Pauline (one of my most favorite of all friends in the United Kingdom, if not in all of Europe itself!) had some news today in regard to the smoking ban. I thought it fitting to share it here.
Honest, this smoke free thing is really taking the pee..... We have had a
smoking ban for many years like in shops, restaurants, public transport...but
this morning as I left the apartment block I was spitting bricks. They had put
up notices on the front and back doors of the building stating 'IT IS AN OFFENCE
TO SMOKE IN THE PUBLIC PARTS OF THIS BUILDING'
It is an infringement of
human rights. Honestly, if people know that there are smoking areas in a Pub
they go in there KNOWING THIS.....Their choice...but now basically the law
states you may smoke in your own home and in the wide open air. If a
Pub/Restaurant has a 'partially enclosed' area you can not smoke in it.
You can not smoke in your car if......
it is used for business
purposes (that means transport of persons AND goods/tools etc)
You are carrying a non smoking passenger
You are carrying a child under the age of 16
Just make sure that when in your vehicle you ONLY CARRY ADULTS THAT
SMOKE....You do not have ANYTHING TO DO WITH WORK (even workwear)...and......if you get caught smoking by the Police they can have you for NOT BEING IN PROPER CONTROL OF YOUR VEHICLE.. as some poor people have found out when caught eating a chocolate bar or sandwich in the past and received a hefty fine.
I did love this one.....a guy who sells flowers at the side of the road (like open
air!!!) has to walk 100 yards from his stall to have a cigarette.
Suppose sometime in the future they will even ban us from smoking in our
homes when we have kids...like to see them try.
Why oh why did Britain not get together like in France where they tried to pass this law and take them to the European Court on the basis of an infringement.
Good heavens! I would have fire coming out of my nose at this one!
The US is not far behind, sadly. In some states, we can not smoke in restaurants. We must walk 300 yards to smoke near a hospital. We can still smoke in our vehicles.
What perturbs me is that second hand smoke does not affect children nearly as acutely as another common bad habit. Let’s be honest - parents kill their own children.
Where are all these "bleeding hearts for justice" when mummy and daddy are stuffing Hostess cupcakes, chocolate milk, chocolate bars, Kid Cuisines, Mac and Cheese, cookies, juice boxes, McDonald's Happy Meals, and other tripe down their children's mouths? Where are the "protectors of children" when mummy and daddy park their child in front of the television or computer for hours at a time and allow them to sit on their rotund bottoms rather than go outside and play?I find it appalling that the "powers that be" feel it is their right to tell me how to live and yet they do nothing to stop others from bringing their neighbors harm. They do not enforce the noise ordinances and I am petrified that the loud bass blaring from cars will cause another driver to have a seizure. There aren’t any "no perfume" restrictions in public places; Better Half has Multiple Chemical Sensitivity from the war and perfume makes him deathly ill. I have a dear friend whose child must be rushed to the hospital if she is accidentally exposed to perfume; asthma is a terrible thing for a child to suffer.
Filth and rubbish, I say. Let them take away junk food, chewing tobacco, perfume, music with heavy bass, road rage and George Bush - perhaps then I will abide by their "no smoking" laws.
There is an old English proverb that states "Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork." It is peculiar that so many Americans have not caught on. We seem to love banning "bad habits" such as those filthy cigarettes yet we turn a blind eye to all of the other "unhealthy" issues.
I have to question if parents do not comprehend that their child is morbidly obese? The heavy
panting, chaffed skin on the inner thighs, inability to touch their toes (or kneecaps!) and portly face would be a dead giveaway. If my child surpassed the Precious Moments figurine appearance only to bear a resemblance to a garden slug I would most certainly alert my physician (and perhaps a tattler magazine such as the Globe or Star.) Perhaps the Precious Moments look is in?I find nothing precious about children with fat, bloated faces. There is so much adipose tissue that their tiny eyes seem receded into their flesh like buttons between the cushions on a 1970’s sofa. Fat hands grasping at French fries whilst mommy urges the child to finish up so they can hit the McDonald’s playland (do the fast food restaurant employees keep child-sized plungers on hand in the event one of these bloated creatures becomes stuck in the plastic piping?) Even their tiny voices (which should sound sweet and inquisitive) become thick from the amount of tissue in their throats. They lack energy and they lack intelligence. YES, they LACK INTELLIGENCE, oh you parent of an earthbound baby whale; the nutrients they required for the proper development of their brain cells were sadly undersupplied during the most crucial years of their early life.
