Pubs open

[killer b]

It looks pretty harsh when they lay it out like that, but they've not been able to open for 6 months and have limited space. It's probably fair enough they prioritise people who want to get pissed and spend cash over people who want to sip lime and soda and read a book.

 

[Orang Utan]

It looks pretty harsh when they lay it out like that, but they've not been able to open for 6 months and have limited space. It's probably fair enough they prioritise people who want to get pissed and spend cash over people who want to sip lime and soda and read a book.

Aye, but I would like to eat and have a few drinks and just not be at home for a couple of hours or so

 

[marty21]

Got the day off on Friday, so am going shoe shopping. Thought I’d get a drink afterwards but everywhere’s booked and/or they won’t do tables for one

My local has set aside some tables for regulars but do accept walk ins (I realise my local is not local for you ) but I'd guess that most would try and let in walk-ins , if they can.

 

[Orang Utan]

Aye, but I would like to eat and have a few drinks and just not be at home for a couple of hours or so

Actually tempted to spend that £150. Just have some steak and some lush cocktails and cognac

 

[Pickman's model]

My local has set aside some tables for regulars but do accept walk ins (I realise my local is not local for you ) but I'd guess that most would try and let in walk-ins , if they can.

walk-ins and stumble-outs

 

[Teaboy]

Aye, but I would like to eat and have a few drinks and just not be at home for a couple of hours or so

I reckon the basic boozer, community pubs are the way forward. The ones with gardens anyway, they won't be full and won't be doing bookings. They are few are far between where I live but the ones that are about seem fairly quiet at the moment.

Any pub that is a bit gastro-y or popular with the youth will just be booked up by wankers who are blanket booking everywhere with little intention of actually showing up.

 

[Orang Utan]

I reckon the basic boozer, community pubs are the way forward. The ones with gardens anyway, they won't be full and won't be doing bookings. They are few are far between where I live but the ones that are about seem fairly quiet at the moment.

Any pub that is a bit gastro-y or popular with the youth will just be booked up by wankers who are blanket booking everywhere with little intention of actually showing up.

The only big beer gardens near me are student/sports pubs. There’s a newish one that’s off the beaten track a bit in another suburb that has a massive garden that I might try this weekend but maybe I just need to wait. I didn’t think I was missing it until this week

 

[cupid_stunt]

Aye, but I would like to eat and have a few drinks and just not be at home for a couple of hours or so

Well get together with a few mates, surely it can't be hard to get a gang of 6 together?

 

[Orang Utan]

Well get together with a few mates, surely it can't be hard to get a gang of 6 together?

Not here. Easy enough in London.

 

[May Kasahara]

Come down to London then! Haven't seen you for ages.

 

[Orang Utan]

Come down to London then! Haven't seen you for ages.

Might be a while before that’s a possibility! But can’t wait to get down there!

 

[brogdale]

lol

 

[Orang Utan]

That’s normal though. Ask drivers how they safe they think the drive and also ask them about other drivers

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

It seems like a pretty pointless question tbh. I think most people will be responsible most of the time. Do I think everyone will? Obviously not - I'm not that bothered by that though.

 

[nagapie]

Come down to London then! Haven't seen you for ages.

Agreed. You'll have to fight off the hoards.

 

[Pickman's model]

Well get together with a few mates, surely it can't be hard to get a gang of 6 together?

it's not hard to get a gang of six together. but it is hard to keep them together. almost inevitably you will lose two and end up in a gang of four

 

[thismoment]

Well get together with a few mates, surely it can't be hard to get a gang of 6 together?

gang of 6? Much harder than I appreciated once I factored in that my mates are across London and I might need a babysitter if their availability coincides with partner’s work. But I did go out for a meal and a couple of drinks by myself at the end of a previous lockdowns. It was very enjoyable and peaceful. Fortunately, my local is fairly big so I didn’t get turned away for asking for a table for one (if it was during the week)

 

[JimW]

end up in a gang of four

While that can be a trial they do end up getting smashed.

 

[MrSki]

 

[xenon]

The one up the hill

Oh dam. I'm barred from that one...

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I reckon the basic boozer, community pubs are the way forward. The ones with gardens anyway, they won't be full and won't be doing bookings. They are few are far between where I live but the ones that are about seem fairly quiet at the moment.

