I can see clearly now, the smoke is gone

[king_pellinor]

Going in to the pub after dance practice last night, I was struck by the thought "It smells like a barber's in here" (ie warm, humid, certain alcohol-based fragrance). Still, I was at the far end from the bar so I dismissed the thought and got a pint.

A few minutes later, someone asked "Is that new?" of a large box hanging from the ceiling, looking rather like an air-conditioning unit. After a brief discussion, the company concluded that it wasn't, but rather it must be some sort of smoke filter - the conclusive proof being the words "I can see you, so there must be less smoke" from the chap sitting immediately to my right.

Thinking about it, it seems to be right. Although there were several people smoking in there, the whole atmosphere of the pub was different. Slightly unnerving, but on the whole welcome.

It does make me wonder about the proposed smoking ban, though. That one box seems to have completely changed what was once a very smoky pub, which makes one question whether a ban is required at all.

Comments

[chainmailmaiden]

I'm not particularly bothered how they make pubs & restaurants less smoky. If it can be done with a box of tricks rather than a ban, then that would be fine by me. Though if it wasn't compulsory to fit some kind of filter I doubt many places would do it.

I've only been in one pub that had already banned smoking completely, the pub wasn't that great, but the really nice thing was putting my coat on the next day and not having it stink of stale smoke.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Sounds great. I'll have to pop in and check it out. I've been interested to see how well these filters work, after reading about them. I don't want to have my evening ruined by other people's smoke, ut if that can be done in a way that doesn't ruin their evening by forcing them not to smoke, then that's the ideal solution.

I presume this is your usual post-dancing pub - i.e. the one I won't even go into, because I feel ill from the smoke after just half a second inside.

[king-pellinor.livejournal.com]

That's the one. I don't think you'd have a problem now.

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

Hmm, that sounds interesting (and thanks for fiending me, I'll return the favour). I've always though that the majority of pubs could become smoke free and benefit the majority of their customers and staff if only they thought about air-conditioning, filters, or even bringing back "the snug" as a smokers zone staffed by smoking staff.