Just had a Saturday morning session at my 'local'. It's a great thing to be able to say that you have your own 'local'. The phrase refers to the pub that's about two minutes from your front door, and even though it's probably tacky as hell, and the seating is moth eaten, there's a sense of pride you wear each time you go in there.I can only imagine it's a bit different in America. If you don't live in a big city, they seem to have a problem putting drinking holes on every street corner in the suburbs. It must have something to do with their kids having such lovely white teeth.
To say "i'm off to the local" has three great implications:
1. It officially means you have your own abode, a place where you live, with neighbours and some annoying lady who peeps through her curtain. It's your area, your home, and that's great.
2. This sense of ownership is a step up on the adult ladder. You're no longer 12 years old and saying "i'm just off to my local....street corner to hang out on my bike". Now you can drink beer and not orangeade.
3. It's nice to go somewhere that's not your home, but that you still feel at home when you go there. If that makes sense?
A proper old man's pub, named after an American wooden-hulled ship - the oldest commissioned ship in the world today. The clientel is bizarre. Some bloke goes in with a sort of silver chain wig on and wears a leather jacket, but seems completely normal. A bloke with a pony tail runs a poker game on Sundays and Mondays in the upstairs bit. There's no quiz machine, no jukebox, none of that post-modern drinking apparatus that seems to be the habit of a new generation of young hedonists. Just simplicity.
Plad chairs. A straightforward selection of lagers and bitters. A few mixers, and the classic triumvirate of crisps - ready salted, cheese and onion and salt and vinegar. People go there to enjoy a drink and maybe if they see someone they recognise, they exchange a few words.
Greeks have something similar with the Taverna - the Hellenic "local". In the villages and suburbs, you'll see men playing backgammon, sipping away on a mythos, gossipping in between dice rolls.
The local is a great way to tie together a community, and a fantastic excuse to go drinking on your own. If you have a local - get in touch and i'll come round for a pint.
To Do: Visit the Local more often.