frank_davis
April 29th, 23:54
Last night I posted up a piece which was, in part, about the social isolation and disintegration that I thought the smoking ban was causing. This evening, among the responses, there was the following anonymous message:
I am getting too old to stand outside pubs or restaurants. Plus I was taught that it was only 'ladies of the night' that stood in the street smoking.
I have been 3 years away from any social contact other than the odd hello with neighbours.
Being a widow with no family it was always going to be hard to get back into some semblance of normality with regard to socialising, but I didn't think that it would be this bad.
I used to meet up in a cafeteria with some lady friends, but now that has stopped as a few of the ladies were smokers and didn't want to stand in the street to have a cigarette.
I went to a quiz night at the local pub as there were quite a few elderly 'singles' there. That has stopped. I also playe bingo once a week and that too has stopped as there is no pleasure in having a drink there with no cigarette.
I am now on anti depressants and wish that I had the courage to kill myself and join my dear husband.
Thank you politicians for making my life not worth living after working from age 14 until 68. I am now 74 and have lost my soul and will to live in this lonely place.
Nothing needs to be added. Here in a nutshell is the social devastation caused by the smoking ban. It falls most heavily, of course, on the elderly.
I think these stories must be told. There must be thousands upon thousands - millions even - of people all over the country, and all over the world, in much the same situation. People who had their social lives destroyed. People who have become profoundly isolated and depressed as a consequence of smoking bans.
Our politically correct news media will never report any of it. They won't report it because for them smokers are non-persons, people who don't count. So it's only going to be on blogs like mine that such people are going to find a voice.
So I'd like to appeal to my readers, particularly the elderly (65-70+) and vulnerable ones like my anonymous commenter, to write to me to describe their personal experiences of the smoking ban. I'm interested in younger readers' experiences as well, of course.
And I'd like to ask readers if they know any elderly and vulnerable people who may have become isolated. Phone them up! Pop round and see them! Ask them how life has been for them. Get them to tell their story.
I'm sure there are thousands and thousands of horror stories out there, that need telling, and which antismokers would prefer never get told at all. When the stories start being told - and they will be told -, they might begin to feel ashamed of what they've done.
I've set up a googlemail account: cfrankdavis@googlemail.com
And I've also put up a (rather crude) box in the right margin, which will stay there.
Emails are welcome from all over the world, but since this a UK blog, non-UK writers should give some indication where they are, and what sort of ban is in force where they live.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Reblog this everyone. Let Arnott and her sick, greedy friends have a taste of their own medicine.
Thank you Lawson for this post. I share your fears at what this ban has done to the mental health of my community. Like your correspondent I feel that my social life was ripped from me a few years ago, I can count on the one hand the times I have been out in company since the ban, and those outings were marred by the exclusion I felt. Standing on the street smoking is not an option for some, it was never done and feels wrong. Sitting in a bar not smoking feels wrong too, and on each occasion tended to overshadow and spoil any conversation or conviviality.
ReplyDeleteI stopped going out, I dread the few invitations I cannot avoid, and feel guilty using excuses to avoid those I can. The 'leper' tag which folk jokingly bat about in bars, and we try to laugh off, feels crushingly real when ye're sitting alone in yer house, watching yer friendships wither and die, squeezing yourself into a smaller and smaller life.
Your very honest (thank you) correspondent talks of her depressed state and where she feels her life is heading. She is not alone, and it is vital she knows this. There are many many folk, particularly older folk, in her situation, silenced by our society, separately wondering what they did to deserve such treatment.
Good on you Lawson for providing space for such a discussion, thank you for making one wee person feel not quite so alone.
Thanks for the re-post. I hope I can get some more accounts of life from elderly (and not-so-elderly) smokers under the smoking ban.
ReplyDeleteMy patience with anti smokers has run its course.Now starts the days
ReplyDeleteof payback time.It is our duty to
find these despicable maggots and
give them something to complain about. No holds barred,no rules,
no conventions,they like to see
the old suffer ,lets drag them into the sorow they gladly inflict on others.
Enough is enough
Zero Tolerance
"I stopped going out, I dread the few invitations I cannot avoid, and feel guilty using excuses to avoid those I can."
ReplyDeleteSophia, that encapsulates how I feel also. Fortunately for us, but not so fortunate for the bansturbators, there are people such as Frank (whose blog the original post came from. See the above comment for a link)to give voice to the rage, that most feel on this subject. Thank you Frank for providing such a clear view of the awful reality, that this and the other bans, have brought to pass.