A hearty thanks to all those who took the trouble to comment so fulsomely on my 'belligerent smokers'™ blog last week.
An especially big shout goes out to my new-found chums down at Freedom2Choose, the smoking campaign group, for their sober assessment of my article.
There were some interesting arguments aimed at debunking my views. A few were quite reasonable, though many commentators preferred to robustly suggest I had mislaid my marbles, while others took rather predictable liberties with my surname. Oh how I laughed.
My personal favourite though was the comment from 'Steve', which simply read "Idiot". Oscar Wilde would have been proud of you mate.
Needless to say - but I'll say it anyway - I have not been swayed by anything I read in riposte to my meanderings.
Yes, the ban is affecting trade in some quarters. But it is unlikely to be revoked. Do people seriously want pubs to die out completely because of it? Can't they adjust?
Contrary to what those sitting on the top deck of the Clapham omnibus might think, I'm not anti-smoking. I used to smoke. If the habit didn't me make feel like sh*te and cough like a dog that had a cat stuck halfway down its throat I may still be doing it now.
I'm no 'reformed ex-smoker' either. I recall with affection going every week to the Marquee on London's Wardour Street in the late Seventies when, if I wasn't down the front jumping around with all the other 17 year-olds, I'd be standing at the back by the bar drinking pint after pint of watered-down lager from a scuzzy plastic glass and chain-smoking my way through a packet of 20 Silk Cut (Purple).
Happy days.
But times change. Would I have stopped going to gigs because I couldn't legally smoke in the auditorium? No.
So come on, until your dream of the ban being rescinded comes true do us all a favour and get back to your local pub. It needs you.
(*OK folks, that's it on this subject for a while...)