Smoking at the UK Gigs

the ricoh in coventry's been a no smoking stadium since it opened

Haha, come to a German show and try putting my cig out. That I would like to see. Haha.

Never seen anything like that!

I walk two and half miles each way to work and back, five days a week down a major city artery.

I don't get mad about it because i realise that life isn't perfect.

And because driving brings people a benefit. They can get from A to B. I'm glad people have that opportunity.

And cigarettes bring people a benefit. They calm them down, they keep them thin, they let them be sociable. I'm glad people have that opportunity.

I like to think the best of people. So, if in open air space i were to light a cigarette, i would assume that they weren't a puritanical asshole. I have a kind face, so I would assume they would be grown up enough to ask me if I were bothering them. And if I were, I would put my cigarette out immediately.

The whole thing could be accomplished with the minimum of rancour.

For anyone struggling to get through a show, I would seriously recommend nicotine lozenges. They do give you the 'hit' of a cigarette, just drawn out over half an hour. You won't miss smoking at all with a show going on.

Anyone here genuinely concerned about reducing smoking because it damages people's health (smokers', not just their own paranoia over second hand)?

How much is it compassion and how much is it people just being pissed off?

Finding a benefit in cigarettes? Good on you, d'ya mind lending me those rose-tinted spectacles of yours? I'd love to see the world through your eyes.

Of course I'd ask. If they declined, they'd have it taken from them. Given all the dangers of smoking and the ever-increasing population of people that suffer from asthma and related ailments, it's common courtesy not to smoke in a confined space with a large group of people. Being an asshole really has nothing to do with it, I just value my health more highly than a person's want to stay thin and calm.

Good suggestion there at the end. Having never smoked, I won't make assumptions about nicotine cravings, however, I'm pretty sure there are ways through the show without the requirement for a cigarette.

Why else would people do it?

Not everyone finds the day easy to get through. Even if it's an illusion that is paid for later, smoking can make life just a little bit more tolerable.

It's their choice to make. If you feel it effects you to an unnacceptable degree, then just have a little faith that people will be reasonable about it if you bring it up.

If they're not. I'll agree they're an asshole.

To a certain extent but the tickets and accompanying leaflet do clearly state that smoking is prohibited inside the stadium, therefore I feel people have the right to feel a little more aggrieved when somebody does light up inside. I'm sure everybody who is annoyed by smoking would ask politely and all would pass with little trouble.

And it does give them something to refer to if they feel a bit nervous about asking people to stop.

It seems unnecesary to me though, to ban smoking throuhgout the entire stadium, or not to provide a smoking area just outside the gates.

An open air stadium doesn't count as an 'enclosed space' in the recent smoking ban, i'm 90% sure. (I'm willing to be proved wrong on this, but i think it actually does need a roof). And to have a smokers area just outside the gates would be entirely possible.

It feels more about non smokers wanting to push people around.

Spoken like a true smoker

The parts of the stadium which are undercover, i.e. tin he stands, are required to be non-smoking. Most stadiums enforce a total ban as the logic of allowing one section to smoke whilst the others are prohibited is absurd. A smoker's area would be a wonderful idea, I concur wholeheartedly with that suggestion. We'll have to se when we get to the gigs whether or not that is the case.