Hey Lady! Your child is a LARD ASS!
I am certain that I will have several replies to this and that those replies will be overflowing (much like your cupboards) with criticism. Why on earth are you on your computer when your child is about to suffocate on that Keebler Cookie you handed him five seconds ago? What are you doing inside on a beautiful summer day?
Darling, do you want fries with that?
4 responded with...:
Hi Toni,
Love it...got to laugh (but it is not funny is it). Your comment about 'fries' wih everything reminded me of my own Mother and an ex boyfriend. He passed a remark "This is the only place that you get a meal ....something and fries...and get fries as a side order" Actually his plate was piled that high he HAD TO ASK for another to remove some of those fries so he could find his meal.
No.....I am not saying my Mother brough us up to be bad eaters as we had fruit and veg, sweets (candy)only allowed on a Friday night, suppose it was an inherent thig of being a mum just after the second world war when food was scarce.
OK...we did not have computers but we were one of the lucky few to have a TV and that viewing was restricted to an HOUR Monday through Friday and that was on the understanding that out homework was done from school. It was more of "You all out in the back yard...football, skipping rope...my hula hoop..."
Today there are to many 'convenience foods' people either have just gotten to lazy to cook, or, many just do not know how to. My own daughter used to go shopping with my mum and me on a Saturday. She had some money and her own trolley...her task? Buy the food for dinner that day and then cook it for mum and me..That was when she was 10 years old.
So today...20 in a couple of weeks she has progressed from being a Chef at the local restaurant to being the Kitchen Manager and I am proud of her. Being nearly 6ft tall she is not overweight, she eats healthy and comes in at a UK size 14....forget the American size zero...that is NOT HEALTHY.
Bless you for including my no smoking thing.
Pauline x
Hi YA ! ! WE just had the smoking ban passed here in Charleston South Carolina ,too! I, personally am GLAD ! Breathing in disgusting cigarette smoke whilst trying to enjoy a lovely meal is not very appetizing!!! ha! And The bars are now smokefree! I LOVE IT! Nothing worse than a person blowing smoke in your face and up your arse at the same time! ha! NOW....the horrible diets of Americans..that is quite another story!! Aieeee! whe nI was in college in the 70's I worked at MacDonalds..They had a meeting before every shift and one of the things I remember is..THe manager told us to always SAY..FRIES with that.? OH GOD! THat was the beginning!
People need to be very careful about letting the government decide what is good and what is not.
Tennessee recently began a series of tax increases on cigarettes "for the children". Supposedly, the money will go toward education. That is also what they said when they started the lottery here.
At this point, you would think that every child in TN would attend a wonderful school with the newest equipment and technology. Instead, my son shares books and I send dry-erase markers to school because there is not enough money for the school district to provide them.
The next thing?
A fat tax. Just wait. It's coming.
You want fries with that?
I do not like porn so I don't visit porno movie houses. If I decided that I do not want beef, I don't order it in a restaurant. Why then can't nonsmokers simply sit in the nonsmoking section rather than take up a table in a smoking section and then bitch about the smoke?
I don't smoke, but I also don't find the smell disgusting. Car fumes are worse than cigarette smoke.
I think the perfume is more disgusting than cigarettes because it's like some people take baths in it. They reek. I'd be happier smelling cigarette smoke and pipe tobacco smoke than cheap Walmart or Target perfume.
If you can't afford $60+ an ounce perfume, and you don't know how to apply it, then don't wear it.
I so agree with the fat kids being the parent's fault. There should be a fat tax and a junk food tax. If they tax the smokers because "health care for them costs money" then tax the damn junk food eaters because my tax dollars pay for their disability when they become too fat and unhealthy to work for a living. Fine parents $20 for every pound a child has over the "mildly obese" level. In other words, children who are morbidly obese, having 20 pounds over their normal and healthy range, should have parents paying $20 for every pound over that 20. Take that money and give it to the smokers to compensate them for all the assholes out there who are rude to them in restaurants. Heeeheee.
Love you Auty!
Bookie
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