We have a lot to catch up on, so why not start with something that happened most recently?
One of the reasons for coming back to blogging is my craving for creative work. For the past few months I had to abandon everything because my husband and I started a new business together. As we have worked in hospitality for many years, and been in higher up, management positions in the past, as well as having a drive for business (we also ran a business together in the past), we decided to have a go at running a pub. To save ourselves from too much risk we decided to get into a special "partnership" agreement with a massive PLC brewery (although it's not really a brewery anymore, more like a corporation that manages real estate), let's call it M (I'm not trying to hide anything, we haven't signed any NDAs, I simply don't want to mention any specific names for the sake of my own peace).
We decided to take on a pub that was in desperate need of new management. It's an amazing 600 years old Grade II listed building and was in the most beautiful village we've ever seen. The village the pub was in was rated as the poshest village in the country by The Telegraph, and they were spot on. We thought it was a great location, and surely being in a posh place means lots of polite, well mannered people, that will help us create a great atmosphere for everyone. Well, we couldn't have been more wrong...
Let's get one thing out of the way - we've done so well. In the matter of almost 3 months we've managed to build the reputation back up, pretty much double the profits and create a great atmosphere for the visitors, as well as staff. But we were absolutely destroyed. Both mentally and physically. For almost 3 months straight we worked nonstop. Can you imagine working 3 months straight, doing 14-16 hour days with not a single day off? I can not only imagine it, but I've lived through it. It was hell. We simply couldn't find staff. We had plenty of young students and casual staff who wanted to work, but we couldn't find anybody who treated hospitality as a serious job. Oh, how the times have changed from when I worked as a simple waitress many years ago in a restaurant. Plentiful of staff - full time, part time, casual. Whatever you want! Oh, you're leaving? That's ok cos we'll have somebody else replacing you tomorrow lol. I'm not saying it's good, as there was a lot of competition for jobs before Brexit but now you don't even have the workforce at all. What is better? Definitely not this what we have now...
But the thing that hurt me the most was the mistreatment I've received from people...
I know my beer and I understand it. I'm not some top class expert in every single thing and I'm open to learning new things (which I do), but the fact that men wouldn't accept my word or wouldn't trust my recommendations, constantly talking over me was ridiculous. Mate, you do realise I'm the one who orders this beer, tries it, does the research, cleans the lines, looks after the cellar? I was the only one in the pub that had knowledge to do all of that and more. Your beer belly does not define your knowledge, or even intelligence, and yet here we are, dealing with the audacity...
It wasn't just the ignorant men that made my life living hell. Ever since Brexit happened in this country something changed. People became much more hostile. I'm fluent in English. I barely speak my first language on a day to day basis, as I do not have any Lithuanian family or friends around and I find it easier to express myself in English. Yes, I have an accent because I came to this country as an adult. I'll always have an accent and I'm okay with it. I don't feel the need to go to accent classes or whatever to change it because my pronunciation is great and everybody understands me. 🤷♀️ Well, that's not what some Brits think. You have an accent? You must be an
"What made you come to Europe?" - I've lived in Europe all my life. "Do you like it here?" - It's okay. "Only ok???!!!". These are only some of the legitimate questions I've gotten. The "what made you come to Europe" actually made me speechless for a second lol.
Look, I get it, this might not sound like a lot because I'm retelling things that happened months ago. As always, my trauma response is to slowly delete the events from my memories so all I have left is the very uncomfortable and hurtful feeling, which will happen eventually lol. I wish these things were discussed more widely, that's why I need to share this. The British are always put on such a high pedestal, as such a perfect country yet the members of the society are often racist and xenophobic. It's not a perfect country - far from it, just look at the news. We're allowed to criticise the government but we should also be looking at the people. What happened? I've been here 10 years - that's a whole damn decade. I felt more at home when I had a stronger accent and worked rubbish jobs to survive in my early 20s. I'm now in my 30s, with an extensive CV and experience, yet I feel more out of place than I've ever been.
"Don't like it here? Why don't you leave??" - a common expression from a regular Brit. You know what, mate? It's a good shout, I might do in a few years, who knows where my life will take me. Don't get me wrong, I've met hundreds of amazing people throughout this decade. But this experience was like a concentrated version of all the hatred people have to offer, which really left a bad mark on my soul. I'll rise above it, as always, I just didn't deserve this experience, that's all. Nobody does and nobody will.
But for the time being I'll stay here, in the UK, mind my own business, as usual, and see what life has got to offer because the country is not completely 💩 yet and there's still some nice people around. Peace. ✌️
My Podcast: A Pint Of Rice | My IG: Lina B ðŸ¦
See you soon~
Lina (Rinatsu)
