Unpopular opinions.

[Aufc]

Bringing in the smoking ban was the best thing they ever did. Absolutely glorious. I mind going into my dads local back in the day to get him out to the car and your clothes would be reeking after 5 minutes in it.

Pubs are class. Equally being in your mates house drinking is also class. To be fair, at this current moment in time, anything sounds class. Id take absolutely anything to be able to get a drink with all my mates.

[pandarilla]

Luckily I’ve never had to experience it, but the idea of reducing my life by sitting in a smoke filled room for hours just to have a few pints would stop me going. I’d stick to meeting people in my/their houses instead.

You wouldn't, though. Smoking was a think in restaurants and cafes as well.

It was absolutely the norm. It was just a very common thing in society.

There was a lot of opposition to the smoking ban when it first came in and a lot of folk saying it simply wouldn't work.

It's success has been staggering, and society has shifted very, very quickly.

I did feel sorry for older folk who were suddenly treated like second class citizens but all in all a brilliant piece of legislation.

[19QOS19]

I have to say, people standing at entrances to places smoking infuriates me far more than smoking in an actual establishment ever did, for some reason.

[Rugster]

11 minutes ago, pandarilla said:

You wouldn't, though. Smoking was a think in restaurants and cafes as well.

It was absolutely the norm. It was just a very common thing in society.

There was a lot of opposition to the smoking ban when it first came in and a lot of folk saying it simply wouldn't work.

It's success has been staggering, and society has shifted very, very quickly.

I did feel sorry for older folk who were suddenly treated like second class citizens but all in all a brilliant piece of legislation.
 

I remember you were able to smoke on planes too. Mental thinking about it now. 

[throbber]

7 minutes ago, Rugster said:

I remember you were able to smoke on planes too. Mental thinking about it now. 

 

[ICTChris]

Yeah, I have been on a few smoking planes when I was a little kid.  My dad used to take me into the office sometimes when I was a nipper, everyone smoked.  When he ran his own busienss we were clearing one of the offices and when we took the pictures down there were brown borders on it from all the tar and smoke.  

My dad smoked when we were kids and he always smoked in the house, no-one thought anything of it.  When we went and visited people they would cheerily give him an ashtray, even if they were non-smokers.  It wasn't that long ago but imagine showing up in someones house and smoking now. 

[effeffsee_the2nd]

7 hours ago, ICTChris said:

I worked for a large brewery and pubco around the time of the smoking ban and I can absolutely assure you that the smoking ban has had a major part in how the pub trade has developed. Pubs with certain features (covered outdoor seating in an enclosed area) have flourished and received investment whereas those without those or with specific negative features (one door in and out that people have to smoke outside, pubs that relied on ‘old man’ or daytime trade) have died a death. I don’t have the figures to hand but literally thousands of pubs shut in the years following the smoking ban.
 

You are absolutely right about pricing, that has a huge pull away from pubs to home drinking. Also that pubs are often full of complete p***ks is a factor but I’m sure that’s been true since the very first pub.

I was dead against the smoking ban when it came in, but after a few years & long before I eventually stopped smoking I changed completely and wouldn't undo it if I had the power.

Thing about those places, even before the smoking ban, and this may just be down to me being a young shitebag at the time who was new to pubs , But did it not seem like 15 years ago and before that there were many more pubs that you couldn't just   walk into off the street for a pint, as in you had to be known by some of the regulars otherwise you were at best made to feel very unwelcome or at worst were in danger of getting your head kicked in?  a few places ( most of which fitted your above description and  are now gone) had an air of "who are you & what are you doing in here " about them

[Mark Connolly]

1 hour ago, ICTChris said:

Yeah, I have been on a few smoking planes when I was a little kid.  My dad used to take me into the office sometimes when I was a nipper, everyone smoked.  When he ran his own busienss we were clearing one of the offices and when we took the pictures down there were brown borders on it from all the tar and smoke.  

My dad smoked when we were kids and he always smoked in the house, no-one thought anything of it.  When we went and visited people they would cheerily give him an ashtray, even if they were non-smokers.  It wasn't that long ago but imagine showing up in someones house and smoking now. 

My uncle smoked for longer than anyone in our family, only giving up in the late 90s when he was in his mid-50s. I distinctly remember the ashtrays being put out for him before his arrival  when I was wee, but having to go and get it after dinner as I got older and my mum basically had developed an unspoken rule that he was only allowed to smoke after we had eaten.

He had a right tough time giving up the fags, whereas his mum, my Gran, who had smoked since she was 13, gave up on her 73rd birthday and never touched them again. My brother's job at her house was always to go and get Grandma's cigarettes, and at her birthday party, when she hadn't told him to, he asked if she wanted them. She said "No, I've given up", and that was it. A formidable woman that even nicotine addiction wouldn't take on.

[Shotgun]

I was a smoker on and off (mostly on) through the 80's and when people talked about banning smoking in pubs, I thought it was ridiculous. Why not ban drinking in pubs too? When a stranger told me he didn't like me smoking while he was eating, my response was "You go to a restaurant to eat dickhead, not a fucking pub."

Quite bizarre, looking back. 

[Detournement]

8 minutes ago, Shotgun said:

I was a smoker on and off (mostly on) through the 80's and when people talked about banning smoking in pubs, I thought it was ridiculous. Why not ban drinking in pubs too? When a stranger told me he didn't like me smoking while he was eating, my response was "You go to a restaurant to eat dickhead, not a fucking pub."

