I went out for a few beers with my girlfriend on the day they banned smoking in England. Tales of woe were coming from across the rest of the UK and Ireland. But as somebody who has never smoked in his life – I was looking forward to it.
And so it was off to the Postal Order in Blackburn town centre. The pub was only half-full. But this was a typical day in Britain’s wet summer of 2007. What was just as noticeable as the lower crowd inside was the vast amount of food being shifted. It was like a conveyor belt of staff carrying platefuls of that day’s Sunday roast.
Unlike me, my girlfriend enjoys her fix of tobacco. But being the gossip she is, there was a welcome surprise waiting for her outside the pub. A whole new social life has developed amongst these fellow kindred spirits. Smokers congregate together and swap stories about their persecution complex. Great friendships are bound to be made here.
As for me, being a drinker of real ale – a CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) member to boot, the smoke ban is fantastic. I could taste my beer without the stale smell of smoke wafting over my shoulder and into my glass. No going home any more, smelling like an ashtray. For many years, going in a pub and putting up with smoke was almost a rite of passage. But over the years I began to realise I hated this noxious weed. At least my girlfriend’s got the best of both worlds. She can nip outside for a ciggy. And now, just like me, she likes real ale too.
Unfortunately the saying: ‘Lies, damn lies and statistics’ has proved to be the case with the smoking ban. Despite doctors and scientists telling us smokers make up barely a quarter of the adult population, down the boozer they are very noticeable by their absence. Their disappearance from the pub has created a knock-on effect, leading to non-smokers also quitting the habit. Obviously many other factors have reduced pub attendances, cheap supermarket booze being the main one.
Perhaps now is the time to welcome back smokers to pubs and clubs. At the time of the ban, I saw no reason why a separate room couldn’t be set aside in pubs for smokers. Everybody seemed happy with this, including smokers, non-smokers and bar staff. But the powers-that-be decided it was going to be a blanket ban. Now we have the ultimate blanket ban – trying to find a pub that’s still open!
