Many years ago I attended a night class at Edinburgh University all about Scottish culture. The course was run by a poorly disguised rabid scottish nationalist and for him Scottish culture was all about the bizarre funerary rites exhibited by early 20th century Orcadians and the like. One night the class disintegrated into mayhem as one of my class mates challenged the tutor about what culture is. My classmate asserted that deep fried mars bars and a curry after a skinful on Saturday night had far more to do with Scottish culture than the bygone rituals the tutor's head was full of.
I was reminded of this last night. There were about 10 customers in the bar, all men. General C*nt held sway. He was complaining because some 'silly bugger' had offered him a job and he was supposed to be working tomorrow. But he wasn't going to turn up - Friday night was for drinking "I'd much rather drink myself stupid tonight, shit ma bed, and then get up to work on Sunday."
The assembled nodded. The younger members of the group we're clearly impressed - this lifestyle was something to aspire to.
Of course there is more to culture hereabouts than gets reflected in these Friday Night posts, but for a significant minority this is about as cultured as it gets.
We left the pub as a hapless young couple on holiday from Suffolk entered the bar. I could see a night of entertainment ahead but we had to go, but not before witnessing another aspect of local pub culture I've seen many times before - and that is to always claim to know the hometown of any tourists who wander in. I've seen this applied to Iceland, northern Holland, industrial Germany, Dunbar, and even rural Suffolk. It's a welcoming trait.
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