Technically it’s easy enough.

As to pubs Chris
it’s certainly taking time for me to remember the pub is an option when I want to eat
Be quick, they’re closing at a rate of 6 a day !
Thanks again for putting the flip-side so well Chris
All the best
Rod

You say you support non-smokers’ right to choose not to be subjected to passive smoking. However, before the smoking ban, often there was no choice for non-smokers, especially in small villages etc where there was one pub, and non-smokers who wanted a drink or something to eat were forced to put up with it or go home and eat/drink there. Equally, when travelling I often used to spend an hour or more traipsing around a town looking for a decent non-smoking place to eat, before finally ending up having to eat McDonald’s because they were the only non-smoking place I could find. Choice of non-smoking places in the absence of a blanket smoking ban? Do me a f****** favour!

Also, you say a smoking ban might be OK in workplaces but not in pubs. For some people a pub is a workplace. Dedicated smoking rooms don’t work, the door to that room has to be opened sometimes and nobody wants to sit anywhere near the smoking room. Even outdoor smoking areas can be poorly placed with smoke blowing into the building in the summer when windows are open.

I think smoking should be banned in outdoor public places too. This would avoid the very unpleasant experience of walking along the street behind someone who suddenly decides to light up and blow a load of smoke into my face, and who then looks daggers at me because I dared to cough. The ‘considerate smoker’ is truly a myth in my experience.

I think pubs will start to fill up again after non-smokers get out of the habit of avoiding them - after spending my entire adult life almost never going into a pub because they were always full of smoke, it’s certainly taking time for me to remember the pub is an option when I want to eat. particularly.

There’s clear evidence to suggest there is more alcohol being drunk at home though I suspect much of that is based on the ever widening price gap between cheap supermarket beer and a pint in the pub.

I doubt there is any let up in student drinking, they borrow money in the form of student loans to do it - so no let up there I suppose.
Best
Rod

Is there nothing that would induce you to stop smoking?

Churches and pubs were once the only means of gathering together in a community… neither seem to be attracting large numbers now. Although there are exceptions and the pubs around us look as popular as ever…. we will investigate and report back. While on this topic, it occurs to us that we’ve always been intrigued by groups of men who only ever meet up at their local bar, have the same conversations and down several beers. Men, more than women, find it hard to socialise in one another’s homes or elsewhere so the pub was the obvious answer. Women on the other hand get together where ever they like, sometimes pubs where they foolishly think they might meet a man. If people aren’t going to the ‘local’ to socialise then do they go out at all? If a pub doesn’t serve good food will it survive?

Looking at a cross section of our local population it seems that young and middle aged folk are involved in things like music…. lots of bands around here that get together to practise on a regular basis and gyms where people seem to go more than once a week. We know quite a few people who have centered their lives around these hobbies, met others who do likewise and subsequently become friends….. has this sort of activity replaced the weekly trip to the pub? Does anybody know if the city pubs are still attracting large numbers of students and the young in general and whether lack of money is the real culprit here not just the smoking ban.

WoE