How Quickly We Change, Eventually
It’s amazing how quickly things can become completely taboo. Â Two things have recently crossed from utterly normal behaviour to completely unacceptable and disgusting, and I didn’t even notice the transition.
Firstly, I find myself getting physically angry now when I see people driving and using a mobile phone. Â Really, bubbling with rage, whereas a couple of years ago I think I might have even been doing myself. Â In that time what has changed? Â Not much, really. Â Apart from the fact that we have discovered that is more dangerous to use the phone and drive than it is to drink and drive, and consequently it has become illegal. Â Fair enough. Â And suddenly something which was a bit irritating has become something enraging.
Smoking is the other thing. Â I remember being vaguely against smoking being banned in pubs, not because I have ever been a smoker, but because it seemed to be part of the deal. Â People going on about passive smoking always seemed to be missing the point, to me. Â I’d always imagined that damage to your body and threat to life and general irritation was far more likely to come from other people drinking too much and behaving like arseholes, frankly.
Then the ban came in, and I barely noticed it at all, to be honest. Â There was more of a smell of piss and stale beer in most pubs, but that was about it, until we went down to England for a weekend. Â They didn’t have the ban back then, and walking into a smokey bar was a disgusting experience. Â I didn’t think I’d noticed the ban at all, but after only a couple of months it was repellent to be in a pub without it all of a sudden.
Three years ago none of this would have caused me to so much as bat an eyelid, now they are both utterly unthinkable. Â Using a phone whilst driving? Â You fucking twat, how dare you? Â Smoking in a bar? Â Myeuch, that’s disgusting, get away from me! Â Funny how quickly we acclimatise to these things, isn’t it.
Seeing as that was about as random a ramble as I’ve managed around here in some time, how about two utterly random songs to go with it. Â Here are a couple of natty little pop songs I am quite enjoying at the moment:
Lykke Li – Dance Dance Dance
Islands – The Arm
There’s been a non-smoking pub in my town for years, and we’d go there from time to time – good beer, nice simple pub food – but we’d always come out saying exactly the same thing – it’s fine, for what it is, but it’s not a pub. You’re right, how quickly things change. To be honest, living in compo-culture I was always surprised that the whole smoking in pubs etc thing didn’t come tumbling down through some employment law case of a non-smoker claiming constructive dismissal because of the health and safety risk.
As an occasional smoker (i.e.an ex-smoker prone ot the odd social prat fall) I dno’t have a problem with the ban at all. Fisk, on the other hand, when it first came in, used to purposefully light up in places to see how long it took the bar staff to politely ask him to put it out. There was a 3 strikes & out rule for a while & he took full advantage of it in every bar he went into, simply to piss off the publicans as no one else in the places gave a toss. I didn’t particularly agree with his funning about, but each to their own way with dealnig with it.
The one thing I’m amazed at is how easily Germany rolled over ot the ban. I know it’s a progressive place & all, very health & conservation & environmentally conscious, but the great majority of major cities actually VOLUNTEERED to take up the ban back in January this year. I don’t know if you know but Germans like their smokes. They puff would anywhere & everywhere. There were ashtrays built alongside urinals & in stores &, fuck, I’m fairly sure you could scab one off your surgeon & smoke it while having surgery. It was a very smoke-friendly place. But, then, the Govt. said they’d be holding a referendum type thing in about June (ish) this year to decide when the total ban may take place, but if the business owners & custodians etc wanted to start putting a ban i nplace then they could with the full backing of the ‘law’. Pretty much everyone then imposed the ban & as a result (as I understand it – I may be wrong) there’ll be no referendum (as it’s now already commonplace) the total law-enforced ban would happen in June (ish) instead.
I really thought the Germans would be one of the last places in Europe to let EU pressure force something on them they’d be genuinely up in arms about. Shows how wrong your perception of public perception can be, sometimes.
As for mobile phones in cars – having nearly been flattened by tits taking roundabouts one-handed I say everyone caught doing it has to, as punishment, be a Crash Test Dummy for a day. Well, one ride anyway.
Drunk Country – I was in Berlin in January…the two smokers in our group were gutted that they’d just brought the ban in. Then we got there, and you could smoke anywhere – clubs, cafes, bars, restaurants, wherever. Being used to the smoking ban here it seemed like the worst smoking ban ever! I’m looking forward to going back soon to see if they’ve actually imposed the ban or if they’re just pretending to….