Quite bizarre, looking back. 

Tbf pubs are shite now compared to pre smoking ban. 

Obviously not just because of the smoking ban but it's undeniable.

[DA Baracus]

The smoking ban was absolutely tremendous and I'm very pleased it will never be reversed.

Now pubs just need to be tougher on smokers in the doorways. There are designated areas for smokers, often pretty nice ones, so there's no need for folk to be smoking in the doorway and, worse, throwing their finished cigarette on the floor.

Smokers, why do you think it is acceptable to throw your used cigarettes on the ground? I've never once heard an argument even approaching sensible or reasonable regarding that. You wouldn't chuck a beer bottle on the floor if you were outside in a beer garden for example yet smokers seem to think it's perfectly fine to do so with their cigarettes. There are plenty of bins for them.

[jimbaxters]

5 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

The smoking ban was absolutely tremendous and I'm very pleased it will never be reversed.

Now pubs just need to be tougher on smokers in the doorways. There are designated areas for smokers, often pretty nice ones, so there's no need for folk to be smoking in the doorway and, worse, throwing their finished cigarette on the floor.

Smokers, why do you think it is acceptable to throw your used cigarettes on the ground? I've never once heard an argument even approaching sensible or reasonable regarding that. You wouldn't chuck a beer bottle on the floor if you were outside in a beer garden for example yet smokers seem to think it's perfectly fine to do so with their cigarettes. There are plenty of bins for them.

I'll see your cigarette litter intolerance and raise it with my chewing gum one. Much worse as it can't be swept up or extracted from your shoe grips.

[DA Baracus]

11 minutes ago, jimbaxters said:

I'll see your cigarette litter intolerance and raise it with my chewing gum one. Much worse as it can't be swept up or extracted from your shoe grips.

Agreed, that's horrific behaviour.

Jakeys who spit chewing gum on to the floor, why do you think it is acceptable?

[Stellaboz]

Smoking in general is weird behavior. Why the f**k? Because you wanted to look cool at school and found yourself with a tobacco addiction?

[ICTChris]

Smoking tobacco is enjoyable.  Nicotine is also has positive affects, most clinical evidence is that it's a reliable cognotive enhancement tool.

Sadly it's highly addictive and using cigarettes or other tobacco products is pretty much the worst thing you can do for your health.  

[ICTChris]

Cigarette litter is bad but it must be a tiny percentage of the reams of litter and rubbish that are routinely strewn around streets and parks.  Far more common to see drink cans and bottles than huge piles of fag ends.

[Hillonearth]

5 hours ago, Rugster said:

I remember you were able to smoke on planes too. Mental thinking about it now. 

I remember being on one going to Heathrow from Glasgow that stopped off to let more folk on in Edinburgh...might have actually been British Caledonian which dates it. As you can imagine from Glasgow to Edinburgh was about six or seven minutes in the air, with the smoking signs only being on for maybe a minute in the middle...still had the hardcore trying to get a few draws in during that minute though.

[DiegoDiego]

Smoking tobacco is enjoyable.  Nicotine is also has positive affects, most clinical evidence is that it's a reliable cognotive enhancement tool.

Nick Naylor found.

[Honest_Man#1]

6 hours ago, effeffsee_the2nd said:

I was dead against the smoking ban when it came in, but after a few years & long before I eventually stopped smoking I changed completely and wouldn't undo it if I had the power.

Thing about those places, even before the smoking ban, and this may just be down to me being a young shitebag at the time who was new to pubs , But did it not seem like 15 years ago and before that there were many more pubs that you couldn't just   walk into off the street for a pint, as in you had to be known by some of the regulars otherwise you were at best made to feel very unwelcome or at worst were in danger of getting your head kicked in?  a few places ( most of which fitted your above description and  are now gone) had an air of "who are you & what are you doing in here " about them

These places still exist, albeit in far fewer numbers. They baffle me, as it’s a genuinely mental thing to do to actively put off people from giving you money. A while ago in Ayr I went into one of the pubs on the North of the river as part of a pub crawl for one of my mates’ leaving nights, and the old guy sitting at the bar was fucking seething at a group of younger guys being in the place. Making wild comments/accusations about us being posh boys just wanting to see how poor people live etc. Just wanted to buy a few pints tbh mate, and would’ve increased the pubs take for the night at least tenfold, but quickly left after 1 round instead.

3 hours ago, ICTChris said:

Smoking tobacco is enjoyable.  Nicotine is also has positive affects, most clinical evidence is that it's a reliable cognotive enhancement tool.

Sadly it's highly addictive and using cigarettes or other tobacco products is pretty much the worst thing you can do for your health.  

If it wasn’t effectively giving yourself an early death sentence, I’d probably smoke cigars. I can certainly understand why people smoke as it’s clearly enjoyable, but not worth it to cut years off your life.

[tamthebam]

The smell of cigarettes isn't nice but the smell of a cigar is quite pleasant. It's a smell that brings back memories of football terraces to me as you used to get guys smoking cigars at the football.

I'm glad smoking on the buses went. Double deckers weren't so bad as smoking was only allowed upstairs but the bus I got home from school was a single decker where smoking was allowed in the back half and the air conditioning was non-existent. We used to dread a guy called "fag face" getting on as you knew your journey would be polluted with his smoke until he got off. Bugger didn't look very healthy either.