How do you know that the pubs are "jam packed"?

[Jourdain11]

... unless you've been in them yourself? Otherwise, isn't it just anecdotal and likely to be exaggerated?

I was speaking to a friend who has been for drinks a few times in central London, and he said that it has been pretty quiet each time and most people are sitting outdoors, etc. But because of the pics of Old Compton St on the first night, everyone reckons it has been packed ever since!

Of course, if you've been in them and they are jam packed, then you're one of the people jam packing them

I go down the Main Street in Aberdeen most days on my way to work and the pubs have been packed since they reopened. And today they’ve all been forced to shut because cases have spiked. YABU as plenty folk can go past places without even remotely wanting to go near them.

I was in the pub last night and it was quiet. It was a Tuesday though.

I work in a “local”. We have been very busy since reopening. For example the weekend just gone we did over 300 food covers between Thursday and Sunday. Pre-covid we might do 300 covers over 2 weeks. We are only open for booked tables, only accepting walk ins if there are empty tables outside or the very few tables we have inside. Since the introduction of eat out to help out on Monday we have had 3 manic days. We are very busy but we can’t be packed because of the social distancing required. We are certainly busier than normal. I for one am delighted to be doing so well, I love the pub I work in and all of our regulars. We are following guidelines to the letter, many of our regulars are elderly and we would hate for people to feel unsafe.
Pubs need our support.

I went to one last week. I wouldn’t say it was ‘jam packed’ but we were too close for comfort (less than 1m) to the people on the next table and the waitress virtually sat on my lap when she brought the menus.
We left and went to a different one who said they’d had people complaining they were being too strict! 🤦‍♀️

I cycled home from the station just now through the city centre. It was pouring with rain so no one can be outside and I could see through the windows that all the pubs were rammed.

The one pub I’ve been to, you weren’t even allowed inside, except to go to the toilet - only one toilet cubicle was open, the others were taped off and there were arrows on the floor indicating the route in and out of the pub you had to take to reach the toilet. One in one out, with hand sanitiser and an occupied/vacant card you had to flip when you left. I thought it was all a bit spooky and unsustainable to be honest.

@Cadent

Why on earth would I need to do that? I have perfectly good eyesight. Do you assume no one can see inside a building unless they are "literally stood with their nose pressed against the glass"?

I can even see into some pubs whilst I am driving by. I must have amazing vision I really don't

I'm taking from this thread that it is extraordinary to have the ability to look through a window and take a rough head count without pressing oneself up against the glass. Let's revel in our amazing, rare ability to look through windows from a reasonable distance, goodness knows I don't have any other superpowers!