For those who like to Fag

It seems that old puffing Billy and his anonymous mates are complaining about their rights as smokers. Apparently they have lost their freedom of choice. I see it this way. If I farted in a room and wafted it in their face they would be offended. If my fart was comprised of chemicals that are going to kill them they would be even more upset.
Those who don't like the smoking laws should find a sympathetic politician and lobby them. The laws were put in place by a democratically elected government, which was elected by the majority of people. Smokers are a minority - if you can't beat the anti-smoking lobby, give up and join them. Some say it's and erosion of civil rights, but actually its protecting the rights of non-smokers to enjoy a pint and a meal in an environment which isn't laced with carcinogenic fumes.

As for the anti-smoking lobby being a prelude to an anti-drinking lobby, this may well be the case. But I really can't see the anti-drinking lobby becoming a majority and being able to pass something through parliament. I'm not worried either way, I'd just brew my own and wave my middle finger high.

Reserved??

A couple of weeks ago I made the most of the beautiful 32 degree weather and took the ferry over to Manly for some lunch and a beer or two. It was a truly good day that was spoiled by one nasty incident I feel I should comment upon. Basically there is a "Bavarian Beer Cafe" at the wharf in Manly. We walked in an found an empty table and I plonked my way over to the bar to get a couple of drinks. Why we were enjoying our beer (I had a Paulaner Pils) a waiter type put a reserved sign on our table. Five minute later a manager type came and told us we had to move into the bar area as the table had been reserved. The table was not even in a great location with views or anything and there were several empty tables around as well. We were planning on having lunch there, but quickly changed our minds! I tried to explain the situation to the manager, but he wasn't budging on his position. As we refused to go inside he said our other option was to leave (we had half full beers at this stage) and that he would give us 2 minutes to finish our beer. So not only were we shocked by the rudeness of the staff, but also being encouraged to consume our drinks irresponsibly. I am not the first person to experience poor service at this establishment (click on the link to the Bavarian Beer Cafe above), but this really pissed me off. I urge all readers to boycott these pseudo German chain bars trading as Bavarian Beer Cafes. You as consumers deserve better.

BTW - I am way to lazy to maintain this blog with any frequency. I hope my excellent Google rankings work their way into their bottom line and new a new customer friendly establishment opens in this location in the future.

How to tell if a pub is shit or not in 30 seconds

I'm a judgemental bloke. I can easily identify black from white and even push grey towards either side when required. Yesterday, while I was supposed to be tapping away at a trivial document at work I asked myself why I consider some pubs 'good' and some 'bad'. I quickly narrowed it down to one minimalist feature that can sum up the whole atmosphere of a pub. The feature is, the table number. From my experience, pubs that feature numbers pressed into tables on brass disks usually have the atmosphere of a drinking barn rather than a pub. They are generally chain pubs (JDW, LLoyds, All Bar One, Nicholson's or any M&B type place) that serve lousy microwaved food and consider their patrons to be numbers with ££ signs on their foreheads rather than valued customers. If your staff are rubbish, is it really too hard to give out a wooden spoon with a number painted on it? Or a buzzer type arrangement like many pubs in Australia have? Its speaks volumes that these establishments don't trust their customers enough to not steal them. I don't want to drink in places where the lowest common denominator is the petty crim.

In saying all this, I realise that I am a massive pub snob. I pretty much only drink in a handful of pubs these days as I am tired of getting served poorly kept ale.