Andrew Pring, Editor
The tragedy of last week's bombings is still too raw for any of us to feel anything other than shock, anger and enormous sympathy for the victims and their families. Olympic celebrations were cut violently short on that fateful Thursday morning, and will not be resumed in a hurry.
Licensees everywhere, but particularly in London and the other major cities, must now wait anxiously to see what affect these despicable and cowardly terrorist activities have on trade. If another outrage is committed in the next few weeks, then the short-term damage to the entire leisure industry could be severe. But if no further strike materialises, life should return to near normality pretty quickly, and pubs should be able to make the most of whatever summer we may yet be granted.
There may even be a 'war dividend. At times like these, human instinct is to congregate, socialise and defy would-be aggressors. People don't want to stay cowed at home. They want to carry on with their lives. And the realisation that life is precious but can be taken away abruptly at any time encourages many to live more fully and freely than ever before.
Pubs are the natural backdrop to that instinct for life. It would be nice to think that the people of Britain appreciate more than ever the traditional virtues of the pub and its place at the heart of any community when that particular community is under threat. It's often only at these times when we come to value what we so often take for granted.
If that is the case, and pubs see some new faces crossing their thresholds, then let's make them truly welcome. The smiles on everyone's faces that we saw last Wednesday are how the pub trade could look if it felt so disposed. Why can't we display that warmth and fellow feeling to customers on a regular basis?
Learning to smile is not part of any BII course, but it's an essential skill in this trade. It needs to be practised regularly.
Anyone who comes to your pub be they from round the corner or America deserves nothing less.
Perhaps by 2012 we'll have perfected the art.