Today, July 1st 2007, marks a sad day in England.
A pint and a ciggie go together like fish 'n chips but as from today no smoking in pubs is the law.
Fuckers
Nope. It’s a good day. No more secondhand smoke, no more smelling like an ashtray if you stop and get something to eat or drink.
Good times!
Now work on legalizing heroin. You know, a yin to a yang and all that.
I was so bummed when smoking in bars was made illegal in my state. There was no surer way to get a free drink than to pop a cig in my mouth and wait for a gentleman with a lighter.
Yes it’s bad and it’ll kill me, I know.
Eh, I can kind of sympathize. On one hand, nothing made me appreciate California’s indoor smoking ban more than going to Las Vegas and spending some time in filthy smoke-filled casinos. On the other, if there’s one place where you should be allowed to smoke indoors a bar is it. It’s not like I really spend much time in bars, so if people want to waste themselves away in there, they have a right to. Oh well, there’s always heroin.
My town of Tupelo, MS (birthplace of The King) has recently also enacted this law.
I thought it was only Democrats who did this… NYC, Cali, etc…
But in a town chock full of Bush lovers, BOOM.
I was pissed off at first, but in retrospect, I smoke less AND drink less.
I went through it in Ireland, and now I’m about to go through it in the UK.
It’s a good thing.
What I found when it happened while I was living in Dublin was that, despite the utter pain in the arse of having to nip outside for a smoke, that when I was out in the pub I smoked based on nicotine craving rather than pint-and-ciggie habit. I smoked about 2/3 less than before on a night out. And didn’t smell so bad when I got home.
And (even though I didn’t really give a shit) I did not have to bear the guilt of exposing bar staff to my foul emanations.
Though once I saw a poignant sight: I was driving down the country, and saw a tiny little old geezer in his eighties a parking lot in a wheelchair in the rain having a smoke, and I thought: “ah come on, he’s going to die soon anyway, can’t we give him a break?”.
But you’ll get used to it chowder: the nostalgia for the pint-and-ciggie combination (which may of course be recreated in the home at any time) is but a mild pang and will fade soon; and many pubs have beer gardens in which you’ll be able to enjoy it still.
Sorry for the hijack, but I was confident I had this down…
I thought England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales were all part of the UK?
jjimm my good friend.
Yes there are beer gardens but have you noticed it rains a bit here?
Matter of fact it hasn’t stopped pissing down for some time now.
Wait…you could be right, I may get used to it, either that or catch pnuemonia.
Eleusis Yup all those countries are in the UK but the no smoking ban was introduced in Scotland, Wales and Ireland some time ago.
We stoically held out…“there’ll always be an England”…::cough, cough::
The island of Ireland is partitioned into Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland (confusingly also known as “Ireland”), which is a totally independent country.
ETA: also, though they are all part of the UK, there are seperate legislatures of varying strengths in the UK: Scotland has had the smoking ban for more than a year; Wales went earlier on this year; England went this morning.
No they are bloody not all in the UK! The RoI won a war against us to say so!
:smack: I need a ciggie
The United Kingdom consists of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
(Great Britain consists of England, Scotland, and Wales.)
Recently local Parliaments have been introduced for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
The smoking ban was introduced in Scotland in 2006 and in Wales and Northern Ireland in April 2007.
As a non-smoker, I appreciate the change.
There’s a bright side, I guarantee it.
I still smoke almost two packs a day… but now I save money. At the bar, I could easily smoke a pack in 4 hours… now, having to get off my lazy ass, in those same four hours I might only smoke 5 or 6… plus (though I’m married it still is beneficial) you can coax a hot chick to smoke with you.
I’m also much less likely to get arrested for drunk driving.
Smokin’ one now old chap. With a coffee. In my own home. Mmmm fags.
In Ireland this became known as “smirting”.
Speaking as an almost two-decade smoker who has been smoke-free for 15 years now, I am pleased as punch about the new law.
I will admit that as a Washington State resident, I enjoyed being able to drink and smoke in the hotel lobby when I was in London in 2006. It was weird. (It was also weird to me that you could buy Budweiser in the caf line at the Tower of London.)
I will also admit, as one who only smokes late at night or when she drinks (and the two are frequently the same) that stepping down from a pack a day - to a pack every two days (when I got smart) - to a pack every four days (after the smoking ban) - it’s a good thing. Smokes cost almost $6 a pack here so it got way cheaper.
And you meet all kinds of new people, if you’re not going out to smoke with the people you’re with.
(Oh, and I’m going to go smoke out my own window. Hope there’s no-one out there talking to me!)
Maybe it was actually a 45-year-old 60-a-day man? 
I never minded the smoke in a bar - but I can’t stand it when I’m eating breakfast!
It’s cute when smokers are concerned about lung ailments they might get by means other than smoking.
Welcome to the United Federation of Take That Shit Outside. I’m having a cig right now – in the comfort of my own home which, apart from other people’s homes (if allowed) and the great outdoors, is the only place I can have one. To be honest, I’ve gotten use to it, but only because I had no choice. I don’t frequent bars/pubs, but I do still miss being able to sit in a restaurant and enjoy a smoke or two before and after the meal without having to step outside to do so. Especially in the winter.
Ah, the good ol’ days.