Patrick wrote:Anyway, bars are a lesser evil to people being stuck before their TV all day and never seeing anyone in the flesh.
[off topic rant]
The way things are in this country, i'm sure there's a plot to keep everyone constantly on the piss in their own houses.
The cost of alcohol in a pub compaired to the price of beer in a supermarket is just nuts.
You can get a crate of beer for about £8 in the supermarket.
You wouldn't even get 4 pints for that in the pub.
The pubs have to charge so much because everything in a pub is so f*cking expensive.
The cost of having a sports channel in a pub is a lot higher than if it were in a private home. Just like all the other bills.
Then you've got staff to pay, and entertainment to attract customers.
Then (oh look, it's my hobby horse
) there's the fothermucking smoking ban
On average, 18 pubs have closed per week since the ban came in.
Oh yes, and our economy went into the toilet.
I'm not saying the smoking ban skint the country, but it didn't help.
My Dad, who has never smoked, doesn't enjoy the pub as much anymore, because he's often left on his own inside while all his mates nip off for a cig. They come back in and the convo has moved on and he's left out.
Smokers will put up with a lot, but they won't have you mess around with their ciggies.
People will pay inflated prices for ale, but if you make them go outside to have a smoke they'd rather stay at home, save a fortune, and smoke as much as they want.
Smoking is still allowed in prisons. They know if they ever tried to ban smoking in a prison there would be a riot.
[/off topic rant]