Hot Rod Culture and the Return of the Pub
The thing about pubs is that they’re very hard to find in countries where there isn’t really a pub culture. There are definitely dive bars in the U.S., and sometimes that’s about the closest thing that one can find to it. These are the places where the drinks are always just a bit more than they might cost if you bought them in the can at the store down the block, and the idea of décor is little more than an umbrella in the sweet drinks. If one is looking for a good discussion on sports, that’s very likely to be found, and likely to be the foundations for a brawl in the parking lot. The same could be said for any discussion of cars, where comparing raceline wheels to the tires without treads in the parking lot can also spark interesting and lively discussion.
The other possibility for pubs in the states are the more upscale places that offer pints at European prices. Here, the discussion might tend toward how Claire Danes is adjusting to her new marriage, and will unlikely be the stuff that fights are made on. There may occasionally be someone who is familiar with real pub culture in these places, but their comments can be more disparaging than encouraging. At some of the finer establishments, the idea of the hot rod stays only as a kind of abstract, but people need places where the real vehicles of contemporary culture have a place in the conversation.
It could very well be a class thing, then, and might come down to a working definition of a pub that serves the population. Hot rod culture just might be the thing that breaks down the dividing lines. Any place where one can enjoy a moment away from the rest of the world, talking about the benefits of et wheels on their ongoing project, is the stuff that real pubs are made on. There may be an occasional skirmish or two, but they would be the exception and not the rule. The places where pubs do indeed thrive are those very places where there are few spaces where people can gather without pretense, relaxing and enjoying their leisure time with each other. It is a kind of culture that can appreciate finer things, and still have a vigorous fondness for the way a car feels when it pulls into a particularly sharp turn. This is the stuff that can cross cultural barriers, and make for times when being here or across the pond stops seeming to matter, even if just for a moment.