"What next, a ban on smoking in the home?" Yes, indeed, eventually. Although perhaps after a ban on smoking anywhere at all in public, including outside. To be followed eventually by a ban on the sale and possession of cigarettes altogether.is quite amusing. Could you please acquire some fabricated statistics to prove just how successful the total prohibition of cannabis, cocaine, heroin etc has been in preventing their sale and distribution in the UK?
In the meantime, among the many delusions about their habit that smokers foster - such as the belief that they themselves will not be among the half of all regular users to be killed by itI think that you, like many of the rabid anti-smokers, are under the illusion that because you don't smoke you will live forever. Not wishing to burst your bubble but, to quote Bill Hicks, "non-smokers die every day". Every day in the UK approximately four times the number of non-smokers die than smokers. If I was producing dodgy statistics, that you could reproduce without question, I could suggest that non-smokers were four times more likely to die than smokers.
We used to think it normal to see people smoking on planes, in the Tube, on trains. Already that seems utterly bizarre.I remember when trains had smoking carriages. They were fucking brilliant. At almost any time, apart from rush hour, you could walk through an almost empty train until you found the smoking carriage which would be absolutely crammed full of people, conversations between strangers would be flowing, it was a vibrant place to be.
But I think that is part of your problem Dave. You feel left out, as if you're missing out on something but you don't know what, and it's eating away at you. You probably mocked your smoking colleagues when they went outside for a fag but that was just a cover for your feelings of exclusion. The smokers were having a conversation without you, maybe about you (unlikely, we talk about important things), and maybe you feel threatened by that?
I'm off to spark one up so if you want to read a more thorough fisking of your hate filled article then pop over The Moose
manwiddicombe
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That train carriage story has moved to the smoking shelters and doorways of pubs now. Chatting with other smokers you don't know, about whatever takes your fancy (often the ban) while there are one or two none smokers sat inside.
And ta for the link
Interesting side effect: the smoking ban on airplanes has lead to lower air quality on airplanes.
When smoking was permitted, the air filtration/replacements were much higher - the standards and practices were lowered when the need to get rid of the smoke disappeared. As a result, the overall air quality in airplanes is now much lower and people are much more likely to become infected with an airborn pathogen on an airplane than it was in the past.
I know this comment is a bit late but...
I used to travel between Oslo and Trondheim quite a lot and I always used the sleeper train. The smoking carriage was always packed with really interesting people, such as artic fishermen from Narvik and a huge number of professors, in other words a great cross section of Norwegian society. There were some great conversations there as we shared our different tobaccos.
Pity it's gone.
Regarding aircraft Xanthippa, one of the side effects of the smoking ban is that engineers have found it really hard to find leaks in the hull and potential weak spots in the airframe because they used to rely on the tar deposits highlighting the leaks.
Hi Kevin,
It's never too late to add intelligent comments. Thanks for yours.
I remember one particular train journey where I sat opposite a geneticist, who specialised in cancer research, sharing Marlboros (in the days before Lucky's were easily obtainable in the UK)and talking about his work.
Or another where a youngish singer had fags but no lighter. We talked for ages about his hopes and aspirations.
Travel in the 'smoke age' was definitely more sociable.
I am a non-smoker. I have never smoked, and never understood why anyone would want to smoke. That said, I am not an anti-smoker - indeed, I, too, loathe the passionate anti-smokers, those smug holier-than-thou pricks - whatever you want to put into your body is your choice, and I am not one to interfere with you. However, I do expect a smoker to respect my right to fresh air. And, while I do enjoy being able to visit the pub without the need for a hose-down (by that, I mean a shower, for those of you with minds as sick as mine... Oh! it's getting worse!) before going to bed, I do not like the fact that smokers have to go outside; surely there could have been a more amenable compromise?
As for smoking helping you socialise - I have no trouble with engaging in conversation with people, and have put the world to right with many complete strangers, often in very bizarre locations (swinging over Singapore harbour was one).
Keep up your rants - and knowing that I am now four times more likely to die than a smoker is worrying - NOT! (Or is that on a different thread?)
RSP
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