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Pete Robinson: Smokers come flooding in
26 July, 2007
Helicopter camera catches the plight of outdoor smokers
Anyone who's been watching the news bulletins concerning the floods may have noticed a striking scene viewed from the helicopter's camera where the fast flowing waters are rising towards a pub. The outside seating is arranged in two tiers with the lowest level already under a few inches of water, perhaps sixteen tables in all.
Yet every single table was STILL taken by smokers who by now were having to crouch on the tables. Of course the inside area may well have been packed to the rafters with non-smokers enjoying the new, 'cleaner' atmosphere. Although somehow I doubt it.
Since the introduction of the smoking ban one peculiar observation has been the groups of smokers happily socialising and networking outside pubs who, a month ago, would never have spoken to one another. I'd suggest that to many smokers this rather pleasant phenomenon is compensating for their inconvenience, for now at least.
I don't believe they'll be out there in significant numbers later this year when the temperature drops. Let's not forget the smoker has always struggled to get down to his local in all weathers. Through rain, snow, hail and blizzard he's got there somehow. Perhaps even floods.
But where is the incentive now? Gone is the warm welcome, the relaxed atmosphere and the cosy chat with the bar staff. All the smoker can anticipate is banishment to a draughty smoking shelter like a badly behaved child, while children themselves are targeted by many pubs as 'the new opportunity'. I wonder if smoking customers will make the effort come the winter? Only time will tell.
Readers' comments
hi there after the initial worry about the smoking banmainly because we are in a hard and fast community that stick to their guns we had an excellent response. We think this is because our regular customers saw that we were providing them with a decent place for them tohave their cig.Thankyou to those who are still with us. Here is the poem one of our regulars wrote in the wake of the shelter becoming more popular to the non smoker. A now distinctly rare and endangered species that used to be found in their local habitats of pub tap rooms the length and breadth of the British Isles. Due to the advancement of the fruit juice tea dance brigade and the inevitable onslaught of government legislation "The Smokers" natural habitat has been stolen from them and they have been segregated into small pockets in hastily built compounds away from the rest of civilisation. The only comfort and echo of their past fortitude is the ceremonial giant ashtray in the centre of their bleak wooden huts. Here they sit smoking and drinking, talking about the good old days when 95% of the taproom belonged to them. How they laugh and you, the non-smokers, wish you were in there with them and join in and make it like it used to be ; but you can't SO **** of to your own bit
It's interesting to note that of the nineteen topics presented in this issue of the Publicans commentary page, four are related to Smoking Bans. The four articles on Smoking Bans generated one hundred and four of the one hundred and twenty- seven total responses. The people are behind us and our fight for our rights. Our weapon is the vote !