There’s a pub near me with an eye-catching sign outside. I’ve driven past it many times, and it always gives me pause for a little idle thought. On the sign there is a loud and proud notice that in this pub they clean their lines every week.

There’s a lot going on with this simple sign. First and foremost, in a long life of pub observance, I don’t recall ever reading such a boast adorning any other establishment. What’s going on here? Surely it’s not the case that this pub, and only this pub, is so scrupulous........

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