Job Discussion Forums

[leeroy]

(sorry - there's nothing here about American Politics at all. Will anyone take notice? It's OK - this post is so poorly written that I don't expect any replies anyway)

Everywhere I've been (which is a surprising amount of places considering my relative youth) I've made a point of having a "local". For those unfamiliar with the terminology, this means "a place close to me where I can get drunk". Ordinarily in London, this means a pub.

Every school I've worked at has had a conveniently located pub just opposite/around the corner. And, let me tell you, after 6 hours of listening to bored, spoilt Russian (or whatever) brats rape English as a Second Language a nice pint (c665ml) of beer is just what I need.

It's not just having a place that sells beer, I make a point of getting to know the staff, establishing some familiar patterns of communicative discourse and ensuring that my "usual" drink starts being served as soon as a set foot inside the establishment. In Indonesia this was more tricky (as they don't really have pubs, per se) but I did a pretty good job of it there anyway.

Having a local means more than just having a place that I can buy beer - it is essentially my second home; a place where I can relax as if I was at home while having the opportunity to converse with the general public at the same time. Some may see this as the root of alcoholism, but I see it as something different. A pint after work is a profound experience. It is very different to going home and getting dressed up in preparation for "a drink" (as is the case now, as I type) - the latter could well cost me over �100 (US$101). "Locals" and "regulars" are like protons and electrons, they depend on each other.

My work colleagues disagree: "You know the bar staff's names?" they enquire in semi-mock disbelief - "It's only a pub!". Well, yeah. I adore my local, or rather, I love the concept of it. For all of my life I will forever have a local. Some use love, some religion, but I use beer to escape the futility of life.

Long live locals!

(Yes, I'm drunk)

[lagerlout2006]

Congrats Leeroy---you made it through a post without mentioning Roger Moore or the footy. Get no argument from me about having a proper pint after a day at the races. Whats the name of the pplace.

UK have great pub names. Lets start a thread on pub names.
I'm off to the Punch And Judy for a pint eh???

[Jetgirly]

When my friend went to Glasgow she wrote home about drinking at "King Tut's Wawa Hut"...

[dmb]

I remember king tut's from my youth!
Leeroy you may have been drunk but you made perfect sense. I have a local here in Istanbul and I get a 50 % discount. That's a real local

[leeroy]

My recent locals have been..

The Bullfrog (Charing Cross)
The Zetland Arms (South Kensington)
the bar (International House London)
The King's Arms (Waterloo)
The Prince Albert (Brixton)

Last night I went to "Cheers" in Regent Street - an example of everything wrong in the world. No soul, no character, just a DJ playing average music to a bunch of average people with the usual selection of morbid Eastern European barstaff. Sadly, most "bars" in the world seem like this. Is the British pub doomed?

[mjed9]

I used to drink in a pub in Brighton (that's in England!!!) that couldn't think of a name for itself so eventually called itself "the pub with no name" because that is what us locals used to call it.

Then again I also used to drink in a pub called "B" Right On - as in Brighton - thankfully the name didn't last long!

[Snoopy]

Small world! I live just around the corner from the Pub with No Name but usually booze in the Sir Charles Napier just down the road. Cheers!

[mjed9]

[Louis]

The local... I like that. Back in Canada, I always had a regular place, but I just called it the bar. IE: "Hey Louis, what are you doing tonight?" "Going to the bar." And everyone knew which one. But in Taiyuan, "the bar" is actually called the Bar! (Ba Er Jiu Ba) Absolutely perfect.

[yaramaz]

Ooo, dmb, where is your local and do they need new patrons to lovingly grant Efes discounts to? I gotta tell ya, after 2 years in a dry city where my local was the roof of my block of flats (nice view, great in any seson but winter), it'll be great to find a new one. One with, well, other people.

My favourite ex-local is sadly now gone. It was in Cape Town, in a big old victorian house that was gutted and filled with picnic tables and painted pink. It was patronised by big bearded guys on Harleys who had a big barbecue on the front lawn every sunday. Cheap beer, decent music. Great stuff.

[Mark-O]

Leeroy,

You have hit on the quintessence of British culture in mentioning the concept of "The Local" - although it is not unique to it, as the Canadians and Americans will verify. Afterall, it is by no coincidence that the UK's two most popular TV programmes centre around the backdrop of a pub!

