Pubs are open again but I don’t seem to be able to drink anymore – anyone else struggling?

You might remember the government’s “Know Your Limits” campaign, launched in 2006 to try and persuade people to drink a little bit less. One suspects it didn’t have much impact – in Britain, we like a drink and tend to stubbornly subscribe to the “Push Your Limits” approach when setting foot in a pub. Still, one wonders if it would perhaps be wise for the government to briefly resurrect its campaign with a slight tweak: “Know Your New Limits”.

Pubs, as you know, have been shut for the best part of a year, only reopening last Monday. It follows, then, that our tolerance for alcohol should have been reduced. Or at least pub alcohol. I am pretty sure, based on nothing more than a hunch, that alcohol drunk in the pub has a different effect to alcohol drunk anywhere else. Anyway, that’s besides the point. Pub chat.

Where were we? Tolerance, yes. In the interests of proper journalism, I decided to find out for myself on Thursday evening if lockdown altered the amount we can drink – and I can report that this is indeed so. The rules have been completely rewritten. Now, everyone is different, of course, but pre-Covid, I would feel on relatively safe ground if I drank three pints on a weeknight. Might not sleep brilliantly but could definitely drag myself to the office. Well, three pints absolutely did for me this week (and writing this piece is about the only thing I’ve achieved since).

Don’t get me wrong, it was a joy at the time (even if we did have to sit on the wall outside the pub because every table and chair and square metre of garden was reserved). It’s just that, the following morning, I felt as if I’d been on a week-long bender, as opposed to sipping a few pints of ale. This seemed grossly unfair – although it is nice to discover that I am not alone. “How was I eyes glazed, feeling steaming after three drinks in a pub garden? Out at 4pm and home with a Nando’s take out by 7!” one person wrote on Twitter. Another added: “I’ve got home and ordered a greasy takeaway like it’s four in the morning after the club. It’s 7pm.”

So I suppose the sensible course of action would be to reset those limits for a bit. Ease ourselves back in. But knowing and doing are two very different things, aren’t they, and when you finally have a table and your friends are there and the sun is shining and everyone is talking and no one is listening and it’s been a year… well, why not have another pint?

Who am I kidding – a government campaign wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference, would it? Equally, while I feel obliged to say go easy, pace yourself and know your limits, I fully expect you to ignore me. It’s fine. Just buy me a pint next time we’re out.

Yours,

Rupert Hawksley

Senior commissioning editor, Voices