It was very cold and wet when we left Edinburgh and boarded the bus bound for Glasgow – got to the bus station around 8.55 am. Alas the 9.00 bus got filled up with all the people in front of us so we had to wait until the next at 9.15.
When we arrived at Buchanan St bus station the rain was off but it was still bitterly cold. So off we trudged to the subway station to get to Partick. The first pub we went to was The Three Judges – it was not too busy but people were very interested to listen to us, ‘We want to help,’ one said, ‘let’s get some changes made to this silly ban. ‘What about our pensioners?’ another said, ‘it’s too cold for them to keep popping out for a fag.’ ‘Did Jack even think of his war heroes that have smoked all their lives? Don’t think so, now they can’t even enjoy a pint with their mates in the warmth of their local.’
"Up Dumbarton Road we went going into every pub on the way, only to be welcomed with open arms – the same response in every pub. ‘Yes, we want to help, what do we need to do?’ they asked. So we left petitions and flyers including contact details with all the managers, so they can become involved.
We must have been in 12 pubs and spent some time in each one explaining it all to people. Got back to Edinburgh around 7.45 pm and felt it had all worth it even though we were very tired.
We must keep this up and spread the word by going out in amongst our smokers all over Scotland, not everyone has internet and the pensioners most certainly don’t. We have thousands of smokers out there who want to help send this ban back to hell and go for Indoor Air Quality Standards.
I fully intend to go back to Partick and hopefully we will be having a meeting there to help our campaign. I am sure there are enough bodies in our forum to pair up and take an area each to spread the word in. The backing is there but people need to know all about what is happening. Let’s not sit on our laurels over this one because we must strike while the iron is hot.
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