Monday 26 September 2016

Yes, yes, but what about behind bike sheds?

From The Guardian:

Smoking should be banned in all parks and playgrounds to reduce the chances of children growing up thinking that using cigarettes is normal, environmental health officers have told ministers.

Zoos, theme parks and anywhere else children play should also become no-smoking zones, in a significant proposed expansion of the outdoor areas in which smokers cannot light up.

Smoking has been illegal in enclosed public places such as bars, nightclubs and restaurants, as well as public transport and work vehicles, across the UK since 2007...


Ignoring the fact that children aren't supposed to be in bars, nightclubs or work vehicles in the first place, what about smoking behind the bike sheds, a noble British tradition? Will there be an exception for that?

9 comments:

Rich Tee said...

I still chuckle when I see a bus shelter that is open to the elements on three sides with a big "It is illegal to smoke in these premises" sticker on the (usually vandalised) window. If I'm ever down on my luck and end up living in a bus shelter I will be sure to take care of my health and respect the law by not smoking there.

mombers said...

Was outside a museum yesterday and had to move several times because smokers lit up upwind of me. Come on smokers, is it really that hard to just stand well away and/or downwind of everyone? And then there are the trashy parents smoking inside the playground...

Bayard said...

RT, my local railway station has no smoking signs on the platform, not just in the (open) shelter.

I had a friend who worked at a local cafe, which had a courtyard with chairs and tables in it. The customers could smoke there, because it was outdoors, but the staff couldn't, even in the part not used by (and out of sight of) the customers, because it was their place of work. I suppose, technically, a farm worker is not allowed to smoke anywhere on the farm on which they work.

Curtis said...

It seems to be a great British tradition to smoke beneath NO SMOKING signs.

If one enjoys photographing humans, it might be fun to create a series of photos entitled SMOKERS OF BRITAIN (along the lines of HUMANS OF NEW YORK) doing just that.

mombers said...

@c it's terrible seeing desperate addicts smoking outside the hospital door. I have huge sympathy, it is such a hard addiction to kick. That said it probably saves the taxpayer more in pensions and care home costs than treatment for smoking related illnesses.

Mark Wadsworth said...

RT, baffles me as well. As we all well know, lighting up means the bus will appear a few seconds later. Plus there's no such thing as "in the premises", it's "ON the premises".

M, we shall have to agree to disagree on this topic :-)

C, I have often been tempted to do that, I'm sure loads of people have had the idea, it's a sort of tradition, isn;t it?

Penseivat said...

All Police stations are no smoking zones, including the car park and the areas in front of the building. If it's within the curtilage, it's forbidden. However, anyone being interviewed is allowed to smoke as it is a breach of their human rights to stop them. To this end, well known villains, even if they don't normally smoke, will light up in the interview room and take great delight in blowing smoke, figuratively and actually, in the officers faces. I got round it by chewing garlic before interviewing such people. By claiming it was part of a health regime there was little tat anyone could do. Ah, the good old days.

Bayard said...

"As we all well know, lighting up means the bus will appear a few seconds later."

Is that the same mechanism whereby consulting an A to Z (remember them?) causes the traffic lights instantly to turn green?

Mark Wadsworth said...

PS did the crims ever get their own back and chew garlic as well as smoking?

B yes I do and yes, it's the same Sod's Law.