To hope that this "new" way of queuing at pubs just becomes the norm

[OptimismvsRealism]

A fair way of lining up instead of everyone jostling stressfully and the hottest or tallest or most pals with the bartender getting first dibs?

Perfect description!

I don’t know any pubs that have the space for a proper queue. You just find a gap at the bar and move forward. If the bartender looks to you but the person next to you was there first, you direct them that way. This is how it works in every pub local to me.

I don’t care how I queue in a pub as long as I can actually get to the bar. My local has quite a small bar and the three bar stalls are always occupied by men. There is no space at the bar. I gave up going there as I don’t want to to have to talk and pass payments over their heads.

When I worked in a (very busy, centre of town) pub, we knew who to serve when because we naturally kept an eye on who turned up when.

Unfortunately that doesn't always work

App to the table all the way!

I just find it sad how much we're losing our ability and desire to interact with other humans outside of our little bubbles. There's something lovely about having a laugh with the bartender, doing the "she/he was first" bit and getting a smile and a thank you from the person next to you.

When I worked in a locals pub we had a widower who would often sit at the bar and chat with the bar staff and other regulars. You'd hear about people's weddings / engagements / new babies / pets etc. When done well pubs can be such a lovely, friendly communal space. That's why they're such an institution. I guess that that's why I get so depressed by "I just want to order from an app and have a faceless person bring it to me please".

Love the chat at the bar, the random interactions. I don’t understand what’s happening to pubs - meeting people used to be the point of going out - otherwise you might as well drink at home.

I bloody loved a good jostle at the bar! And you know how so many people say 'how do I meet someone?' - you go and jostle at the bar! So many relationships/friendships have started with a 'oh, he/she was here first.'

Having a little chat with a stranger is a great part of a night out.

The traditional way is essential; it is how you keep order. By punishing those who snap their fingers at you, or make comments about your tits. You serve the nicer people, whilst at the same time looking at the transgressors with a smile that says “if you weren’t such an arse, you’d have been first.”

I hear ya! :) Spent many hours running a bar and always knew who was next. Start waving your £10 note at me and trying to push in, then down the line you went.

@ATenShun damn right. I ran a bar for years too. Even though I have a desk-based career now, I still miss it.

@ATenShun I still maintain that the people skills learned dealing with drunks have been essential for every job I’ve had since.

As a student I once spent over half an hour being ignored at a crowded bar on a society night out. People either side of me were served many times over. By the time I finally got served after over half an hour, I couldn't find the group. They'd assumed that I'd got the bus home and gone on to the next bar. I had to neck the bloody drink to then be able to go outside to be able to phone them up to find out where they were. A right waste of £2.50!

In a less manic venue, it's part of the social culture of pubs to crowd around a bar. Post Office queues would kill the atmosphere.

Totally. Any customer facing role especially hospitality. I trained as a chef and can honestly say working in the kitchen was FAR easier.

The only times I have seen a queue for a bar, has been in bingo clubs.

No idea, but I've always found smiling and making eye contact the most effective.

I do like qr code ordering though..

That's because English people like to order their 4 pints of Guinness last, as an after thought, so they can moan you're rude when you start them, charge them and move on to the next person while they're settling and you're topping 🤣 people get incredibly bent out of shape ime if you haven't finished their round and start working on the next one, even if it would make no difference at all to the time they'd have to wait because Guinness takes longer.

In general, most bar staff do know who's next, I usually do unless I've had to go to the cellar or something and not actually been there, but you'll wait if:

-I've heard you bitching about the 'half an hour' (why is it always half an hour? If you're going to start with the PA remarks that you know I can hear but won't actually direct at me, then at least be original about it)

• You've been rude and obnoxious on a previous visit to the bar
• on your last round you've complained about the wait, then dither about what you want, make me recite the drinks menu, along with abv and price when it's on the bar in front of you and you've had your 'half an hour' to look
• You ordered and then trotted off to the toilet on your last trip and then expected that I won't have cleared it off the till, shoved it all on the back bar and served the next person and you'll have to wait for your drinks until I'm done with them
• you wave a card or note in my face - everyone is paying mate, you're not special
• you answer "Who's next to please?" with "Decent bar staff should know" when I've had my head in the glass washer, under the bar, just walked into serve etc.
• you ignored the 4 times I asked if you wanted ice and then made a big deal out of the fact it's on the bar in front of you without ice - easier to put it in than take it out when you deign to answer me
• you order one drink at a time whilst asking your mates what they want, with a little conversation in between, top marks if you have to keep going back to the table to ask as well and then look shocked when I ask for payment and you have to go back again to get your card & money
• you pushed in last time, or tried to

In short, know what you want, be a decent person and treat me and other customers with a bit of respect and you'll get served in your turn, no one has died from waiting a few minutes for a drink, you won't need therapy and it's not the end of the world. You've seen the scrum at the bar and decided to join it - no one's got a gun to your head.

Oh and order Guinness first!

I've queued at the airport - says it all really.

The only way is to get close to the tills. I used to stand at the till and alternate either side of me to serve, it's commonplace in busy pubs where you can't keep track.

My DS was going on about this recently-he reckons people don't know how to use pubs any more- the queues just take up too much space.....

The key is good skilled bar staff. I am in Ireland and most bar staff will juggle a few orders at once. Start pouring a pint, nod to someone else to get their order while doing so and also nod to another to let them know they are next. Takes the stress away. I found when I lived in London bar staff didn't do multiple orders at once which led to a lot of frustration and often meant new people to the bar got served first.

Ooh. When I was bar staff I used to pride myself on my ability to remember exactly who was next in the 3 deep queue over a 4 metre bar. Whose Guinness belonged to who and whose cocktails were being made.
I'm infuriated when bar staff don't have similar super powers of observation!

Totally just read that in Mrs Doyle's voice 😁

Almost always, at a crowded bar, you know exactly who was there before you, and if you have any moral fibre at all, you say to the bartender, "No - that person's before me."

People who don't do that, like people who don't wave a thank you when you let them pass in their car, are irreclaimable reprobates and we should bring back the stocks for them.