As much as I like pubs and ‘pub culture’, if that’s not an oxymoron, I will not be queueing up for a two hour slot to sit at a table and drink alcohol in a pub just because I can. Alcohol has been freely available from the start so all those people professing to be ‘gasping for a pint’ have clearly missed something and it’s not ‘a pint’.
Yes, there is the social aspect, you’re right, and believe me, I eagerly look forward to that time when I can once again stand with Bob, Michael, DOB, Steve, Perry and the other fellow reprobates at the public bar in the Queen’s Head talking absolute shite about anything and everything whilst enjoying a pint or [insert ‘reasonable’ number here] of ESB; but that time is not yet here.
Up until now, some pubs have risen to the challenge of providing a take away service, more power to their collective elbows, but many more haven’t been able to for one reason or another and I do realise the great financial strain that all ‘hospitality’ sector businesses are in right now.
I know several people involved in the ‘pub’ trade and I can’t begin to imagine how bad it has been for these businesses over the past months and of course any opportunity to open the doors and sell wares and services must be greatly anticipated by those businesses and I wish them well.
But this ‘new normal’ isn’t for me, I don’t need a ‘pub pint’ badly enough to jump through all the hoops that HM Government is recommending and the number of people calling the situation ‘new normal’ surely isn’t helping; things are not ‘normal’ and I don’t believe that we should kid ourselves that they are. There is still a virus in general circulation that will kill some people and severely incapacitate others.
Am I afraid? I suppose that at some base level yes, I am afraid, even though I consider myself fairly healthy and could probably survive the virus but the sticking point is, and a lot of people seem to forget this aspect of the whole SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 pandemic, if I or anyone else became infected we could pass it on to others for a week or two without even being aware that we had it and that is the really scary thing.
Go out if you will, I wish you well. Sit at your appointed table and quaff and natter and pretend that ‘new’ is ‘normal’, have fun, stay alert, drink responsibly, wash your hands and try to avoid touching your face. I’ll raise a glass to you from the comfort of my home beer garden. Indoors if the weather is inclement.
A Point of Views, A Polish Odyssey and Other Stories. 