Dry

I was meeting friends in the pub. When I went to the bar, I discovered there was no draught bitter. I was stunned. This is a pub renowned for having an excellent selection of draught bitter.

When I inquired, the barman said they were shutting on Monday.

No, this is a good pub. They can't close it down.

For a month, he continued.

Ah.

They were getting rid of all their stock, he said.

That made sense.

I dithered over what to have. I tried the fizzy bitter. It was too fizzy, but it was that or banana bread beer. I don't like bananas. Or Erdinger. I've seen too many of those top-heavy glasses knocked over — in that very pub — to risk that. I went for the fizzy bitter. It was ok once I let it go flat. I changed to cocktails. Call me crazy.

We speculated over what was to become of the place. We like it as it is. Perhaps they could replace the hand dryers in the loos with hand dryers that dry your hands. But that won't take a month. We dread to think.