I bagged myself (Sept. 2016)
Originally posted Thursday 29h September 2016
Day 40. I bagged myself…
In the run up to the recent change in Drink Driving law in Scotland, which reduced the alcohol/blood count from 80mg/100ml to 50mg/100ml there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth in my local (very rural) pub. Everyone who goes there has to drive, or rely on someone else to drive. There’s no public transport. Taxis are very expensive (like £40 one-way…pub-to-home…) They charge a hefty premium for “coming out into the country”. Not financially viable for anything other than a Special Occasion.
The media were awash with stories and adverts explaining that the new limit pretty much meant that you couldn’t even risk ONE pint before driving. We felt hard done by. All the media talk was of “use public transport”, “use taxis”, “walk”…. none of these are possible for us. A 26 mile round trip, on foot, might be okay for a summer’s day (I’ve done it, it takes up a whole day…..) but not for a Swift One after work. Bloody Urban Centric Journalists. Bloody Urban Centric Government.
The new limit meant, we all said, that there would be no point in going to the pub. Popping in for a chat after work. No point in the friendly banter, the gossip and the news if we couldn’t even have ONE pint.
I bought a Breathalyzer. I wanted to check if it was true, that I’d never be able to have a pint and drive legally. I found, though, that one pint simply could NOT put me anywhere close to the new limit. I was happy. I would still be able to go for a chat, the news, the laughs and have a pint. I still wouldn’t go over the One Pint rule, but I knew I was safe.
Phew!
The Breathalyzer came in useful later.
It’s one thing knowing you can have a drink and still be able to drive home legally, although sad that you care more about ONE PINT than about meeting your friends, but another thing to know if you’re okay the next morning. After a proper drink. A normal, everyday (everynight) bottle of wine. I started to check myself in the mornings, especially when I felt a bit rough . Often I’d be close to the limit still. A mug of tea, some toast and I’d be okay after an hour. Sometimes I’d be uncomfortably over. I’d have to juggle plans to work until the reading came down….
Getting a Call-Out at 6am. Missing the crucial extra couple of hours of sleep, of processing the booze. That was the tricky one. The breathalyzer came in very handy. I had a few close shaves, where I had to delay things (careful negotiations with work….) to buy me some time. Without the breathalyzer I’d probably just have risked it. Gone out the door, into the Land Rover. Off to a job. The Rioja still swilling around my bloodstream. It never happened, thankfully. Callouts out of hours, in the early morning, are pretty rare for me.
The pub, my pub, is closing its doors at the turn of the year. The landlord has tried to sell. He wants to retire. No takers after several years on the market. No-one wants to run a remote, rural, country pub these days. There aren’t enough customers to make it viable. No-one wants to go out for just ONE PINT. And if they do, there aren’t enough “just ONE PINT” drinkers to balance the books, turn a profit, pay the bills, feed the family.
The Death Knell of the Rural Pub is being sounded in Scotland.
I used the Breathalyzer this morning, one last time for old time’s sake…..
For Sale…. One “AlcoSafe”. Used. (Heavily)…..