Poor smokers..
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peterperkins

Original Poster:

3,441 posts

271 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all


This caught my eye at the airport in Vienna on the way back today. ✈️
I had to surreptitiously take the photo to avoid disapproving glares.

Now we all know smoking is minging, nicotine is addictive and they can't help it, but bloody hell..

The Big Brother style smokers ritual humiliation booth is a real corker.
Talk about smoking pariahs reporting to the diary room!! 🚬

Smokers 0 Vienna Airport 1 (Late kick off) They have only just introduced a ban in cafes etc in Nov 2019.

Neatly boxed up away from others, they were made to exhibit themselves like some sort of circus freak show for our entertainment.
It's clearly not about the bearded lady or man with two heads anymore, although I think there was at least one of them in the fug filled smoking booth. (It was difficult to see in at times due to the smoke obviously!)

One woman was in there for an hour puffing away on her duty free Benson & Hedges 500 value pack.
Pity the poor bugger sitting next to her on the plane. Luckily she got on another flight.

A succession of nicotine addicts sidled up to the brillianty unobtrusive box (not) and tried to inconspicuously open the door and edge in without everyone else glancing over. Of course they failed miserably and we all tuted, rolled our eyes, and stereotyped in our heads about how pathetic it all was.

It also had one of those doors that creaked and groaned more the slower you opened it for maximum attention drawing effect.
The box might as well have a had a flashing red cigarette sign on the top and klaxon that went off when the door was opened just to make sure nobody in the two hundred people (including the drones wearing noise reducing headphones) sat around in departures missed your moment of maximum embarrassment.

"Where are you going dear?"
"Just into the smoking box darling to make myself stink and look like a right pranet with no willpower in front of 200 people."

Now I might be accused of being unsympathetic towards smokers with this post, never having smoked in my life, I could not possibly understand etc etc. I accept that.

But believe me I did have sympathy for them for a few minutes today.

HTP99

25,174 posts

169 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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I'm of an age when the smoking ban was introduced, the canteen at my then place of work had a similar thing built in it, although larger, to enable the smokers to continue smoking indoors.

psi310398

11,051 posts

232 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all
I no longer have an interest, having not smoked for 9 monthssmile after 40 years of puffing.

At least Vienna Airport, like Malpensa and Linate, is good enough actually to provide somewhere for smokers airside.

generationx

9,136 posts

134 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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Cologne/Bonn has a Glass Box of Shame, as does our work canteen. At least people can smoke without freezing to death.

daddy cool

4,107 posts

258 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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Are there bins in the cubicles, or do they just throw the ends on the floor like they do everywhere else?

Ratski83

953 posts

102 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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No complaints here.

You could easily get away with smoking a spliff in these self contained booths.

Perfect to ensure a nice relaxing flight. hippy

Thales

619 posts

86 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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Is that Sarri on the left?

J4CKO

46,824 posts

229 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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HTP99 said:
I'm of an age when the smoking ban was introduced, the canteen at my then place of work had a similar thing built in it, although larger, to enable the smokers to continue smoking indoors.
I worked for Woolworths at their distribution centre in Rochdale some years back, there was a smoking box there, it was grim and stained yellow, lots of older women with lots of jewelry and jet black hair despite being 60 plus, those that have a rattly voice and hack a lot.

They are a persecuted breed but dont see nearly as many nowadays, all converted over to vapes, amazes me you still see youngsters that smoke, how the hell do they afford fags ?

psi310398

11,051 posts

232 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
I worked for Woolworths at their distribution centre in Rochdale some years back, there was a smoking box there, it was grim and stained yellow, lots of older women with lots of jewelry and jet black hair despite being 60 plus, those that have a rattly voice and hack a lot.

They are a persecuted breed but dont see nearly as many nowadays, all converted over to vapes, amazes me you still see youngsters that smoke, how the hell do they afford fags ?
My son puts aside some of his pay and gets me to fill the boot in Luxembourg or Italy (around 50 Euro a carton, compared to £110-130 in the UK) when I'm over on the Continent. I get him 10-20 cartons at a time. I guess this will not be possible after December...at least not legally.


p4cks

7,494 posts

228 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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generationx said:
At least people can smoke without freezing to death.
Yeah, they can smoke themselves to death instead.

NoVetec

9,967 posts

202 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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The smoking rooms in Schiphol are quite spacious.


Evoluzione

10,345 posts

272 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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They look like a great idea to me, much better than the Egyptian ones I witnessed recently. At least they've been given an option and somewhere to go rather than an outright ban, I don't remember seeing one in Manchester airport at all.
There was a smoking area where I was staying abroad recently, but it had no walls! In the airport they had communal rooms and the doors were left wide open. One bloke was stood in the doorway blowing it back into the room, you had to hold your breath as you were passing it on the main corridor.
You could go into any of these enclosed areas without even lighting up and get your fix, save money!

daddy cool

4,107 posts

258 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all
psi310398 said:
My son puts aside some of his pay and gets me to fill the boot in Luxembourg or Italy (around 50 Euro a carton, compared to £110-130 in the UK) when I'm over on the Continent. I get him 10-20 cartons at a time.
You get my vote for Father of The Year 2020.

(Previous winners include Josef Fritzl and Stannis Baratheon)

psi310398

11,051 posts

232 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all
daddy cool said:
You get my vote for Father of The Year 2020.

(Previous winners include Josef Fritzl and Stannis Baratheon)
Sanctimonious much?

He's an adult. He'll smoke whether I buy them or not. And if he's going to smoke, I'd rather he smoked fags with a certain provenance than potentially lethal cheapo knock-offs from some Albanian on the Holloway Road.

HRL

3,358 posts

248 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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Thales said:
Is that Sarri on the left?
laugh Probably.

slipstream 1985

13,755 posts

208 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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psi310398 said:
daddy cool said:
You get my vote for Father of The Year 2020.

(Previous winners include Josef Fritzl and Stannis Baratheon)
Sanctimonious much?

He's an adult. He'll smoke whether I buy them or not. And if he's going to smoke, I'd rather he smoked fags with a certain provenance than potentially lethal cheapo knock-offs from some Albanian on the Holloway Road.
3rd place though not bad.

oceanview

1,631 posts

160 months

Sunday 16th February 2020
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legal crack-heads- both addictions.