I officially moved to the UK in March from NYC. Ever since I starting coming to the UK for work, last september, everyone has been talking about the smoking ban, which went into effect on July 1st. Nearly everyone I talked to about it over the last nine months has said, "I'll quit when the ban goes into effect." So now its nearly two weeks after the ban started and I don't know a soul who has actually quit since it started.

It does seem like everyone is taking it really bad here. I can't really remember if people took it so hard in New York when we instituted the ban, but I've been hearing things like "Its the end of civilization" and "I'm not going out any more". I do think generally brits smoke much more than even New Yorkers, and its incredibly tough on them. Though I do think the way the characterize the nanny state and the end of civil liberties is really just some serious whining.

I am noticing a lot more of who smokes and who doesn't. Generally when you go to a pub with people you are left holding someone's drink for half the night, while they go outside and have a fag. Seems there's a whole new social scene thats happening out on the side walk. All the cool kids are going outside to smoke and talk about how lame everyone else in the bar is. That seems VERY similar to NYC, where apparently all the important networking happens on the sidewalk IN FRONT of the bar.

Whats been really interesting is going to a dance club. Its really throwing DJ's for a loop because nearly nearly every 20 minutes there's a mass exodus from the dance floor, while everyone goes out and smokes. So if you're playing a massive hit and then want to play your favorite new track that no one's ever heard of, everyone takes the new track they don't know as a cue to head for the sidewalk. Then the DJ has to work doubly hard to get them all back on the floor. Twenty minutes later they are all gone again, and it seems harder to get a critical mass. Plus it seems like more people take the opportunity to move on once they have gone outside.

The other night in a club, I was listening to a dj who seemed to be expressing his frustration at the mass exoduses happening by swithcing the song ever three minutes - just as you were hitting a groove the song would change. Either he was expressing his frustration OR he was having the jitters from not smoking. Perhaps it is the end of civilization.

The only prediction about the smoking ban, that was right on was from Spaceboy. "These pubs are gonna stink, and we're going to have to endure the odors eminating from each other." At first I laughed her off, but geez, its true. The smell of the pubs are just awful now, and then having to smell other smelly people in close quarters is just gross. Forget it if someone farts, geez. So maybe cancer from second hand smoke isn't really so bad...