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The Disappearance of the Ashtray

clivethompson.medium.com

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Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#201

Post by ornornor »

bombolo wrote: post #189
sen wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard disagree. I flew lots in the 80s and you could be halfway back in the non-smoking section and still smell it constantly. They had curtains separating the smoking/non-smoking sections but so many people went back/forth that their body movement would “drag” the smoke back down the aisle with them as they walked. Then on top of that the smokers going back to the bathroom would make sure they’d taken a huge puff bef…

Smoker's people sense of smell is severely compromised. They have no clue how strong the smell is.

I suspect they also don’t really want to know how strong and obnoxious the smell is to the rest of us.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#202

Post by gnicholas »

j33zusjuice wrote: post #199
gnicholas wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah it's funny we still talk about plugging into a cigarette lighter, even though they haven't come with actual cigarette lighters in them for quite some time (at least here in California).

I haven’t seen one in a new car in more than ten years. I do not live in CA, though, I live in the US. I think they just stopped adding them all together. Why spend an extra $0.01 per car (or whatever it really costs) when most people don’t need or want the lighter?

Unable to take off my lawyer hat, I assumed it was because of the risk of lawsuits from customers who accidentally burned themselves or started fires.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#205

Post by ornornor »

microtherion wrote: post #21
j_m_b wrote: post #7

It's tough to portray just how ubiquitous smoking was to a modern audience. You would go to a restaurant and the first thing your hostess would ask is "smoking or non"? I remember standing in a checkout line in the 80s as a child and being fascinated with the billowing clouds of smoke an old lady blew. I remember coming home from bars reeking of smoke, even though I didn't. Even teachers had their own lounges that re…

> You would go to a restaurant and the first thing your hostess would ask is "smoking or non"? I remember being asked this the first time I visited the US in the early 1990. To me, this was downright progressive: In Switzerland, at the time, you did NOT have the choice of a non-smoking section available.

I moved to Switzerland recently and I was very unpleasantly surprised at the general attitude towards smoking here.

It’s routine to see someone hold an infant or child in one hand and a smoke in the other.

It’s technically forbidden to smoke in train stations but there is no enforcement and people will smoke everywhere anyway. Same thing for underground parkings. The “rule” seems to be that if you can somehow see the outside and it’s not separated by a door/window, then you’re “outside” and can smoke…

Terrasses in bars and restaurants are basically a giant smoke cloud as the smoke gets trapped under the umbrellas/awnings for everyone (children included) to enjoy.

Smoking right in front of entrances and windows is a national sport.

Advertisement for tobacco and vapes is allowed and ubiquitous.

So many people are smokers in CH (all ages), it’s impossible to go out without coming back reeking of cold smoke.

You can’t really enjoy a balcony or open window because everyone else around smokes and it’ll get into your living quarters.

This was such a major disappointment. I imagined Switzerland having clean air and low pollution… well, far from it. I don’t smoke and I’ve never smoked as much through other peoples second hand smoke as here. Ditto car exhaust.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#206

Post by endominus »

TylerE wrote: post #137
JackFr wrote: post #56

I inherited from my dad an ashtray made from the end if a three inch artillery shell. As an ensign in the US Navy in 1960, he had a machinists mate make one for him by cutting the end of the shell down and then welding bent pennies onto it for the cigarette holder portion. My favorite detail was that it was stamped 1944 on the bottom. “But dad, you were in the Navy in the 1960’s?” “They made a LOT of shells in 1944”

On a morbid note, they made so many Purple Hearts for the planned invasion of Japan in 1945 that they haven’t needed to make more since.

I don't see how that's morbid. They thought a lot more people would be injured or killed than actually were. Isn't that the opposite of morbid?

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#207

Post by gnicholas »

todfox wrote: post #139
gnicholas wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happens to immigrants or tourists? Is vaping included? I don't smoke but am curious about how this type of phase out system works.

Why should anyone care? Let them tough it out.

I imagine industries that depend on tourism would care, if a decent chunk of potential tourists are smokers. I personally would prefer if there were no smokers (I have asthma), but I could understand that tourism-focused industries would be concerned about turning off groups of tourists that include at least one smoker.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#208

Post by chongli »

csomar wrote: post #200
jacobsenscott wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The navy didn't ban smoking on subs until 2010. That must have been something.

But subs get deployed for 6 months at a time. Unless they banned smokers from getting into subs??

You don't have to ban smokers to ban smoking on a sub. Smokers don't have to smoke, they merely choose to do so.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#209

Post by ornornor »

cookrn wrote: post #129
jasonwatkinspdx wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, smoking was everywhere. I remember flying when you could smoke. But the main thing is the smell of stale cigarette smoke was just like this undercurrent of any public place you went. Everyone's car. Churches. Everywhere it was that smell. Also at least where I was in KS, store clerks didn't give a crap. We could buy smokes in middle school if we wanted. Thankfully I never did more than a brief fascination with…

People would smoke in church? During the service?

“Hey, if god didn’t want me to smoke he shouldn’t have invented cigarettes”

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#210

Post by lynx23 »

j_m_b wrote: post #7

It's tough to portray just how ubiquitous smoking was to a modern audience. You would go to a restaurant and the first thing your hostess would ask is "smoking or non"? I remember standing in a checkout line in the 80s as a child and being fascinated with the billowing clouds of smoke an old lady blew. I remember coming home from bars reeking of smoke, even though I didn't. Even teachers had their own lounges that re…

Only the obvious visible things have changed so that the masses have nothing to cry about.

Smoking around the local hospital is forbidden for a few years now, for everyone. However, if you look closely, you can easily see the spotts where the nurses still flock together to get some relief from the stress put on them. Officially not allowed, but everyone accepts the facts and lets the nurses cool down when they need to.

I am glad I life here, its slowly going nuts, but still has some sense left.

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