Any pub that is a bit gastro-y or popular with the youth will just be booked up by wankers who are blanket booking everywhere with little intention of actually showing up.

Yeah, my local I went to yesterday was fairly empty as I drove past around 4pm today, we'll go there for lunch tomorrow and should be fine to get a table. City centre jobs may be a bit trickier. One near us that is quite posh is doing 2 hour slots and taking deposits, for my mum and her mates who wanted a table at the end of April they would only allow 2 hours on a Wednesday afternoon, for 6 friends who haven't seen each other in a year. There's no way they will be mobbed out then, it's just daft. They have booked elsewhere.

 

[Epona]

Yeah, my local I went to yesterday was fairly empty as I drove past around 4pm today, we'll go there for lunch tomorrow and should be fine to get a table. City centre jobs may be a bit trickier. One near us that is quite posh is doing 2 hour slots and taking deposits, for my mum and her mates who wanted a table at the end of April they would only allow 2 hours on a Wednesday afternoon, for 6 friends who haven't seen each other in a year. There's no way they will be mobbed out then, it's just daft. They have booked elsewhere.

Aye, last summer/autumn when pubs were open they were mostly empty round here and struggling to justify staying open some days. This week is going to be crowded and a rush on because going to a pub is a novelty right now, and for lots a much needed stab at normality after months stuck at home.

It will shortly be back to usual (or possibly low levels, if last year was anything to go by) levels of custom.

 

[Epona]

The place OH is working this evening is providing hot water bottles for customers

 

[Epona]

Also he's working, which is great - a 12 hour shift tomorrow too.

It's been horrible for people who work in hospitality, especially the agency staff (gig economy is rife in hospitality). OH has 1 regular part time job that he has maybe had 4 weeks of work at in the last year, lots of weeks without any work at all. It wasn't so bad last spring when he was furloughed from both his regular job and the agency work (based on the average weekly income from the month before lockdown), but that ended for the agency when the first lockdown ended and wasn't reinstated when pubs/restaurants shut again and it's been really horrible with absolutely no certainty of income for months and sometimes no work for weeks at a time.

The government could have done a lot more to help hospitality workers get through but instead they cheer on the likes of the Wetherspoons cunt (who said his employees should just get jobs at Tesco) while hundreds of thousands of hospitality workers are plunged into poverty, uncertainty, risk of CCJs, bailiffs, evictions, and all the stress and mental health issues that go alongside that.

OH's permanent employer for his part time work have been great throughout btw, seems to be a good company to work for - not that he's done much actual work for them lately! The pub and nightclub that he usually work in are not open yet, so hopefully he'll be able to get plenty of agency work between now and May 17th (when the pub will probably open) and end of June (when the nightclub he is actually supposed to work in may re-open, if vaccinations manage to dampen the risk of a third wave), we have a whole lot of bills outstanding as we just weren't able to keep up with Council Tax, Service Charge, and other regular payments last year so are in arrears and a few weeks of full shifts might help us get back on track.

I'm just glad he had his first vaccination in Feb, at this point he should be getting the maximum protection it can offer, I am not as worried about him going back to work in pubs as I was last summer.

EDIT: Sorry for the essay there! Thought some folks might be interested to hear the view from the other side of the bar, so to speak

 

[quiet guy]

When you've been in lockdown for so long that you forget about weight distribution and balancing

 

[marty21]

When you've been in lockdown for so long that you forget about weight distribution and balancing

School boy error, perfectly nice proper table nearby ffs

 

[William of Walworth]

School boy error, perfectly nice proper table nearby ffs

Absofuckinglutely!!

I've always really disliked those bench tables outside pubs --chairs with backs SO much better!!

 

[Elpenor]

Local to me pub fully booked all weekend. Luckily there was a pub by the beach taking walk-ins so I had my first pint of cider in a while in the sunshine

edit to add the cider

 

[Nanker Phelge]

I've quit drinking, but if I hadn't and my first pint all year was in a plastic cup I'd have the right hump.

 

[souljacker]

It's been some sorry weather so the last re-opening was a bit shit. Tomorrow is the big day really. Anyone braving it? I have a booking for Tuesday