Sitting around a table with my friends, elbow to elbow, shooting the breeze in a convivial, lively atmosphere, condensation on the inside of the windows, piles of jackets - that is pretty much one of my primary “happy places”, and I’m not ashamed to say that I am really, really missing it.
The current weird atmosphere with screens/shower curtains, clockwise-to-the-toilet directions, sparsely populated, music-free, two household maximum, table service version - not so much. A pale shadow of what a pub is all about, imo.
I would be devastated if they were to never return to their former selves. And that’s got nothing at all to do with bevvy - I like few beers as much as the next man, but I’m not a problem drinker. I think there’s perhaps a tendency to buy in to a narrative of “Scottish folk are irredeemable alcoholics” too easily - sure, we probably have a higher proportion than some countries, but it remains true that the vast majority of folk are just fine.
As a final point, I have hosted many people from around the world here in Edinburgh, and every single one of them absolutely loved our pubs. It would be a sin to lose them, they’re a valuable facet of our unique culture, imo.
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