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Do pubs want us?
• I TEACH English “one-to-one” in informal language exchanges and am constantly faced with the problem of the general lack of hospitality and comfort in London pubs, bars and cafés where we have our get-togethers.
Recently, we ordered a coffee and a glass of wine in a pub and were told with great sarcasm that we should go “down the road for coffee”.
Apparently, it’s normal (and allowed in the licence) for pubs to switch off the coffee at about 5pm, presumably to sell more profitable booze. But as an irony and anomaly, in the “down the road coffee chain” a civilised small beer or wine cannot be had.
On trying yet another local pub the licensee, seeing our notebooks and dictionaries, pointedly turned down the lights – the message being “boozers only wanted here”. In another pub the music was turned up to get rid of us.
There is a constant moan from publicans about threats to the pub industry. So isn’t it strange that they choose not to cater for the huge number of us who, in effect, are excluded from their “public” houses?
In the high street pub, the licence allows there to be not enough seating, which can lead to aggression. The licence allows that people can/must stand uncomfortably with full glasses, struggling with belongings, while drinking. This can cause fights to break out through jostling. Why do licensing authorities and the government allow this “inhospitable” pub setting to carry on, causing drinking problems?
ABI GREEN
Address supplied
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