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How was the "new normal" pub/cafe experience for you?

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Howardh

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Not ventured out yet myself, maybe tonight, but wondering if those who have could describe their experience; where did you sit, how did you get served, how did you pay, did you feel "safe", access to bathroom facilities and what transport you used etc?
 
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SteveM70

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Takeaway espresso from Nero in Halifax. Paid using my phone. Fine in the shop. Biggest problem is running the gauntlet of smokers outside, but that was part of the old normal
 

Jamesrob637

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Not going until at least Tuesday afternoon once I've had my hair cut Tuesday lunchtime.
 

Skymonster

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Well not pub/cafe, but as part of the new normal I had my hair cut for the first time since March. And if this is the “new normal” I hate it.

First I need to say that the arrangements made by the hairdresser’s / barber’s shop were exemplary - hand sanitation for everyone on entry, PPE for the staff, masks worn by every customer, name and number taken, lots of cleaning between customers, social distancing while waiting, screens between chairs, no cash, etc. All excellent.

BUT, after nearly four months of being “conditioned” to believe everyone outside our immediate household is a potential virus spreading machine, I found the close personal contact that is a necessary part of having a hair cut extremely uncomfortable. There is just no way, when it comes to scissors and clippers, that some contact (even if through disposable gloves, etc) can be avoided. All I wanted to do at the end of it was to rush home and have a very long, hot shower.

Don;t get me wrong, my hair looks 1000 times better and on that basis it was worth it, but I found it a very uncomfortable experience. Hopefully I’ll get over it if hairdressers are proven not to be the sources of covid outbreaks in the next two or three weeks. Right now, I feel like I need to go to the pub for a beer or two to help me get over the hair cut!
 

Howardh

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Takeaway espresso from Nero in Halifax. Paid using my phone. Fine in the shop. Biggest problem is running the gauntlet of smokers outside, but that was part of the old normal
I've never paid for anything using my phone, wouldn't know where to start. So hoping everywhere can use touch/contactless.
 

Bletchleyite

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I've never paid for anything using my phone, wouldn't know where to start. So hoping everywhere can use touch/contactless.

Install the app for your business of choice and it will take you through it, usually you connect a credit or debit card to the app. Starbucks is the only one I find too cack-handed as you're required to put stored value on it and I can't be bothered with that.

I do find contactless easier, though. (You can of course do that with your phone too, just add your card of choice to Google/Apple Pay as applicable and away you go)
 

ChrisC

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Well not pub/cafe, but as part of the new normal I had my hair cut for the first time since March. And if this is the “new normal” I hate it.

First I need to say that the arrangements made by the hairdresser’s / barber’s shop were exemplary - hand sanitation for everyone on entry, PPE for the staff, masks worn by every customer, name and number taken, lots of cleaning between customers, social distancing while waiting, screens between chairs, no cash, etc. All excellent.

BUT, after nearly four months of being “conditioned” to believe everyone outside our immediate household is a potential virus spreading machine, I found the close personal contact that is a necessary part of having a hair cut extremely uncomfortable. There is just no way, when it comes to scissors and clippers, that some contact (even if through disposable gloves, etc) can be avoided. All I wanted to do at the end of it was to rush home and have a very long, hot shower.

Don;t get me wrong, my hair looks 1000 times better and on that basis it was worth it, but I found it a very uncomfortable experience. Hopefully I’ll get over it if hairdressers are proven not to be the sources of covid outbreaks in the next two or three weeks. Right now, I feel like I need to go to the pub for a beer or two to help me get over the hair cut!

Oh dear. I have a haircut appointment for next Friday morning. I had my name put on the waiting list a couple of weeks ago and thought it would be ages before I got an appointment. Then I got a telephone call last week offering me an appointment next week.
I also need to try to get an appointment at the dentist for a small filling replacement that came out at the beginning of the lockdown. It’s a very old one that has come out many times over years but it’s not hurting so I haven’t worried about that too much.
I would also like to book a holiday but instead of my usual travelling by train and staying in a hotel Imthink it will be travelling by car and staying in a self catering cottage.
I’ve not really thought about pubs and restaurants yet.

If I lived in a large city or town perhaps I might not be quite so cautious about doing these things. I’ve never been a nervous person but I’m afraid that 3 months of lockdown living in a small village has made me quite nervous about going back into busy places.
 

bramling

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Not ventured out yet myself, maybe tonight, but wondering if those who have could describe their experience; where did you sit, how did you get served, how did you pay, did you feel "safe", access to bathroom facilities and what transport you used etc?

