We've just arrived back from Bristol and for the first time ever, since I started this part-time nomadic existence, we didn't have beer in a pub the whole time we were there.
Bristol was in tier 3 when we arrived and had just gone down to tier 2 when we left.
I still enjoyed sitting in our flat, working whilst watching the world go by from our high perch but the lack of relaxed time in our favourite sort of out-of-home experience has meant fewer "what if" chats than usual. Our chats have been much more - need to do this, how's that going sort of thing.
It was a slight compensation that we were able to walk to two tap rooms, buy our canned beer and express some appreciation to the staff and assure them we'd be back as soon as we could.
Before we left, I also booked deliveries from the breweries we were unable to visit.
I'm confident that most of our beloved Bristol beer businesses will be back just as soon as it's feasible next year. They're well run organisations who have proved themselves adaptable over the years - and especially this year - and they deserve the benefit of their extraordinarily hard work.
No, they're not heroic surgeons, ICU nurses or care home assistants but only a philistine would believe they don't bring value along with their passion into society.
The job I do, I can do because I've been lucky and this year, our skills have been celebrated because we did "good things" for the community. We 3D printed faceshields, we loaned and donated tech equipment to people who needed them, we coached people to help them with their digital skills to help them rebuild their practice, or just connect better with friends or clients. Until now, people thought all we did was a "nice little after school club for geeky kids".
You have to be really careful when you judge the worth and the skill of someone's occupation. Good brewers and bar staff are a special breed. The implication that "just serving beer" or "just dancing on a stage" or, "just telling jokes" are somehow unimportant, or can be done without is, frankly, offensive.
When I've had a day "cat herding" as I juggle finances, people, and other things my preferred way to unwind from that is a couple of pints: well kept and well served from someone who is skilled at making me feel welcome (trust me, that's no easy feat). They give me the time away from emails, slack, other media channels and let me just...be. Other people get what I get from going to the pub by going to the cinema, or to a stand-up club, or to the ballet.
My home has been a place of work for so many years that sometimes the only place I can take my work head off is in the pub. Without that time out, which I've so sorely missed this year, I would burn out pretty quickly and not be there to do the things that people have suddenly realised is quite important and supports them in their work and personal lives.
So before you tell people in the arts and in the multifarious parts hospitality industry that their job isn't important and if it disappears then they should just retrain in cyber - just remember where it is you go when you, rightly, deserve a bit of R&R from your doubtless vital job.
Specifically, to those in brewing and pubs, I salute you and thank you for helping maintainng my grasp on what's important.
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