Metaphor Pub

As I recently posted my article on my experiences with pubs here, I was suggested to write an article on a world shrinking into pubs. After giving it a thought, I will try to capture this theme.

People all around the world enjoy the typicall atmosphere of a pub: a dark and cosy bar, with tables, drinks, food and beer. Oh, and often wooden tables and couches. Kind of lounge with all you need. The people who visit those pubs, are a mix of comletely different cultures and so are the languages spoken.

Pubs are usually considered to be British or Irish. But, as being Dutch, I can asure you that in the Netherlands, there exists a dutch equivalant, called the „kroeg“. Though the atmospher might be slightly different, the funcion equals that of a pub: all kinds of cultures gather here for social purposes.

Now, I don‘t know this is might be a coincidence or not, but the Netherlands is originally a country of traders. With the harbors and ships, the oversees properties, the Dutch economy used to be mostly build on a variety of trades and traders. And, visiting a harborcity like Amsterdam or Rotterdam, those traders needed a place to meet there costumers, make deals. And what is a better place for this than a pub? Where you could meet in private, negociate, settle differences or just offer your costumer a nice evening.

As you may know, the Dutch were well-known for their tolerance of cultures for centuries. Many famous intulectuals, writers, scientists fled to the Netherlands, because they could speak or practise in freedom there. I don‘t know, whether this is a coincidence with the existance of a pub culture, but to me, I can see some resemblences with the British and Irish trading cultures, being Islands, depending on trade with the mainland and overseas colonies.

The chaos that comes with trading and different cultures from all around the world, needed and still need some centres, where they can meet and mingle.

As pubs are a very old and established phenomenon, they can be an obvious metaphor for a multicultural world, shrinking into a pub.