...you don't see it every day and there's still a reasonable chance we'll be disappointed when we go somewhere but, more and more, we can get a decent if not astoundingly good pint.
There's a new bottle shop with a couple of keg lines, the "Soup Shack" which has opened as a tap room and there's even a micropub in Seaford (we've not been there yet and, yeah, I know it's not Eastbourne...but it's accessible by bus).
Still, the Best Beer buddy and I find ourselves wanting very specific experiences from a pub (or equivalent). So yesterday we strolled to The Lamb to have a reasonably quiet pint and to watch a bit of football.
One room was full of loud, revelrous blokes who clearly were monopololising the bar staff. The other room with a TV had families in it (loud families, at that) - so things weren't ideal. Nevertheless, we settled down with a pint and after about 40 minutes (before the footie even started) the loud buggers from the back room seemed to leave.
We decided that maybe moving to back room would be more conducive to a quieter pint.
I grabbed two more pints and the Boy brought the other stuff - following a few seconds behind me. The door into the back room was stiff and there was a huge dog lying on the floor but no one made any attempt either to help me with the door or move the bloody dog out of the way. I was now a little tetchier than I'd been before.
Once I finally got fully into the room I'm greeted by a middle-aged bloke (remember, I'm middle aged too) who announced loudly "The perfect Woman!". Suddenly I felt enormously wearied by the encounter. I looked him in the eye and just said "Dream on..." and found a seat.
His mate found the whole thing hilariously funny but I felt a little ashamed.
A second or so after S appears with our stuff and joins me and the bloke went quiet and turned around.
I recounted to S what had happened and he gave me a grimace of solidarity - and asked "was it really that offensive?"
Then I realised just how overused the word "offensive" is. No, it really wasn't offensive at all. It was tiresome.
I'm really lucky, I rarely get hassled by blokes (never have) and if I do it generally bounces off me as a mild irritation. These days I'm also self-confident enough to deal with it. But spare a thought for women who see it day in, day out...they get their qualifications and abilities questioned all the time.
So if you think an "appreciative" quip as a woman appears in front of you bearing two (or maybe even three) pints is jolly an friendly gesture, please don't be that guy. If someone is struggling with a bar door think about opening the door for them, eh? Be *that* guy instead.
On a less grumpy note I'm reading the superb "Miracle Brew" by Pete Brown it's a work of love and passion (much like really good beer) and I can barely bring myself to put it down. It's coming out in paperback soon...which will make it a little easier to heft. Go and buy it.
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