Socialising Drinking and Not

How Our Social Lives Have Changed

Standby for a proper Mid Life Crisis post about modern day social lives.

In days of old..

In the black and white TV days here in Great Western Land, people, mainly men, went to the pub after work. This is when pubs opened at 17:30 and closed at 22:30 Monday to Friday 23:00 on Saturday and didn’t open on Sundays… well you wouldn’t would you.

On Saturday’s ladies went to the pub for a Brandy and Babycham, or Port and Lemon  even a half pint of Milk Stout and sometimes became a bit squiffy.

It was not good to be seen in the street drunk and incapable. There was a law called “Drunk and Disorderly”. Being found in such a state led to trouble with the local police force and a short stay in the cells.

This was the extent of black and white days social life.

The Social Revolution

When colour TV was invented, people went to the pub more. Some would say this was coincidental as wealth was increasing. Others would say that TV was driving people to drink.

Popularist demand cause the pubs to open for longer. The side effect of wealth is that more younger people started to drink, and drink to excess. However, the initial intention was to go out to meet friends, after a long week at work. Have a few drinks on Friday, perhaps even a meal at one of those new curry houses. In other words, to do something social.

The Demonization of Drink

Not for the first time, the interfering nanny state government of the day decided that the increase in the drinking population could be a money spinner. At every budget the chancellor of the day would add a few more percentage points to the duty on alcohol. Drinkers didn’t care too much, it just meant that they would eat less or sell their kids so they could carry on drinking. A new social care system provided income support, child benefit and sick pay.. these covered the increase in tax on booze.

You Need A Place To Be Social In.

The common theme through all of this has been the pub. The great British institution that allowed a broad range of people to mix and be social. To meet new people, make new friends to have a pint with your family members, neighbours. To start relationships, end them, say hello to new people and goodbye to the dearly departed. Every element of life was there in the pub.

Excessive tax and narrow minded short term governmental thinking caused the pubs to start loosing money. To survive they needed to look at other sources of income. The dawn of pub grub. Still able to chat but now with the dreaded ‘Family Friendly’ pub the presence of children served only to bring financially struggling families in and drive the more affluent empty nesters away. Profits on food however small were much more than those on drink so pub closures were stayed for a while.

A Pub Pincer Movement

Wind the clock forward to the present and we have another set of dire circumstances. With the exception of real ale pubs, micro pubs and lovely gin bars the main high street pub is suffering again. This is because the younger end of the social scale are turning away from alcohol. They have found legal highs and recreational drugs much more appealing. The social engagement of being out and about giving way to homes, parks, graveyards and the odd rave party.

The micro-brewery and micro-pub are a rising trend but not amongst the now anti-social phone zombie cotton-wool kids because the micros don’t sell well known mass produce brands. They sell interesting locally made beers and ciders which appeal to those empty nesters who left the family pubs behind.

Are micro-pubs and drugs the perfect storm for the mainline brewing and public house industry?

Probably not for it seems that those who go to the pub do not go there to be social anymore, they go with the explicit intention of getting drunk. Not ‘drunk’ as in happy, maybe a bit wobbly on the feet and for some a bit more argumentative. No to get drunk… vomit drunk, falling over in the street incontinent drunk. This is an expensive pastime if not preloaded with recreational drugs and so from this point of view the pub industry could be safe.

There we have it, the future of the once popular pub industry where every town and village had at least one pub is now being maintained by the recreational drugs industry.