please stop slagging off wetherspoons

The original Spoons: Playhouse, Colchester.

After hearing my flatmate refuse to go for dinner in Wetherspoons, I was deeply offended as it’s honestly my favourite place on Earth. Where else can you go for breakfast, dinner, tea, and also your evening pint? In the last year, I’ve drank my first bright blue cocktail from a pitcher, reconnected with old friends, cured hangovers, pieced together a broken heart over (too many) chocolate puddings, all thanks to Spoons. Wetherspoons holds a very special place in my heart and in my stomach.

There are teens in there drinking their 2 for £12 pitchers at 8pm, the alcoholics have been in there since 3pm, and there are sometimes even some mums out for lunch with their prams blocking up the space between tables.

There have been times where I’ve been sat wobbling on a bar stool in Spoons sipping a Strongbow and I’ve looked around and never felt happier. Granted I was a little bit drunk, but also very happy. Wetherspoons has been the setting for many momentous events. My friends and I have split chocolate brownie sundae’s the night before Alevel results day and made ourselves more sick, we’ve been for chips and puddings when we’ve been broken hearted, and we’ve been laggered many, many times in the booths at the back of Colchester’s Playhouse. Wetherspoons was also the place where I had my first legal drink – I bounded up to the bar in my little bowler hat, tshirt dress, and Dr Martens and ordered four more pitchers. There were only four of us at our table, and two of us weren’t even of age, but my 18^th birthday was a huge success (although the crushed Snickers in my pocket and my banging head the next day may have disagreed). Of course post-results Alevel celebrations were held in Spoons from 7pm onwards in August. I remember seeing my friend’s tattoo for the first time and screaming so hard I almost threw my glass of Blue Lagoon all over my other friend. Wetherspoons is honestly the most memorable place of my teenage years after something obvious like my school or college.

Also, the staff employed there are all teens too. In Playhouse back home, there were several people from my old school wandering round in their black aprons pulling pints. It’s good that Wetherspoons is not only the place providing the drinks, but also the place signing the pay cheques of young people. It seems appropriate that a place which is the setting for so much fun, gives you some money to go out and have even more fun, and maybe a kebab or a new pair of shoes. Of course it’s awkward when you’re pretty wavy in front of that boy who was in your form group for five years who never looked at you, and the girl from your old PE class – but you’ve got to have that pint somewhere. As I’ve said, Wetherspoons is an essential part of any teenage night out. There is no where else anyone still living at home can have pre-drinks before going to a shit nightclub in their tiny town, partly because our parents only gave us £20 to go out with for the night, but mostly because you need to leave the house.

This also brings me onto my next point about the menu. You get real value for money at spoons. I spent just £5.50 in my local Spoons at one point this summer and was writing ‘HELLO’ in squeezy mayonnaise on the table and ordering a pasta alfredo and garlic bread (which is actually really delicious and is now my thing amongst my friends). Luckily we were on our way out, so my friend wiped up the mess whilst I shouted at a girl from my old school who was on her shift, and was then yanked out of the pub. There is no doubt that most of us roll into Wetherspoons in hope of getting a drink down our neck, and boy do they have a selection of those – a whole A3 sized menu of drinks. From cocktails to tequila, and from beer to Hooch – you name it, Spoons probably serves it. Also if you love ale and beer (so you love yeast) there is only one place to be heading.

The menu even includes food as well as alcohol would you believe. You can get a vegetarian burrito and a Coke for £4.25 on the outskirts of London and I don’t really know where else Londoners could afford to have a meal out. The Wetherspoons menu also has speciality days where you can go for “Mexican Monday’s” or “Wing it Wednesday’s” and, although I’m vegetarian, the vast choice and the appeal of the specialities on certain days is enticing enough to get my butt in a seat.

Not only is Spoons the setting for your Sunday roast and the beginning of your wild Friday night, it actually does a bit of good for our country. The franchise buys up old buildings that would normally be left to rot (or even have been rotting, like the grade 2 listed Art Deco State Cinema in Essex which Spoons bought in September this year) and converts them into happier places. They’ve also previously bought theatres, post offices, banks, and even swimming pools to save them from being demolished or abandoned. In addition to saving our architecture and heritage from the 80s, Wetherspoons is the leader of health trends such as the smoking ban which, although inconvenient for the heavy smokers amongst us, is generally a good move.

If you consider yourself to be above Wetherspoons, you need a healthy sized slice of humble pie and then I’ll take you for a (large, pitcher sized) strawberry daiquiri. Wetherspoons is the symbol of working class success. The owner of Wetherspoons is not actually named Mr Wetherspoon – his name was Tim Martin. Significantly less exciting, I know, but his teacher who told him he would never amount to anything was named Mr Wetherspoon so, in possibly the greatest ironic move ever, the UK’s most successful branded pub with exactly 1000 branches up and down the country, is named after a poxy school teacher. How English. How are Americans coping without a single Spoons in their huge, huge country? I dread to think. Luckily Wetherspoons is so cheap, I could afford to get sufficiently plastered as not to have to think about it. Cheers to that.

Read more about other people’s love for Spoons.

turns out gender isn't that important anyway

I recently found a page in i-D which said that young people aren’t bothered about gender and sexuality anymore. This got me thinking about how our generation perceives spectrums of gender and sexuality, and how we are way more accepting of people’s positions across these spectrums than the old fogies before us. You can be comfortable in your own shoes, but this doesn’t have to stop you from enjoying the things that the other gender gets to enjoy.

