Bar owners say they struggle to dissuade people from forming a line as behavioural experts point to post-pandemic ‘new norms’
“I’m not sure what else we can do to be honest,” Paul Loebenberg said, of the people lined up at his bar. “Maybe there’s something I’ve missed, but we’ve tried everything.”
To anybody who frequents pubs and dislikes feeling as if they are waiting at a bank, Loebenberg’s exasperation is all too familiar.
Pubs, bars, taprooms and watering holes of all descriptions are a cornerstone of British culture, where, for as long people have been able to buy ale, an unspoken system has been in place: come to the bar and a bartender will serve you at their leisure.
This system, however, has seemingly been upended by a new way of ordering drinks.
