So poignant what you said about the pubs resembling a jail. At my local, one regular has just died of a heart attack due to years of drinking pints all day and chain smoking roll ups and another oldie there is apparently having his liver scanned next week after having been told he probably has cirrhosis. H toasted the news with a large gin and tonic naturally! Not that you've used the jail metaphor it does seem like those two men in particular have been prisoners to that pub for years and all the while it was slowly killing them. So sad. I now choose to steer clear of pubs in my sobriety as although they don't tempt me I find it somehow wrong for me, someone who's been so awfully affected by this stuff, to stand around and watch others drinking their money and health away. It's like an ex cannabis smoker hanging around in coffee shops in Amsterdam who has to sit and watch his friends getting stoned whilst reflecting on how badly the stuff affected him.
Thanks for the great post sombrero!