A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Moof »

david_h wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 5:25 am The past participle may serve as an introduction. "We stopped for lunch at a pub. When beered and sandwiched we continued on our way."
I'm now imagining them leaving covered in comestibles because they sat in one of the locals' seats. :lol:
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Nanohedron »

Moof wrote: Sat Mar 11, 2023 9:53 am
david_h wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 5:25 am The past participle may serve as an introduction. "We stopped for lunch at a pub. When beered and sandwiched we continued on our way."
I'm now imagining them leaving covered in comestibles because they sat in one of the locals' seats. :lol:
Between Ben and you, I believe I'm detecting a theme, here.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by benhall.1 »

Nanohedron wrote: Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:29 pm
Moof wrote: Sat Mar 11, 2023 9:53 am
david_h wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 5:25 am The past participle may serve as an introduction. "We stopped for lunch at a pub. When beered and sandwiched we continued on our way."
I'm now imagining them leaving covered in comestibles because they sat in one of the locals' seats. :lol:
Between Ben and you, I believe I'm detecting a theme, here.
It's our naturally friendly nature.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Nanohedron »

I used to want to visit. :wink:

Visit, want, use - those flexible words make up half the sentence.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Moof »

Nanohedron wrote: Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:29 pm Between Ben and you, I believe I'm detecting a theme, here.
It's only wishful thinking, you understand. But it doesn't mean you are unaware of it.

Do locals in other countries have their own seats in rural pubs, and is any offcumden who sits in them treated to an atmosphere of polite fury?

Okay, just us, then.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Nanohedron »

Moof wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 10:59 am Do locals in other countries have their own seats in rural pubs, and is any offcumden who sits in them treated to an atmosphere of polite fury?
I can't speak for rural pubs as a whole, being a city feller who also has a hobbit's opinion of travel and of novelty befalling me. Still, I've wound up in them once or twice, and I remember what I can of them fondly. People tended to talk with me; after all, I was something new. I don't know whether that's a Minnesota thing, or luck was on my side. If ever I offended the unspoken, no one ever told me or extended any ire (cloaked or otherwise; I'm not totally oblivious), so if I did offend, here is my chance to forward my apologies, albeit scattered to the four winds of the internet, in case it helps. It's the best I can do.

In my experience the suburbs are more insular. Boy, do I have stories. I remember one isolated suburban bar in particular where it was increasingly clear that I'd landed in a strictly local "club"; that no matter how well-mannered I was, I was unwelcome as a stranger, and a possible beating, at best, was mounting on the horizon for me. It wouldn't have mattered where I sat. Things tend not to taste so good in places like that. At least they let me live long enough to make a sensible departure at the end of my drink, and that will have to do for their hospitality. No rural bar I was ever in was so small-minded.

Many places are much the same as each other, yet all are different. In my go-to watering hole, when someone sits in my accustomed spots, plan B is in order. No big deal, in the end. Equanimity makes for a better time, and the bartenders like it that way, too. One should always think of them and their burden. But in the city, there's really no such thing as "my" seat, for there's too much ebb and flow of the stranger and the local. As a regular and therefore a representative of my bar, I aim overall to be hospitable. It's a good thing.

"Offcumden", though - had to look that one up. A Yorkshire cat, then?
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Moof »

Nanohedron wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:12 pm "Offcumden", though - had to look that one up. A Yorkshire cat, then?
Sussed. :lol:

It's not all pubs, and certainly not the sort tourists go to. Proper pubs, that don't do scornful food or serve pots of tea on trays. There might not be many of them left, to be honest, I'm going back to when I could get around a lot better than now. I've never been a drinker, but I did used to be a keen hillwalker and that's what would usually take me into off-the-beaten-track hostelries. They never seemed to mind hikers, but the looks between the locals could be very amusing if a bunch of brash tourists did stumble in.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Nanohedron »

Moof wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 2:56 pm... but the looks between the locals could be very amusing if a bunch of brash tourists did stumble in.
Oh, we get those, too. Even for a city pub, where the prospect of tourists will be a given, mine's not a tourist destination. It's very local. Sometimes a fresh influx doesn't fit the normal ambience, and then we all look at each other and wonder what the night will bring.

Tell me more about scornful food and tea on trays.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Moof »

Nanohedron wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 3:05 pm Tell me more about scornful food and tea on trays.
Oh, you know the sort of place. Where they serve your chips/fries on a roof slate and your salad in a miniature supermarket trolley, because it's "trendy". They're obviously only doing it to take the p*** out of you.

