As The Crow Flies - Ed. 3 - Pop. Tear. Fold.

Having arranged to meet your friend for an evening pint, you get out of work early, and head straight to the boozer to stake claim to one of the better tables, before the 5 o'clock rush. You are patiently sipping your pint when you get the dreaded “i’m bringing Paul from work with me, hope that’s ok?” text. It’s not really a question, Paul’s on his way whether you like it or not. You desperately scour your mind for any instances in the past where you might have met Paul, but you are coming up blank. Is he the bloke having an affair with his daughter’s swimming coach? Or the guy who stinks the staff fridge out with his homemade anchovy paste? You curse your past indifference to your friend’s work life for the state of social awkwardness that you’re about to enter. Your mate arrives with Paul in tow, and after introductions have been made and the tentative first pints supped, you still haven’t made your mind up on Paul The Interloper. That is until Paul returns to the table, pint in one hand and a packet of crisps dangling from the other, which he plonks down onto the middle of the table. An audible pop. A careful tear down the seam. A fold, the final flouirsh.

It's a tacit performance but the message is clear 'here lads, these are for all of us'. All of your uncertainty washes away. Paul is a stand up bloke. You are happy to have him here.

Pop. Tear. Fold. 

It’s a small ritual with a large cultural signifcance. Historically, British drinking culture is less coupled to food when compared to its mainland European counterparts. The British 'boozer', a place specifically for the consumption of alcohol, was kept in a separate sphere to that of the home, which remained the main place for the consumption of food. The lack of hot food in these establishments meant that crisps, nuts, even jars of pickled onions gained prominence in British pub culture as stop gaps and saviours. It would now be almost impossible to uncouple crisps from British pub culture, but the beauty lies in the fact that it’s not just the crisps themselves, but the act of sharing them that is so ingrained. At some point all of us have learned how to pop, tear, fold. It’s inherited knowledge, passed down through several generations of pub-goers. It’s an act of kindness and affability, the torn leaf of greasy foil, like an open hand extended in friendship. It’s a celebration, dustings burst into the air like confetti, as the packet is popped open, then the aroma hits our nostrils and we are keen to tear away the foil like a child on christmas morning, eager to reveal the gift beneath the wrapping.  

The pop and the fold are acts of necessity and manners respectively , the tear is the true moment of beauty, the moment when our crisps become everyone’s crisps. As the foil is torn open, walls are torn down, we are no longer individuals supping separate pints, but a group revelling in a shared experience. 

Everybody likes crisps which makes them a perfect meeting place, a true leveler. There are very few products that transcend class in the way that crisps do. We have all grown up with different crisp experiences and expectations, but all of our preconceptions dissipate in the face of an open packet of crisps enticingly laid on a pub table. All of the usual hesitance that we feel when eating unfamiliar food is overcome by our longing to be a part of something.

The roles of pub crisps are multifaceted. They are both conversation starters and enders. Their kindness can come both as an icebreaker to get the conversation flowing, or as a muffle for  that one friend who just doesn’t know when to stop chuntering on. There is also kindness in their utilisation as a sobering tool; opening up a big bag of crisps and letting your mate who has had one too many get stuck in, oblivious to the fact that nobody else is eating them.

These are small acts of kindness but it’s these actions that are the best way of combating the relentlessly grim state of the world we are currently inhabiting. Compassion is our best shield from the individualism and isolation that is encouraged by worsening economic and social conditions. In times of conflict, compassion. In the face of adversity, affinity.

Even in our darkest periods, we pop, tear, fold.