British Pub Culture As the saying goes, “If you haven’t been to a pub, you haven’t been to Britain.” The importance of the pub in English culture cannot be over-emphasized. Pubs are popular among people regardless of age, class, occupation, or education level. So, to really understand Englishness, you should spend a fair amount of time visiting pubs. In fact, you wouldn’t even need to leave the pub if you want a good understanding of the English! So what are pubs like and why are they special? Well, for a start, the bar in a pub is possibly the only place in the British Isles where friendly conversation with strangers is considered entirely acceptable, appropriate and really quite normal behavior. But don’t be the laughingstock of locals! Many overseas visitors find it hard to come to terms with the fact that there are no waiters in English pubs. So, when you’re enjoying your summer vacation in England and you fancy visiting a pub for a thirst-quenching pint of beer or some refreshing, chilled white wine, don’t sit at a table outside the pub and wait patiently for someone to come and take your order. It won’t happen. You’ll just get some funny looks and smug sniggers. Don’t give them the satisfaction. This no-waiter system is designed to encourage sociability. After all, we English perhaps aren’t the best when it comes to talking to people we don’t know. It’s much easier for us to start an “accidental” chat than it is to deliberately break into the conversation at a neighboring table. Another thing to notice is that the bar counter is also the only place in England where anything is sold without a queue. It is often observed that queuing is a national pastime for the English. We’ll automatically arrange ourselves into orderly lines at bus stops, shop counters, ice-cream vans, entrances, exits, elevators—and sometimes in the middle of nowhere and for no apparent reason. So, in the pub, you simply find a place at the bar where there’s a gap and wait to be served, or if it’s particularly busy, make eye contact with the bartender. It might help if you discreetly pull out a £5, £10 or £20 note from your wallet and make it visible to the bar staff. You may wonder how the English tip in the pub. In fact, we English generally don’t tip bar staff. We might, however, suggest, “And one for yourself?” which basically is a tip of a kind, except we choose who we offer a drink and when. English people, when visiting a pub, will usually buy “rounds.” That means, for example, if you go to a pub with a group of friends, you might buy the first round of drinks—i.e., one for you and one for each of your friends. When the drinks are finished, it is someone else’s turn to buy the next “round.” And so it goes on.