Sag zum Abschied leise Cheers

Der Philosoph Roger Scruton nimmt im New Statesman Abschied vom britischen/englischen Pub - nicht ohne ihm eine Träne hinterher zu weinen und nicht ohne die Gründe und die Folgen zu bedenken. Das Ganze klingt gut chestertonianisch in seinem Sinn fürs Leben der gewöhnlichen Leute:

"The British pub was kept going by two features of ordinary life: male bonding and the sacred nature of the home. Men would assemble there on weekday evenings to offer each other ritualised hospitality through the "round of drinks" - an institution often sneered at by wealthy people, who see in it only the obligatory stinginess of the poor, but which is in fact a way of squeezing from poverty the real moral benefits of gift-giving.

The round of drinks was an instrument of peace and reconciliation among neighbours, the way in which people could express and enjoy the affection on which, in moments of competition and conflict, everyone depended.

Drinking in the pub therefore added to the moral savings of the community. And on weekends, men would come with their wives for some special event, by way of gaining female endorsement for this largely male preserve - the men dressed in suit and tie, the women in their finery.

That ritualised celebration of sexual difference was not likely to survive into our time and it didn't. But in rural areas the home continued to be valued as a vice-free zone. There were things you did only in the pub, and the most important of these were drinking and smoking. The sanctity of the home therefore kept the pub in being."

Ryan Sayre Patrico, von dem ich den Hinweis habe, verlinkt auf eine Sammlung wunderschöner Pub-Schilder