It strikes me that social attitudes to pubs has changed massively in my lifetime. Pubs thst I knew had groups of locals, in some cases verging on Mafiosi, but mostly the usual suspects who simply gathered for a beer and a cig or two and to express opinions on whether the police can make arrests without a helmet on or other such vitally important topics. I wouldn't have thought twice about nipping in for a pint, partly because I was guaranteed to see at least one familiar face. Every pub had a Boycie and a Trigger, and in those days it's was great fun.
Fast forward 3 and a half decades, and I now view regulars with a hint of suspicion. Cubester has had a couple of bar jobs, and as an avid people watcher himself, he can make a pretty good assessment of characters. Before he had a driving licence I used to go and pick him up after work and used the excuse to sample a beer or two. Perhaps it's because its always the end of the night, or it could be deeper, but the same faces, with a skinful on board ((Cubester has been told to make a note of how much people are drinking so he can avoid the pitfalls of serving drunks) tend not to be the entertaining types they used to be. In fact, some of the characters are a bit pitiful, and the Boycie's tend to get on my tits anyway.
As for drinking on my own, well, if I'm away on a jaunt then I'd choose a pub meal over a takeaway, but will make an effort to chat to the staff or find a game to watch on TV. I only visit the pub for an evening out very occasionally, and always with at least one like minded person to chat with.
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