see some familiar faces. I had a lovely long chat with one of our regular couples. They just were so happy that we were back and perhaps some kind of normal could be returning. There might even be fun!

Only complaint of the day was by a lady about the absence of pickled onions from the salad bar.

All in all I feel much more confident and enthusiastic about the weeks and months ahead. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

All the best, Tony.

[Roobarb]

Really pleased to hear it went so well Tony. Young Mr Grace, there's a blast from the past!