Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Any ideas?


I can't understand why, in every pub I've ever been to in London, the staff can only serve one person and can only remember at most two drinks out of an order at a time. It really makes for tedious - not to mention thirsty - waiting at the bar.


IMO The Dog has always been the worst offender despite being my favourite pub.


Is it a tradition I'm unaware of?


In Ireland the lads can serve three long orders at a time (granted each order is for ten pints of Guinness, but still...)

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/4408-why-are-bar-staff-so-slow/
Share on other sites

You're right about the Dog and it's always been like that in all the years I've been going there and having been to bars in Northern Ireland too I can vouch for the speedy delivery of orders and friendly service that I have not experienced anywhere else. I'm a very thirsty kind of bloke and speed is of the essence. I want beer and I want it NOW!!!!

Not that I'm saying anyone should go there (although I am partial to the window seat upstairs) but Waxy's Little Sister in Chinatown usually has just one bar person on whenever I've been in there but he takes several orders at once and it really is like being back home in Ireland


Why is bar service slower in England generally - I wouldn't like to comment. But I agree the Dog has always been the worst and it's sister pub the Plough is catching up.


When I've worked in bars in England I would say punters can be as bad - they rarely give a list of drinks, it's always: Pint of lager and a coke... wait.. oh and 2 vodkas.....wait....THEN they ask for 2 pints of guiness.. hnnngggggggggg


[one for Petty Annoyances there maybe]

I think you'll find that Nick Cave was inspired to write these lyrics whilst desperately waiting to be served in the Dog one afternoon.


THIRSTY DOG


I know you've heard it all before

But I'm sorry for this three year war

For the setting up of camps

and wire and trenches

I'm sorry for the other night

I know sorry it don't make it right

I'm sorry for things I can't even mention



I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog



You keep nailing me back into my box

I'm sorry I keep popping back up

With my crazy mouth

and jangling jester's cap

I'm sorry I ever wrote that book

I'm sorry for the way I look

But there ain't a lot that

I can do about that



I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog



I'm sorry about the hospital

Some things are unforgivable

That things simply cannot be forgiven

I was not equipped to know how to care

And on the occassions I came up for air

I saw my life and wondered

what the hell I had been living



I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm feeling very very sorry in the Thirsty Dog



I'm sorry about all your friends

I hope they'll speak to me again

I said before I'd pay for all the damages

I'm sorry it's just rotten luck

I'm sorry I've forgotten how to fuck

It's just that I think my heart

and soul are kind of famished



I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog



Forgive me, baby but don't worry

Love is always having to

say you're sorry

And I am, from my head

down to my shoes

I'm sorry that I'm always pissed

I'm sorry that I exist

And when I look into your eyes

I can see you're sorry too



I'm sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog



I'm sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm feeling very thirsty in the Sorry Dog

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry

I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog

"When I've worked in bars in England I would say punters can be as bad - they rarely give a list of drinks, it's always: Pint of lager and a coke... wait.. oh and 2 vodkas.....wait....THEN they ask for 2 pints of guiness.. hnnngggggggggg"


But perhaps these people have learned to order like this. I found it odd that as I was half way through my order the bar-person would just walk away and go through to the other part of the bar, pour a single pint/ spirit and return, place it on the counter and say "Anything else?" so I'd have to go through the order again.

I never get served at bars. I'm invisible to staff. And I always want to buy my round; I'm not backward in that respect. It's embarrassing when you offer to buy a round and then get stuck at the bar waving a twenty pound note around for an eternity. Always happens, every time. Maybe move to the petty annoyances thread?

And Jah, I reckon that Nick Cave didn't write those lyrics. They've clearly been written by someone who eventually died at the bar in The Dog while waiting for Healing Booze.


I'd say that Nick fellow lifted them off his corpse.


He fell in with a Bad lot, you know.

Is it due to the decline in the full-time professional Irish barman?

You know he always opened the festivities with a hearty "Now!", and proceeded to take your order, while ensuring that the people around you were aware that he'd be with them shortly. He'd also tactfully point out your error in ordering Guiness last and most importantly of all he would know the exact order that people had arrived at the bar and would serve everyone in that order, oblivious to the tenner twirling.

As a bonus if a chap was of the sporting fraternity he would have a ready supply of 'certs'.

However this was probably not his strongest point.

I'm glad you brought up the whole "order of people at the bar" thing. Asking "who's next?" may have been all well and good in Victorian England but if you try to assert your rightful place as next-to-order-pints in a pub in South East London you could be shot. Or simply ignored, as poor giggirl has found.

Of course there is.


Barservice should be a vocation, a calling, a job to take pride in.


Poor pubs are getting squeezed and can only afford minimum wage much of the time, hence why these days only students, those on their travels and east europeans (unlikely for much longer with such a weak pound) end up working. Hence little understanding of the mores of bar etiquette and no real professionalism.


I miss the preponderance of antipodes, they took real pride in their work. I'm not saying an Italian student isn't generally more pleasing on the eye, but they really will only just be getting up to speed by the time they leave.


Good service can of course be found outside of expensive cities with high student populations. In some villages outside of Letchworth/Hitchin I can still get my usual 15 years after moving out...now that's what I call professionalism!!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Double In New or great condition  Or super comfortable air bed Any1 pls
    • Rant ahead: You're not one of them but unfortunately, there's a substrate of posters here that do very little except moan and come up with weird conspiracy theories. They're immediately highly critical of just about any change, and their initial assumption is that everyone else is a total fucking contemptible idiot. For example: don't you think that the people who run the libraries will have considered the impact of timing of reconstruction on library users? (In fact, we know they have - because they've made arrangements at other libraries to attempt to mitigate the disruption). After all, these are the people that spend their whole working week thinking about libraries and dealing with library users (and the kids especially). You don't go into the library game for the chicks and fame - so it's fair to assume that librarians are committed to public service and public access to libraries, including by kids. Likewise the built environment people (engineers, architects, construction managers, project managers, construction contractors, subcontractors or whoever is on this job) are told to minimise disruption on every job they do. The thing that occurs to us as amateurs within 30 seconds of us seeing something is probably not something a full time professional hasn't thought about! Southwark Council, the NHS, TfL, Dulwich Estate, Thames Water, Openreach - they're not SPECTRE factories filled with malevolent chaosmongers trying to persecute anyone. They're mostly filled with people who understand their job and try to do their best with what they've been given - just like all of us. Nobody is perfect or immune from challenge, and that's fair enough, but why not at least start from the assumption that there's a good reason why things have been done the way they have? Any normal person would be pleased that their busy, pretty, lively local library is getting refurbished, and will have more space and facilities for kids and teens, and will be more efficient to run and warmer in winter. But no, EDT_Forumite_752 had kids who did an exam 20 years ago, and this makes them an expert on library refurbishment who can see it's all just stuff and nonsense for the green agenda and why can't it all be put off... 😡😡😡
    • I completely misread the previous post, sorry. For some reason I thought the mini cooper was also a police vehicle, DUH.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...