Folk traditions of the world, today: Teuton rumbles

[Skybird]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...719782,00.html

I'm just waiting for the all-knowing, all-caring PC brigade raising a proposal that the glasses must be replaced with light plastic cups like it is the case in British pubs, if I'm not mistaken.

[Gerald]

It is not uncommon that people are being beaten down by the glass or the like that shown in the picture, but to replace them is messing up the whole festival

I'm just waiting for the all-knowing, all-caring PC brigade raising a proposal that the glasses must be replaced with light plastic cups like it is the case in British pubs, if I'm not mistaken.

Since there is a topic with British people mentioning the prices of beer in their pubs I wonder if any of them would chime in as to if their watering holes have chosen to switch to plastics of any sort or if they have chosen to use the safety glass on offer or if perhaps by some miracle they still use the usual everyday glass glass for supping beer?

Damn that PC brigade must be really slow in Britain still letting people drink out of glass

[joegrundman]

British pubs serve beer in glasses.

plastic cups are often used in places where the clientèle's ability to handle glasses with respect is questionable.

e.g. festivals and events, small-town nightclubs, australian theme bars and student bars

[bookworm_020]

Originally Posted by joegrundman

plastic cups are often used in places where the clientèle's ability to handle glasses with respect is questionable.

e.g. festivals and events, small-town nightclubs, australian theme bars and student bars

Still use glass here in Australia, but some limits do apply

[Dan D]

Here is an anecdote from my past that fits in here:

When I was a child I sat with my father in a bar in Southern France one day.

My father was unhappy about the beer being served in plastic cups, so he asked the waitress who was a German on summer job in France in German if she could serve his beer in a proper “Glas”(English: “glass) instead of plastic, which she did.

An Englishman at the next table saw this and wanted to have the same.
Problem was, the waitress he talked to was French and she understood “glass” as
“Glace” (English: Ice).

As the result she served that poor chap beer in plastic cups filled with ice cubes for rest of the evening.

Strange people those Engländers who drink beer from plastic cups filled with ice cubes.

Cheers!

[krashkart]

As they say: it only takes a few rotten eggs to spoil the fun for everyone.

[Oberon]

But TF2 micspam aside...the assault of people with beer glasses goes back a while...IIRC it was in a Victorian music hall play, to do with a young orphan girl who sang at pubs but was eventually killed by a thrown beer glass...cheerful ending but that's how they wrote them back then...I'll look about for the name of the play but I doubt I'll find it.

At least glasses are made of better quality glass these days than the giant clunkers of the 19th century.
Do love the old tankard designs though.

EDIT: Oh, and Sky, I don't know about inner-city pubs, but all the ones I've been in have served beer in normal glasses. Glass pint mugs (my favourites) are also still about in some places. I have a Carling Extra Cold pint glass right next to me in fact...sadly no Carling in it though

[Tchocky]

Odd, sipping from a Carling glass right now

Full o' Flensburg Pils

[Skybird]

Well, I believed to recall to have heared that in one country, i thought it was Britain, pubs now are demanded by law to serve beer in light plastic cups, because too many people got injured every weekend during football time when the rumbles started and the bars went up in a fights and bottles and glasses were used as weapons. I'm still sure that it was not just in and around stadiums. But well, I forgot the details, it seems.

But regarding weapons, nothing matches the glasshammers they use in Bavaria. Those things really are thick in hull, and have some weight! They don't break easily. There is also a version made of stonewear (? right word?). These can be even heavier (but break much easier when falling on the floor).

[Oberon]

I think some pubs do switch to plastic during times of high spirits (pardon the pun) like during football matches or carnivals to prevent injuries caused by either throwing glass or broken glass on the street. Not sure if this is required by law or whether it's something that is just done.

Just did a spot of searching, what it seems to be is that periodically (every couple of years or so) someone from a University or a think-tank will say that pubs should serve alcohol in plastic glasses and bottles to prevent people hurting themselves, the BBC will run an article on it, the Wine and Spirit Trade Association will protest the 'blanketness' of it and then it'll be forgotten about for the next two years.

Turns out there was a new one just five days ago!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11392685

[Happy Times]

Originally Posted by Skybird

But regarding weapons, nothing matches the glasshammers they use in Bavaria. Those things really are thick in hull, and have some weight! They don't break easily. There is also a version made of stonewear (? right word?). These can be even heavier (but break much easier when falling on the floor).

Maybe they will start to bolt the bar stools on the floor also.
Saved me one time when a big guy lifted me behind from my shoulders up in the air and i landed on the floor. Luckily the bar stool fell next to me as he was going to hit me down in the floor. Instead he got the stool in his forehead and i was able to get up and send him sleeping the old fashioned way.