Pub problem is not much of a surprise

I read with interest the article discussing the plight of our traditional pubs in the UK, “Inn Jeopardy” (MW March 15).

It really came as a surprise to me that people seem more content to drink at home.

I mean, can anybody really expect to sample the delights of warm beer served in glasses with second-hand dried lipstick around their rim served in an attractive atmosphere of stale cigarette smoke in the confines of their home? Of course they can’t.

Added to all this, these poor misguided people miss out on the inability to listen to music you like at a volume that you find enjoyable, and most importantly, the delight of returning a dodgy pint to the bar staff who greet you with undisguised disbelief and not uncommonly obvious annoyance.

Finally, I have yet to see a sign advertising pub food that uses a realistic adjective, the most modest being “good”. Perhaps the industry has a private scale to gauge food quality starting at “good”?

I am sure that many young married men would like nothing better than visiting a decent pub of an evening and would no doubt sometimes like to make such a visit a family outing, as pubs seem to encourage.

Unfortunately, no matter how far removed the pub is from the above description, the poor bloke still has to deal with spending a small fortune on food that won’t get eaten for his kids and, most insultingly of all, spend a fortune on soft drinks costing more than his warm flat pint.

John Hartley

Bathgate

West Lothian