...and another thing

The "pubs opened" fallout continued on Twitter and in the news yesterday.

Is it possible that at least a part of this is moralising?  I saw no negative comments about people in cafes and restaurants.  Surely, these two types of establishment are no more "essential" to wellbeing than pubs.

Then, this morning, it occurred to me that maybe a lot of the chatter is commentary by people who don't know there are many sorts of pubs.  Or maybe the so-called "amateur" pub goers who only attend at Christmas and so only see how pubs are then.

If you only think about pubs as being city-centre, vertical drinking establishments, perhaps with Sky Sports liberally plastered around the place then I can see how you'd be worried about "pubs" in general.  Chain places owned by large companies who may or may not be sympathetic to their employees (yes, Wetherspoons I reckon I'm looking at your, amongst others here).

Don't forget, though, that the employees of these establishments rely on the work to pay for food for their families just like we all do.  They are not evil or thoughtless for working for those organisations - they may not have much of a choice just now.

And there are other sorts of pubs.

Smaller pubs which might well be quite quiet at 5pm on a Tuesday in March, but pride themselves on high quality products (especially beer, obvs).  Run by people who understand pubs and people.  People who are professionals in what they do.  They don't earn a lot from this business - it's a matter of passion.  They get a lot of pride from being responsible publicans, from awards from CAMRA, from people recommending their pub as a "brilliant" pub.  These are what my mind conjures up when someone says "pub".

Some of these pubs opened at the weekend too.  From within the beer industry I saw a lot of people attending those pubs and commenting on how well run they were, I also saw a lot of those pubs thanking their patrons for coming along and behaving well.  But I guess that's not mainstream news.

These are the pubs I'm craving...

The pubs where you take a friend who has never been there before and they fall in love with it just like you did.

No one ever feel in love with a Wetherspoon pub - it's a place reflective of little choice of budget or of venue in a place you don't know well. Or of a desire to get wasted as quickly and cheaply as possible.

In love, really, with a pub?  Yes.  Places like this allow me to relax, get things done, chat with the beer buddy and enjoy being in another building.

It's OK that you don't ever get the same buzz from a pub.  Maybe you get it from a brilliant coffee shop or outstanding restaurant, or perhaps it's the feeling you get with a bag of pick and mix in the cinema, or a box in the theatre.

All I ask is that people don't write off a whole industry based on only a tiny part of the story, simply because it plays to moralistic narrative.  It's as unfair and naive as Jacob Rees-Mogg saying we should all go to our local and drink a yard of ale because it's the "Bristish" thing to do.