The Bear and Staff, Leicester Square

I had some of the best times of my life in the Bear and Staff. It was back in the early 90's and the gov was John McFadzian at the time. It was packed with theater goers then too, but they had a VERY small theater they ran upstairs. They also had pool and darts upstairs, but John only let us regulars up there. At a time when Americans weren't always welcome in central London there were always friendly faces in the Bear and Staff. Americans were mostly accepted by the older folks, but the youngsters didn't think much of us. I remember one time the bar was stacked to the rafters and a young guy was trying to get a pint from the bar. the barman was passing it by me, but the kid couldn't quite reach it, so i took hold of it and passed it to the kid and said, quite offhandedly and barely audibley, "here you go, mate". He looked at me icily and said "I am NOT your 'mate'". so I said "OK, here you go asshole". His little girlfriend burst out with laughter, but he didn't appreciate too much. If he'd been Irish I suppose we would have had a row, but he just walked it off. And then there was an elderly gentleman who "met" me several times at the Bear and Staff over the course of my 3 year stay in London. The reason I say he met me several times is because he never remembered having met me before, but he'd invariably introduce himself and pound me on the back saying 'God Bless you yanks' 'If it wasn't for you yanks, we'd not be speakin the Queen's English today' and he'd buy me a pint. Just like in America, there are all kinds of people in England, which is why I love it there, almost as the U.S.

8 Jul 2005 09:22