Would you like another drink?

Everyone who writes, blogs, podcasts or just plain enjoys drinking beer knows that many of our pubs are struggling at the moment. You talk to publicans, and ask them how things are going, and there’s that momentary pause, the puffing of the cheeks, before the answer. Some just flat out say ‘it’s been quiet in here recently’. One aspect of pub life that can make the difference are regulars – the barstool barnacles that return night after night (or day after day), because they enjoy the atmosphere, they like the pub, they appreciate what the owner/operator is doing.

Yesterday, I was in a pub I don’t normally go to, in arguably the most affluent area of Edinburgh (and possibly therefore, the country). With my other half, we had an enjoyable couple of pints after a long, cold afternoon starting the Christmas shopping, watching the regulars banter with the barman, as he topped up their wine every now and again (we guessed they had bought the bottle, and left it behind the bar). Others arrived, and had their drinks poured as soon as the door had bumped off the latch behind them. It was great, everything a welcoming local should be.

Yet, just as we were about to take the glasses back to the bar and head off, we overheard the couple on the next table have the following conversation. To the woman’s suggestion that they stay for another drink, the man replied:-

I could stay here, but I have a bottle of claret and a sitting room to go home to. These people stay here only because they have cold, nasty little flats to go back to…

They put their coats on, and left. There are some people that even those pubs that are struggling, just don’t need.