And tea on trays ... I mean, I'm a lifelong non-drinker, but I still like a pub that knows it's a pub.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Nanohedron »

Moof wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 5:31 pm
Nanohedron wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 3:05 pm Tell me more about scornful food and tea on trays.
Oh, you know the sort of place. Where they serve your chips/fries on a roof slate and your salad in a miniature supermarket trolley, because it's "trendy". They're obviously only doing it to take the p*** out of you.
Some of these guys actually do take themselves seriously. I'm too uncivilized to remain patient with art at the trough.
Moof wrote:And tea on trays ... I mean, I'm a lifelong non-drinker, but I still like a pub that knows it's a pub.
Okay, that one I sort of figured. Here the bartender gives you a cheap reusable thick and sometimes damp cardboard coaster that you are expected to use, if you haven't already gotten it for yourself like a good boy, so given that regime we call them beer doilies. This is in irony, in case it needs to be pointed out. I, a mixed drink kind of guy, also call them beer doilies. This practice of insisting that we use our disposable (but mostly reused until they're ratty) coasters may not be universal, but it's how it is in my territory. That's about as hoity-toity as it gets. If you don't want to use a coaster for some reason - probably defiance - find a table; the bartender's personal domain stops with his reach.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Moof »

Nanohedron wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:25 pm we call them beer doilies
I like that name! We call them beer mats, though my granddad told me they originally went on top of the glass rather than under it, to keep out insects and so on.

Then they became an advertising device. They've become unusual now, possibly because they're not the most hygienic things. Their main practical application always seemed to be the levelling up of wobbly tables or use as short-range frisbees, though they were also collected by people who like ephemera. I imagine another reason they're vanishing is that they're quite an expense for breweries to supply.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by david_h »

Moof wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 4:51 am I imagine another reason they're vanishing is that they're quite an expense for breweries to supply.
I guess smartphones means they, split through, are no longer the go-to way of noting phone numbers, tunes etc. Backs of fag packets being in shorter supply as well.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Moof »

david_h wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 6:20 amI guess smartphones means they, split through, are no longer the go-to way of noting phone numbers, tunes etc. Backs of fag packets being in shorter supply as well.
I always roll my eyes when a character in a TV show borrows a phone and promptly taps in the number. It's 30 years since most people knew their families', friends', and work numbers off by heart.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by Nanohedron »

Moof wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 4:51 am
Nanohedron wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:25 pm we call them beer doilies
I like that name! We call them beer mats, though my granddad told me they originally went on top of the glass rather than under it, to keep out insects and so on.

Then they became an advertising device. They've become unusual now, possibly because they're not the most hygienic things. Their main practical application always seemed to be the levelling up of wobbly tables or use as short-range frisbees, though they were also collected by people who like ephemera. I imagine another reason they're vanishing is that they're quite an expense for breweries to supply.
All of that with a couple of exceptions: They're not vanishing around here; my bar always has stacks of 'em. Apart from the fool's errand of keeping the bar's surface drier, the local practice is to put the coaster atop your drink when you're off to the conveniences, and while insect stoppery is built in, the main purpose is to notify one and all that you haven't relinquished your seat, and you'll be back shortly to address the drink waiting beneath. Interlopers violate this convention at the risk of their good standing. It's also a help to the bartender who has to keep an eye on things; the less prudent have had their drinks stolen or even spiked by the unprincipled - not common practices, but I think we'd all agree that once is more than enough - so the coaster's a bit of added defense when your friends might be distracted. Sure, the coasters eventually become nasty, and even in a dive bar I suppose hygiene crosses people's minds from time to time, but apparently not that often; if you don't like yours, toss it and get a fresh one. They're biodegradable, and never in short supply.
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Re: A dramatic 6-year-old tries her hand at shoveling snow

Post by benhall.1 »

Moof wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 4:51 am
Nanohedron wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:25 pm we call them beer doilies
I like that name! We call them beer mats, though my granddad told me they originally went on top of the glass rather than under it, to keep out insects and so on.

Then they became an advertising device. They've become unusual now, possibly because they're not the most hygienic things. Their main practical application always seemed to be the levelling up of wobbly tables or use as short-range frisbees, though they were also collected by people who like ephemera. I imagine another reason they're vanishing is that they're quite an expense for breweries to supply.
They're not called "beer mats"; they're beermats - one word (source, Chambers and the OED). And I think your granddad is pulling your leg. They were, literally, originally invented precisely to be a disposable coaster, and were introduced to the UK by Watneys in 1920 - as coasters, and in order to advertise their products.

And they're certainly not disappearing around here. Pubs have huge stacks of them. They're everywhere.
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