Olde Tyme Nostalgia: Bye-bye Pub!

 We have spent quite a lot of time in England–I originally for several years on the east coast as an Air Force weather officer, and then later both of us on academic sabbaticals in Oxford and Cambridge…and our son and his wife have even taken British dual citizenship because they like the style of life so much there.  Over the years we’ve seen the relentless, remorselessly insatiable American corporate takeover of the pub, so to speak, as vapid bottled commercial brews have overtaken the original, traditional local British brews-on-tap.  Going fast the ‘pint of bitters’ or ‘half and half’…..  Profit over all, the way of our commercial world, a greedy genie that our societies somehow can’t put back in the bottle, so to speak.  So, here’s a bit of nostalgia…..

The Passing Pub

Bye-bye, pub, we’ll see ya, pints

Your ales are in an ailing state!

Bud and Miller, bottled mints

Make changing ‘pubs’ to ‘bars’ your fate

To sit and chat o’er beer that’s flat

And slowly drain a mug’s contents

In contemplation or idle chat

Of soccer scores or cricket runs

Ah, there were once our evenings spent

Uniquely British, that they were

With pints in mugs, day’s main events…

But now it’s just a plain ol’ bar

Of bottles drunk up, slug by slug:

Off the cap and down the hatch

Not even from a glass or mug

Without the quiet talk to match

Oh, pub!  Oh, pub!  Where have you gone?

We miss you badly, now you’ve changed:

Of pints of bitters from tap drawn

And British culture…..we’ve been drained!