There’s loads of freedom for young people to place themselves on this scale nowadays compared to the categories in which we were forced to place ourselves in before. I recently saw one of my friends go to a university formal in a shirt and trousers and was utterly inspired. Girls don’t have to wear dresses and heels to a formal event, and who doesn’t love a good jumpsuit? Cara Delevingne certainly brings a masculine edge to her campaigns and her looks on the red carpet – she was even recently involved in the DKNY menswear campaign and was the only girl to feature in the shoot rocking a suit. But this doesn’t mean that girls are now throwing out their make up bags. Quite the opposite. There is nothing better than a sharp red lip or a suave smoky eye to complete the look. Girls are able to explore their femininity to whatever extent they want, whether this be by painting their nails and having pink bedcovers, or just having long hair and the odd blouse in their wardrobe.

Not only are girls able to embrace masculine looks, men are also free to borrow some tips from the ladies. It’s been embedded in our society for years – Gareth Gates didn’t achieve those spikes back in 2002 without some hair gel. Now, with the controversial rise of the man-bun (and you can even buy clip on man buns, although you probably shouldn’t), there are men all over the world growing out their locks beyond the short back and sides. With the likes of Harrison Koisser rocking the messy, long bob, and Harry Styles and James Bay styling out the longer hair, its becoming a really popular look. You can walk around cities and see unbrushed mops under fedoras or pulled back with hair ties. Flick through fashion magazines and you’ll see boys wearing eyeliner and girls with barely any powder or mascara on.

In terms of fashion, girls are free to wear trousers and, although boys aren’t quite allowed to wear skirts just yet, they’re certainly not given a side-eye if they’re donning a floral shirt. Girls can pull off baggy jeans (although they’re disguised as ‘mom’ jeans) and their dad’s camping fleece, while boys can wear women’s skinny jeans and sling a satchel over their shoulder.

Obviously there’s an aspect of sexuality that comes into play here, but that’s just part of growing up. If you’re developing your style and looking at popular LGBTQ+ icons in the media like Olly Alexander, Ellen Page, and Cara Delevingne, then there’s nothing but inspiration to be found. This can only be put down to good journalism. The progression and recognition of stars on the spectrum in a positive light is a real step in the right direction. Now that we’re so aware of ourselves, some people question their every move and a small dose of chest dysphoria leads them to question their gender. This isn’t the case. It takes time for people to explore their sexuality and their gender and come to terms with who they are – and this is a pretty big thing to be doing at 18 whilst studying at university. Sometimes we need to take a step back and see how far we’ve come in terms of equality and acceptance because we’re doing pretty good so far.

Furthermore, careers which were typically male are allowing more and more females in and vice versa. Although this is seriously unbalanced, the fact that girls can get STEM jobs, and boys can get jobs as models and singers, is a significant step in the right direction. There’s still massive problems in the workforce all around the world that go beyond who’s employed where, but there are young boys saying they want to be hairdressers and young girls saying they want to be surgeons so I think gender equality is definitely on the right path.

I also read this super article about Harry Styles and gender norms if One Direction and them being great people is your thing (and, if its not, it should be).

five things I've learnt about manchester in five weeks

Before I get into my perception of my new favourite city, I'd like to ask (beg) that you check out my work on my university's blog by clicking on this link - I could do with the hits as the newbie, thanks pal.

Anyway, moving to Manchester has been an experience and a half. There’s a real sense of diversity running through the city’s streets and a feeling that, whatever you’re into, there’s a scene here for you.

There’s history around every corner

As you wander the streets here, you look up at buildings, look down at crumbling pavements, and walk through museums wondering where it came from, who made it, and why they made it – being in a city so steeped in history is a dream. You can sit in the library where Karl Marx wrote the communist manifesto, you can get a tour around Old Trafford, or you can even see a real T. Rex skeleton in the Manchester Museum. If history interests you, you’ll never be bored in Manchester.

Multicultural Manchester

If you look up the word ‘multicultural’ in the dictionary, you’ll find a small map pointing towards Manchester. With places like the Curry Mile, food markets in the city center, and our very own Chinatown, is there any surprise that there’s an abundance of different cultures here. The varying faiths, foods, and festivals truly add to the city and make Manchester a mature, and modern city which is a delight to live in.

There really isn’t that much rain

Contrary to popular belief that you’ll “need a brolly” or that you’d better “wrap up warm” we are yet to feel the full force of the Mancunian weather – and it’s hardly rained either. There’s been a fair bit of fog and you’d definitely wish for an extra layer when you’re walking home at 2am; but mostly Manchester’s skies have been kind to us so far this term.

MMU and UoM hate each other

There’s friendly competition between the two institutions which results in amicable mockery between students. You only need to go on Yik Yak to understand how deep the rivalry runs between Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Manchester. There are Yak’s about the complexity of courses and the location of halls, and Salford University sits on the side lines as the odd student makes a joke just so they aren’t forgotten.

There’s a venue for every genre of music, and a clothes store to go with it

You could like the worlds smallest band and the chances are, if they’re doing a UK tour, they’ll be doing a gig in Manchester so you’re never going to miss out. We all know that fashion and music go hand in hand so the clothes you wear to the grubby pubs bashing shoulders with fellow concert goers, are almost as important as knowing the lyrics to the songs being pumped into said-pub. From Abercrombie to Affleck’s, Miss Selfridges to market stalls, and Topshop to thrift shops; whatever you wear, you can find it in Manchester. Take that London.