I think everyone will be pleased to hear that I have quite a cheerful follow up to yesterday’s entry to post here today. I was obviously pretty pissed off about not getting served at that pub in Lewisham, so today I thought I would head back there to see if I could talk things through with the manager. I wasn’t at all happy that I had just been ignored, but was confident that if I could discuss things with the manager we could reach an understanding.

That, then, is what I did: after breakfast I headed over there, reasoning that, at the very least, I would have a good trundle. The place was a little less busy than it was last night. Going in of course I was recognised of course, and got one of two suspect looks from the staff. Nonetheless I asked to speak to the manager, explaining that I didn’t want to drink anything.

I had to wait a while for the manager to join me from behind the bar, during which times I think I overheard one of the bar staff explaining to her that they didn’t like having to touch my straw, although I can’t be sure of this. Either way, when she arrived the manager recognised me from last night and we started to talk.

It was a little tricky at first, and she seemed slightly hostile. Yet when I began to explain where I was coming from and what I wanted, things became less tense. I told her why I didn’t have a personal assistant with me, why I need table services and why I payed with cash rather than a credit card; but in the end things were settled quite quickly, with her assuring me that I was welcome to come back. That pub has quite a young staff, and I think they were nervous about me more than anything. This afternoon, however, the manager was very apologetic. She then rather predictably asked me whether I wanted a beer, but as tempting as it was I replied that I better not: it was still early, and I had a blog entry to write.

That, then, is the pub I’ll be going back to next Saturday afternoon. It just goes to show how much you can resolve issues like this if you just talk them through.