Open All Hours

Yes, I stole the title.

[grandpa]

Given the substantial English presence in Foo, and with a fair number of tipplers in general in the community, I'm surprised I had to read in the news at all that Britons can now pop into the pub 24 hours a day. I remember a tour of duty in the area, and I remember not liking the hours. Seriously, a couple of hours in the afternoon, then closed, then open again for the evening. It's enough to make a fellow want to give it up.

Hmm, too nice of a segue to pass up...
It was the day after Thanksgiving, 20 years ago, that I officially had my last drink. It would be a few more days before I could pick up a desire chip (12-1-85). Life sure is interesting.

[balam]

Britain's Extended Drinking Hours Draw Sharp Criticism [latimes.com]

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For nearly a century, drinkers in Britain's frosted-glass, red-velvet, gin-palace pubs have known exactly when it was time to go home at the end of a night out. At a quarter to 11, a bell would ring as a barman yelled, "Last orders!" followed 15 minutes later by another bell and the call: "Time please, gentlemen." [...] But as of Thursday, the cry of "Time please, gentlemen!" need not be heard again. Under a new, more liberal Licensing Act, Britain's pubs can stay open as late as they want — with a bit of negotiating with the neighbors.

> a desire chip

Had to do a search to figure out what that is... Now that I know, congratulations! I imagine at this point there's a spare room full of 'em?

[grelmar]

I heard once from a visiting Belfast lass, that the laws in that particular city had a loophole.

Can't remember what time it was, but the law stated a "lights out" hour for the pubs. At which point, the pub owner would dutifully turn out the lights, and the waitresses would wander around with flashlights to keep serving.

This would've been, oh, early 90s. I have no idea if the story was true, but I fell in love with the image of Irishmen sitting around getting pissed in the dark.

[grandpa]

a spare room full of 'em?

Not exactly. I had a pocketful (8 yrs worth) before I found one that worked. I threw the rest of them away.

[limbo]

Sat in my local till 1/4 past 2 last night. Pub quiz started at 11.

No-one got (too) pissed - no-one was caught fighting cos they were so drunk, everyone seemed to be enjoying the novelty, until this morning...

~:¬(