For me, the most morbid realisation is the monopolisation of the chain pub. Ok, for cheap beverages places like 'Wetherspoons', 'Scream' etc can be hard to beat here, but my problem with these places is that for every new one which opens a 'REAL local' seems to disappear. From a 'REAL local' I'm referring to the free houses, landlord-owned, pool table and dartboard in the corner, peanuts on the bar (although I don't fancy sampling the urine of every other male patron in the bar myself), pork scratchings at hand - I'm talking about the candid 'spit n sawdust' pubs which pre-empted the likes of Wetherspoons and Scream pubs.

For me, the chain pub lacks all the above, equating to a lack of character and identity. By analogy, it's like eating at McDonald's - it's cheap and satiates your appetite, fulfils a purpose, but you're ultimately left feeling unsatisfied somehow and rush to leave as soon as you've finished what you went in there to buy.

My favourite local was 'Quinn's' in Camden - essentially an irish pub with a vast selection of beers from Belgium which the landlord sold "for fun".

[Capergirl]

Ah, so the "local" is like Cheers? OMG...Leeroy is Norm!

[leeroy]

Been a long time since our paths have crossed, hasn't it Caper? You ever going to make it to the UK or what?

Norm is my hero - when I walk into a bar I want everyone to shout "leeroy!", then Woody will ask me if I want a drink and I'll come up with a witty one-liner...

Coach: Can I draw you a beer, Norm?
Norm: No, I know what they look like. Just pour me one.

Coach: How about a beer, Norm?
Norm: Hey I'm high on life, Coach. Of course, beer is my life.

Coach: How's a beer sound, Norm?
Norm: I dunno. I usually finish them before they get a word in.

Coach: What would you say to a nice beer, Normie?
Norm: Going down?

Sam: What's new, Normie?
Norm: Terrorists, Sam. They've taken over my stomach.
They're demanding beer.

Coach: What'll it be, Normie?
Norm: Just the usual, Coach. I'll have a froth of beer and a snorkel.

Coach: What would you say to a beer, Normie?
Norm: Daddy wuvs you.

Sam: What'd you like, Normie?
Norm: A reason to live. Gimme another beer.

Sam: What will you have, Norm?
Norm: Well, I'm in a gambling mood, Sammy. I'll take a glass of whatever
comes out of that tap.
Sam: Oh, looks like beer, Norm.
Norm: Call me Mister Lucky.

Sam: What do you say, Norm?
Norm: Any cheap, tawdry thing that'll get me a beer.

Sam: What do you say to a beer, Normie?
Norm: Hiya, sailor. New in town?

Norm: [coming in from the rain] Evening, everybody.
All: Norm! (Norman!)
Sam: Still pouring, Norm?
Norm: That's funny, I was about to ask you the same thing.

Sam: Whaddya say, Norm?
Norm: Well, I never met a beer I didn't drink. And down it goes.

Woody: What's your pleasure, Mr. Peterson?
Norm: Boxer shorts and loose shoes. But I'll settle for a beer.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

I've never been one to hang out at a "local," although I must admit that I was a Cheers fan when I lived in the States. I was more into TV back then than I am now.

When I was a teacher in the States, a group of us used to get together on Friday nights at a place called The Purple Parrot . . . a couple of drinks at the bar followed by dinner. When that establishment closed down, we switched to a place called The Brown Bottle. Neither place would be considered a "local" in the sense that the word is used on this thread.

The idea of having a real-life Cheers is a foreign concept to me, especially in my current job situation . . . my last class of the day ends at 9:00 p.m. and my first class of the day starts at 7:00 a.m. There are no ex-pat/EFL-teacher watering holes in the city where I live. The people I teach with don't go out to drink together after work. I'm not much into beer myself.

A few years ago, a guy I knew from my grad school days came here to do a 3-month teaching gig after teaching EFL for a few years in Japan. One of the first things he asked me was if I could recommend a good "local" . . . like it was a regular part of the settling-in process. A lot of other foreign teachers that I've met also brought up the topic as if it were standard.

Am I in the extreme minority among EFL teachers for not going to a "local" as part of my regular routine? Just wondering.

[Seth]

the US doesn't quite have the friendly pub scene that britain does. they seem much more important there than they do in the US. maybe canada is different, i don't know.

i also hated the chain pubs, especially after i worked for one in london. I worked at a firkin pub, owned by bass, which looked exactly like every other firkin or bass pub. same beer, same tacky adverts, same promotions, same alcopop. occasionally we'd get these guys to come in from the main bass headquarters and give us lessons on customer service, like smiling, enthusiastic greetings, etc. it was so stupid. they are exactly like mcdonalds.

my favorite pub by far in london was the White Horse on parsons green.