Pub annoyances #834

[Tris39]

Stockport Wetherspoons yesterday. A cacophony of mobile phone videos and games being played.

The Barrel Vault (JD Wetherspoon) likewise last night; I had to move twice.

[Brainypool]

Quinno’s reviews today reminded me of this one - a huge gripe for me at the moment is the dominant grey paint and ghastly pub refurbs that seem to have accelerated in the last few years (since Covid lockdowns). The particularly bad ones seem to be free houses too. Isn’t a pub supposed to be something cosy, warm, inviting? Why has every other landlord decided to abandon that concept?

[Quinno]

Quinno’s reviews today reminded me of this one - a huge gripe for me at the moment is the dominant grey paint and ghastly pub refurbs that seem to have accelerated in the last few years (since Covid lockdowns). The particularly bad ones seem to be free houses too. Isn’t a pub supposed to be something cosy, warm, inviting? Why has every other landlord decided to abandon that concept?

My guess is that it started like many things in the 'cultural space' - at the upper-end eg posh restaurants and posh people's houses. Then, like many things they do, it gets adopted by the aspirant middle class magazine reading wallies who want to ape them. Then it trickles down further as it's seen as the sort of thing that 'people with money' do and becomes omnipresent as the default thing. But by that stage it's done on a shoestring budget by people who have no sense of restraint, so the grey paint goes everywhere both inside and out.

On the upside, fads like this usually burn themselves out as those at the top recoil when they realise that their expensively-decorated grey house is now on the same basic level as the local Snot & Shovel pub.

Then a new thing comes along and the cycle repeats.

[Spinko]

My guess is that it started like many things in the 'cultural space' - at the upper-end eg posh restaurants and posh people's houses. Then, like many things they do, it gets adopted by the aspirant middle class magazine reading wallies who want to ape them. Then it trickles down further as it's seen as the sort of thing that 'people with money' do and becomes omnipresent as the default thing. But by that stage it's done on a shoestring budget by people who have no sense of restraint, so the grey paint goes everywhere both inside and out.

On the upside, fads like this usually burn themselves out as those at the top recoil when they realise that their expensively-decorated grey house is now on the same basic level as the local Snot & Shovel pub.

Then a new thing comes along and the cycle repeats.

Probably similar to how New Build estates are now populated by chavvy Deanos whereas maybe once were aspirational...