I may be late noticing this,
but these signs have crept in:
When I first started writing
this blog, a lot of the entries were about the smoking ban that had only
recently come into force at the time. I commented on how sad it was that there
had been no rebellion at this ridiculous law, and that there should have been
more people rising up and smoking anyway to show that they would not be
bullied. This of course never happened, and things have got progressively worse
for the smoker. The biggest problem is live music, something that obviously
plays a bit part in my life, and the fact that the venue empties as soon as
each act on the bill has finished.
I only started smoking again
last year after quite a long time away from it, (it’s like riding a bike) and I
have to say that I am still appalled at the way smokers are treated. Okay so it
looks like the ban in pubs and venues is here for a while, (until we start
electing smokers into positions of power), but the obsession with not smoking
is becoming dangerously stupid. Some places have banned the use of electric
cigarette devices, (illegally) as it undermines the smoking ban. What it
actually does is prevent people from having to go outside, but still people
aren’t happy. I was once asked by a fellow customer sitting outside if I could
stop smoking as it was getting in their way. You can never think of a clever
answer at the time can you? What I said was “you wanted smoking out of pubs,
you got your wish so if you don’t like me smoking outdoors, which is where you
wanted smokers in the first place, then you are welcome to go into the pub and
enjoy the smoke-free atmosphere that you so yearned for”. What I wish I’d said,
and didn’t think of it until later, was “fuck off”.
Since I saw this notice at the
tram stop, I have made a determined effort to smoke at the tram stop at all
times. As the tram stops are all outdoors it makes no sense to ban smoking at
them, and therefore I am not convinced of the legality of such a move. Perhaps
the tram company should spend more time worrying about its recent failures such
as the ticket machines that don’t work and probably never will. The intended
move to having no conductors and ticket machines has been a disaster that
nobody will admit to. Now they are spending money on having people hanging
around at tram stops advising people that the machines don’t work, (even on the
weekends when they will have to pay them more) in addition to the money they
waste paying the ticket inspectors to randomly get on the tram and insist on
seeing tickets and passes.
The collective term is ‘a twat
of ticket inspectors’.
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