...it does this:
Have I adapted? Oh yes, I have adapted. It’s the sixth anniversary for Scotland and I’m starting to enjoy the rage.
Has my social life changed? Initially, yes, but now that a group of us ex-pub-regulars have our Smoky-Drinky evenings, it’s actually getting back to normal. Cheaper, too, and we don’t have to put up with belligerent drunks barging about the place. We also have no closing time.
Do I go to pubs? No. I was a definite once-a-week regular, more often if I had the money, but the half-shelters are no use at all in the north of Scotland. So I don’t go to pubs now.
It’s not just the pubs. I have not been inside a restaurant nor a cinema since the ban started and soon gave up on all coffee shops and cafes. Since I don’t spend much time in town as a result, I don’t browse the local shops either. These days I visit town for the bank, post office and whatever I need to buy, get in and get out.
Where do I drink and smoke? At home or at a Smoky-Drinky with other people who used to visit the pubs regularly. Three of us were regular enough to be on the pool team at one pub.
Has the local pub made an effort? What can they do? The rules are clear, smokers are to be treated with utter contempt and offered something that wouldn’t even qualify as a bus shelter. That is the law, thanks to the whining antismoking bigots. They didn’t even throw us out to the shed – we can’t be allowed to have that much shelter.
Happy now?
....
2 comments:
An excellent description of the real effects of that ridiculous legislation.
However, the real reason the ban is wrong is that it interferes with the fundamental freedom of business operators and customers.
If a business decides to be smoke-free, that's fine - customers will decide whether to patronise it or not. If a business decides to accommodate smoking, that's fine too - customers will decide.
The error of the blanket ban was that insult to both businesses and their customers.
The fact that the hospitality trade did not really resist the ban also displayed some contempt for their customers, which is why I, like your Scottish quotee, have not spent a penny in any such business since July 2007. They don't deserve our trade.
Oho, I wondered why there was a spike in the stats today. You had me worried, I thought the troll was back.
Thanks for the link. Always appreciated.
Anon - I'm not really Scottish, I just live here. I have embraced the local culture though, so drink a lot of whisky.
Post a Comment