Ventured through my town this afternoon as part of a walk. Total chaos to be honest - queues outside all the shops and cafes merging in to each other, a conspicuous sense of atmosphere with some arguments visible regarding queues and groups trying to enter places, some people clearly terrified to get within 1.99999 metres of anyone else, and car parks overflowing.

Hopefully things will settle down, as today looked and felt like the world has gone mad.
 

Bletchleyite

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I also need to try to get an appointment at the dentist for a small filling replacement that came out at the beginning of the lockdown. It’s a very old one that has come out many times over years but it’s not hurting so I haven’t worried about that too much.

I had a dental appointment on the first day of reopening of my surgery. They were operating-theatre obsessive about hygiene (they are already quite big on it) - wait outside/in your car, phone them on arrival and they come down, masked and visored, to collect you. Then they asked that instead of putting your coat etc on the chair in the corner that you left it in a box at reception (which was presumably sanitised between users) and sanitised hands etc. The dentist and assistant wore full medical PPE as per a COVID ward. For payment, you were asked to go outside/home and phone to complete it.

No way would any infection have spread there. It was vastly better than the blood test I had in hospital in April when full lockdown was in place.

The one thing they didn't do is masks for the patient, but it's fairly obvious with a dentist that that would be more than slightly counterproductive :D
 

Howardh

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Ventured through my town this afternoon as part of a walk. Total chaos to be honest - queues outside all the shops and cafes merging in to each other, a conspicuous sense of atmosphere with some arguments visible regarding queues and groups trying to enter places, some people clearly terrified to get within 1.99999 metres of anyone else, and car parks overflowing.

Hopefully things will settle down, as today looked and felt like the world has gone mad.
I'm aiming to go out at half-seven (pm) in that nice gap between the shoppers and the night-outers. Kinda testing the water, and if I can find somewhere quiet where I can sit out of the way and put my tunes on then fine. But also want to see my pals in my regular joints, but might do that mid-week when there's much less of a crowd.

I'll miss a game of pool though - think that's out? On the positive side no karaoke. Bliss.
 
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Personally I won’t be stepping foot in a pub or restaurant until all the restrictions are eased. I like a pub visit to be enjoyable “ad-hoc” experience. You know, just thinking “I fancy a pint” and going down there and then. Having to book a table in advance, provide your name and address, not being able to mingle with others or drink on a stool at the bar etc is just a massive ballache and takes away the whole point of “nipping to the local”.

Anyone going out to their local - enjoy and report back on how it was ☺️
 

Skymonster

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Well now I’ve been to the pub too. Compared to the rather traumatic feeling I got having my hair cut (see earlier) the experience in the boozer was diametrically opposite. Friendly faces, tables well spaced, a few marks on the floor and signs on the wall, no booking needed, no queue to get in, no time limit, no name or phone number required, no masks or PPE. Some great beer, but otherwise everything much as it was before.

If this morning ended up with me thinking “I’ll just stay in and hide from the post lockdown world”, this afternoon was “welcome back to a pretty normal world.” Having my hair cut I felt threatened, at the pub I felt relaxed. The pub persuaded me that we can go back to where we were before. Bring on the next visit - probably tomorrow.

I was in the pub the night Boris announced they were all closing, and now I’ve been in the same pub the day it reopened. I am delighted to be back and I have no reservations or concerns having done so.

Pub 1:0 Barber
 
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greyman42

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BUT, after nearly four months of being “conditioned” to believe everyone outside our immediate household is a potential virus spreading machine, I found the close personal contact that is a necessary part of having a hair cut extremely uncomfortable. There is just no way, when it comes to scissors and clippers, that some contact (even if through disposable gloves, etc) can be avoided. All I wanted to do at the end of it was to rush home and have a very long, hot shower.
I had a haircut this morning. Apart from the mask wearing, it was no different an experience than pre covid. I had no desire to rush home for a very long hot shower.
 

Skymonster

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I had a haircut this morning. Apart from the mask wearing, it was no different an experience than pre covid. I had no desire to rush home for a very long hot shower.
Agreed, other than all the rules and PPE it was no different to what it was before. However, the last three months we’ve been encouraged to believe that close contact was bad for our health, and on that basis the experience left me feeling extremely uncomfortable. Perhaps I’ve been brainwashed by our politicians and idiots (my opinion) such as Whitty.
 

