Alcohol. Yes, I said alcohol. When did it become acceptable to drink in the street? I don't mean by down-and-outs, I mean by so-called 'ordinary' people, people on their way to work or the shops. I only started noticing this a couple of years ago walking to the bus stop in the morning and seeing people - men and women, young and old - drinking from cans or bottles of beer/lager. What's that about? St Leonard's Church even has a sign in English and Polish reminding people that it's a church and it's grounds are a graveyard and to treat it with respect.
I can honestly say that I've never drank alcohol in the morning (liar! liar! pants on fire!) - oh, ok, *once* when I had a shot of tequila at a tequila factory in Mexico at about 9 in the morning - and the only times I've drunk in the afternoon in the last 10 years or so have been at weddings or Christmas. Other than that, it's the evenings when I drink.
Now, I fully recognise that some people have different work and living patterns that means my breakfast might be someone else's supper due to shift patterns. Still, why start drinking in the street given that shift-working isn't new?
Back in the spring I got a bus up to town one Sunday afternoon to visit an exhibition. It was a nice sunny day and lots of people were in streets and parks the bus passed. It seemed as if almost every adult had a drink in their hand, a can or bottle or (in the case of people outside pubs) a glass. I'm sure it couldn't have been literally *everyone* - it just seemed like it.
What's going on?
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