So the lap dancing and strip bars are back in UK after long lockdown. I used to come to this place, on and off, I then stopped going about a year before Covid arrived. So I was walking down this triangle and spotted it had reopened and the manager and the bouncer chatting outside. Our eyes met and I opted to say ''oh you are open now. I used to come here often'' This new manager and the bouncer were rather nice and told me tings are new now. New staff, new girls, new beers and refurbished and they encouraged me to come back. I didn't that day, but returned a few days later. ------- Once in, things don't look any different and I soon remembered why I stopped going there way before the Corvid. The friendly new manager was not there and instead, there were the same old bar staff I recognised giving off the same bad vibes. The room is even darker than before and the beer prices have jacked up. and the one song dance is 10 pounds. This is double the amount. ---- I used to have an acquaintance working here as a bartender and he quit citing bad management. He was talking about the owner but also about the staff. The easy-going-banter-exchanging general manager is also gone and the insidious and menacing looking former acting manager seems to have been upgraded to be the boss. So the rather nice new manger is only a junior acting manger then. ---- - I didn't feel comfy , I have to be drunk to feel comfy in a place of this ilk, and left. because of the staff and increased prices. ----- In short, meet the new boss , same as the old boss. New bar, the same old bar, just far more expensive. I will not go back there in a hurry. ---- on a side note, I have elderly friend who has been gambling all his life and couldn't kick the habit but the lockdown enforced stay away did the trick and he told me this was the best thing ever happened to him. The same thing about the so called Gentlemen's clubs? Many addicted men have come to senses during the lockdown? Maybe. ------ but then there is this one image I cherish. A few winters back near Xmas, I was walking the same street after dark, and noticed a minor traffic jam. I looked back and noticed an elderly man in apparent poor health, using two walking sticks, was crossing the less than 10 yard street with the speed that would have made snails furious with impatience. Was he hurrying home for hot meal? The drivers were kindly waiting for the old man to complete his hazardous crossing. Where is his wife or kindly daughter? He can barely walk. All the headlights were on him Once the was on the pavement, a bouncer from the Western Bar walked over with a smile and helped him go straight into the bar. All lights were on him. He was a regular. Probably has been all his life. And will be read more