Skymonster

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The new normal... So pleased to be back - like a giant cloud has started to drift away and there’s a ray of sunshine beginning to appear.
044920DD-A56D-4CDB-BC8B-B5E0CAD5F91D.jpeg
 

bramling

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The new normal... So pleased to be back - like a giant cloud has started to drift away and there’s a ray of sunshine beginning to appear.
View attachment 80370

I wouldn’t say “be sensible or be sworn at” is a ray of sunshine. To me that’s passive-aggressive bordering on threatening, and is inviting trouble when one person’s definition of sensible differs (rightly or wrongly) from someone else’s.
 

Bletchleyite

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I wouldn’t say “be sensible or be sworn at” is a ray of sunshine. To me that’s passive-aggressive bordering on threatening, and is inviting trouble when one person’s definition of sensible differs (rightly or wrongly) from someone else’s.

It's clearly a joke (in that quirkily British "deliberate bad service/pub banter" style), not passive-aggressive. If that pub's service usually follows that vein it would be entirely appropriate. If that is the case, if you don't like that approach you probably won't drink there anyway.
 

Howardh

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I wouldn’t say “be sensible or be sworn at” is a ray of sunshine. To me that’s passive-aggressive bordering on threatening, and is inviting trouble when one person’s definition of sensible differs (rightly or wrongly) from someone else’s.
It's flippancy!! We need a bit of light-heartedness these days!
 

bramling

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It's clearly a joke (in that quirkily British "deliberate bad service/pub banter" style), not passive-aggressive. If that pub's service usually follows that vein it would be entirely appropriate. If that is the case, if you don't like that approach you probably won't drink there anyway.

I don’t necessarily disagree that this may be quirkily British in normal times, however at the moment this sort of thing may well contribute to trouble. I get the impression there’s quite a bit of tension in the air now, and alcohol added to the mix won’t exactly help either. A public flogging should someone accidentally cough?
 

Howardh

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I don’t necessarily disagree that this may be quirkily British in normal times, however at the moment this sort of thing may well contribute to trouble. I get the impression there’s quite a bit of tension in the air now, and alcohol added to the mix won’t exactly help either. A public flogging should someone accidentally cough?
Just been watching the news (Sky and BBC) and the general feeling seems to be how relaxed everything is. Watching the pictures coming in on top of the regular updates from my local rag has re-assured me; may be more pleasant than many an ordinary Saturday night. Hope so anyway, I hope this doean't backfire and we get a surge of new cases down the line. My mental health couldn't cope with another 14 weeks of lockdown.
*Still think opening should have been Monday though, just to be safe.
 

Skymonster

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I wouldn’t say “be sensible or be sworn at” is a ray of sunshine. To me that’s passive-aggressive bordering on threatening, and is inviting trouble when one person’s definition of sensible differs (rightly or wrongly) from someone else’s.
It’s totally non-threatening and tongue-in-cheek. Call a spade a spade - it’s that sort of place. If it was a chain pub, I’d agree - but in a pub where everyone is a giant family it’s a welcome sign that things are returning to normal.
 

causton

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Had my haircut today, texted to book an appointment in the week but not needed really, the main differences were they had screens inbetween the chairs (like the pop-up roller banners, but clear plastic), they had a UV sanitising box to put the scissors, comb, etc in between customers, I was asked to provide my name and phone number, and the bib was disposable plastic bag rather than the normal cloth.

Oh, and I couldn't get a proper hot towel shave, just a clipper cut!

Apart from that it wasn't too bad, the barbers were wearing visors too, so I felt pretty safe to be honest.


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Didn't dare enter a pub (especially Spoons) - Spoons had some stickers indicating where to queue outside when I walked past but they had blown away in the wind so one was halfway down the street, one in a hedge outside a school, and one in the middle of a zebra crossing!

1593880493385.png
 

thejuggler

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Barely went in pubs before lockdown so little will change. I did have a drive through Costa though!
 

greyman42

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I would say that only about 50% of the pubs in York city centre, which is a Saturday hot spot, were open today which surprised me. Most of the ones which were shut are opening Monday.
 

higthomas

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We went into our local for a spontaneous pint (walked past and noticed their large outside area was fairly empty and went for it). It was a fairly weird experience to start with, entering through one door, being told a long list of rules upon entry incl the 1 way system to go to the loo, and giving my name and number. But one we were sat down it was really nice to just order things we'd never have at home and have them outside. A bit of grumbling about the groups of 6 clearly not from one household, but we were 2 metres from them and they kept to their tables, so no personal concerns. All in all, a weird experience but really nice to be back to it.
 
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