Do YOU still go down the pub?

[IngramJohn]

Having spent many many years of happy socialising with my mates down the local public houses ... I now find that more and more I am staying in!

WHY?

Age/money/smokes/violence? .... I know what MY reasons are, but would love to know if anybody out there is going through the same thing?

Thank you in anticipation.

P.S. feel welcome to give your views on my little 'SOCCER thread on VPF. (see below)

http://www.vintage-erotica-forum.com...42#post1013442

[Maladjusted]

I've noticed a massive decrease in the pubs in my village over the last 18mth. I put it down to most people's financial situation and poor weather. However, I would say the downturn is certainly not reflected in the pubs in my city centre, they're just as busy as ever!

[Sharkhunter]

I like a traditional old country pub - a quiet place with a blazing fire where you can get a decent pint, good food and better conversation. When I lived out in the sticks I could find places like this, but in the London surburbs places like this are slowly dying out and being replaced by "fashionable" bars which have no atmosphere, serve factory-line food and overpriced drinks and play incessantly loud music.

To me an evening at the pub is to socialise - but to most people these days socialising is shouting yourself hoarse while some horrible music is being pumped out in the background. No thanks. It's also the young clientele - maybe I am getting on a bit, but "young people" tend to annoy me.

We occasionally do a sixty-mile round trip to meet a few friends where I used to live for the quiz (which as a general rule doesn't mix with young people or loud music) but for the most part I'd prefer to sit at home with Mrs Sharky and a nice home-cooked meal and a continental beer bought for a third of what you'd pay at the pub.

[billybunter]

I go down the pub 2/3 times a week. I prefer afternoons because the craic's better.

[dbailey]

Originally Posted by billybunter

I go down the pub 2/3 times a week. I prefer afternoons because the craic's better.

Ah yes..... On a business trip to Dublin about 10 years ago, I was stopped coming back into England at passport control where they asked me what the reason was for me trip to Dublin......

.....Well......I said that I was there for the craic..........which was rather foolish as I could hear the snap of surgical gloves being positioned on experienced hands..........


Enough tomfoolery.

Pubs, well I never went out much after marriage as we socilised at home with other marrieds.....and then along come kids.....and promotions.....and work away from home.....and then about 7 years ago I stated going out to a pub quiz night every week with my neighbour...and we won some good money (about £60 each) and then he moved away...and that was the end of pub quiz night

These days I get out about 6 to 8 times per year, usually for 2 pints and then a curry on the way home.

My eldest lad is in a pub 3 nights per week....those trendy ones filled with girls in underwear.....

[anklebiter]

I'm more in line with Sharkhunters thinking.Here in the US there are popular clubs, sports bars, and rave scenes.All have the early twenties crowds ranging from trouble makers to socialites, to the shallow trendy types.
Then you have the small corner neighborhood bars, probably more like small European pubs.The old men who come to drink a beer, and shoot the shit.
I don't want to dance, or make social connections- I like to belly up to a bar and listen to some old WWII vet tell me about what a prick Patton was.
I don't get down to them much these days, but the people are genuine, and the conversation is real.

[Ace1965]

I'm not that much of a drinker so I never ever go to a bar on my own. The only time I will go is when I'm meeting a friend or two and then I will only have one to one and a half beers. That's the only time I drink alcohol.

[Mad Koala Bear]

Nothing like as much as I used to do when I was younger and slightly less health concious, though the smoke free atmosphere does make the visits I do make a lot more pleasureable. I dont have a particularly good pub near me, but if I'm in the West End I'll certainly have a couple before I catch the tube home. The last time I had a pint in Town I found myself sitting next to Lindsey Dawn McKenzie, (its complicated). If I could guarantee her being there more often, I might make more visits.

[knobby109]

Yes, regularly. It's the only place you can get top quality beer, at home you have to settle for bottles or cans , OK if you drink cat's piss like so called lager but not if you're more discerning.
Good old fashioned pubs are a national treasure.First of all they are about people and socialising , you find yourself talking to strangers as well as friends.The trend to gastro pubs isn't good-people sitting at tables in their own little groups and just there for the food.Also too many pubs have had all the comfort ripped out of them in the name of fashion "contemporary style" means hard chairs and painting the beams white,these pubs are no longer places where you feel snug and want to stay.And the big pub companies have been too greedy, they paid too much to buy and alter them and then they force the tenants to buy beer from them at 50 pence a pint above free market prices.Overall they make drinking a very expensive business.Luckily there are still some family run free houses around with much to offer.There is more choice in beer than at any time in our history (but you would be surprised at just how many people despite this buy the same stuff day after day, usually a pretty poor beer at that.) It's a good rule of thumb that the best beer is often the cheapest and the most expensive beer is NEVER the best.

[Clouddancer]

I was in the pub (Not my bar ) yesterday from 3.30 until 2 am & today I feel as rough as a bears arse & penniless to boot.
Was it worth it? Obviously yesterday I thought it was, but in general I am going less & less, preferring to drink a couple of beers at home - Time for the pipe & slippers is fast approaching.