SIMON NOTT blog: No Smoking

Back in the day, and I do realise I’m harking to back in the day a fair bit, I used to travel around Europe with bands, writes SIMON NOTT.

Predominantly one band, a hybrid of punk and rockabilly The Frantic Flintstones who boasted a crazed lead singer named Chuck and a rotating rhythm section which sometimes included Gary Day on double bass who also played more lucratively with Morrissey.

We made some good friends in Germany, after being invited to a birthday party Chuck and I found ourselves on a Sudan Airways flight to Frankfurt to attend the bash. Older readers may remember that ‘Bucket Shops’ were the precursor to budget airlines.

You got cheaper flights but were somewhat likely to end up travelling with an airline less travelled, Sudan Airways was care of the Didcot bucket shop. Apparently it was so unusual for people to be getting off at the Frankfurt refueling stop that when it came to our cases, someone literally carried them to the plane and threw them in the hold where they could find them.

The flight’s ultimate destination was Khartoum and appeared to be filled with people from that region.

Chuck and I stood out a bit, though were made most welcome but were horrified to learn that the flight was alcohol free. The plus side was we were delighted when the smoking sign lit up, along with most of the passengers including Chuck and I shortly after take off. Did I mention my heart bypass last year, yeah, nice one Simon 1993 version.

Smoking had been banned from most airlines prior to that date so being able to spark up was a novelty though neither of us were frequent flyers. It was another decade or more before smoking was banned from enclosed places as in buildings in the UK. Remember the horrible smell of an unsmoked in pub the first few weeks after the ban? That gasper smell hid a multitude of sins. Quite strangely I thought at the time, there wasn’t really much rebellion in the way of people defiantly lighting up, that special huddle of the united addicted stood outside in all weathers soon became a familiar one. People just accepted the new normal and lived with it.

I have been betting on a regular basis on other people’s advice for decades, it was normal for me to drop everything when a text pinged through to get my modest stakes on the best I could. Nothing stays the same though, a combination of a bad run and just getting fed up with having so many bets on races I wasn’t even going to watch promoted a change in my habits. Apart from still following in some very selective judges whose advices are sparingly dished out, I’ve pretty much stopped betting.

That’s someone that’s been in the game 30-odd years and betting for over 40. I’m sure most people are like me, the huge majority certainly aren’t addicted and would soon find something else to do with their time and money should betting become to much hassle, intrusive or God forbid, illegal.

Back to smoking, I was on a train from Wokingham to Reading on Monday. There were a group of young lads on the train noisily pissed. I didn’t notice at first but some of them were smoking too, not vapes but real cigarettes. I was quite shocked, well, you don’t see it anymore so you. Nobody would think about lighting up on train, apart from these lads of course. It wasn’t even a quick puff, these chaps luxuriously puffed their way through whole tailormade fags and casually flicked the butts out of the window.

Nobody said a word, I’d already worked out the odds of me not coming second in a fracas, let’s just say I know when to stay quiet. I’m assuming that’s what the rest of the passenger’s deduced too. I’d have thought someone from the railway might have had a word but there was no officialdom to be seen.

Wouldn’t that be the same with betting and people who are no longer allowed to bet, for whatever reason? The ones that have to, or just don’t like being told what to do will bet anyway. Who is going to police the no betting laws should they be brought in?

Once the victory party of the pious campaigners had finished and they’d set their sights on something else fun to ban, who would care? The people addicted to gambling will still get their fix from plenty of illegal opportunists and nobody will be there to either care or protect them.

I get the impression very few people campaigning actually care either, it’s more drive to show they can inflict their will so will, but unlike banning smoking, it’s all a bit hollow isn’t it?

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Views of authors do not necessarily represent views of Star Sports Bookmakers.

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Simon Nott is author of: Skint Mob! Tales from the Betting Ring
available on Kindle CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

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