Chris Maclean: Unwanted advice

I have spent the last ten minutes politely listening to a young lady who had some kind advice for me.

The opening phrase should have warned me. "What you want to do is….."

It is every licensees dread when someone starts with "What you want to do is…." How is it these people believe they know what I want to do? Why have I never been aware of it? What special insight do these people have that can detect what I want to do?

What they are actually saying "what I want you to do is…" Bless them.

"You want Sky telly, you do."

"You wanna do food."

"What you want is to put bands on..."

Really? Do they not think that, if that is what I wanted to do, I'd have done it? I try to listen gracefully but it is difficult.

Better still, visit some trade shows. Rakes of salespeople will tell you "What you need in your pub is…." No I don't. One day, if I have the money and the effort, I'd like to take these people, put them into a pub with their failsafe, sure-fire, guaranteed products and see how they do.

I think you need to do three things in a pub; you need to keep good beer, you need to keep the place clean and you need to be there. That isn't rocket science. There has to be a point when you draw a line in the sand and say "This is what I do."