“I remember old threads claiming smoking didn’t stink.”
Smoke and you won’t have to smell it!!!!!
I remember flying before a TSA idiot made me take off my shoes.
I’m shocked that the NYTimes would dig up some stupid bozo to criticize smoking.
Shocked I say!
You need to qualify that with the year you are talking about.
I grew up with many family members that smoked, and there was no smell to anything that had been in the room. Of course this was in the 1950’s and early 60’s.
A funny thing happened when the ‘low tar’ and ‘low nicotine’ cigarettes started showing up - smell. I have a sister in law that smokes like a chimney and so help me you can smell her house from the backyard. Likewise I have memories of playing checkers and riding on a tractor with my grandfather while he smoked his hand rolled Bull Durham - and no smell at all.
Our son worked for UAL at the SFO Maintenance Base years ago. He told us that the air cycle a/c system filters on the United planes were a difficult to maintain with smokers on the planes. Also to try and maintain some semblance of fresh air, the planes had to cycle through more outside air which cost fuel to create because it had to be compressed to maintain cabin pressurization. I also remember when the non-smokers were “treated to seats in the aft cabin and a cross-country flight was more like spending six hours in a bar. Smoking, one of life’s filthiest habits.
Making cigarettes basically illegal was an important step.
We were a better country when most people smoked. That's not a comment about tobacco. That's a comment about freedom.
I remember my flight from San Antonio to Chicago back in 1966.
Got aboard, the NO SMOKING light was on. As soon as we were airborne, the NO SMOKING light went out and the smokers grabbed for the cigarettes. Within a minute you could not see from my seat to the front of the plane.
I found the air vent and turned it on me to get some air, it was that bad! After about 20 minutes the air began to clear some, but was never clear as so many chain smokers were still lighting up.
Smoking was everywhere. Doctor’s offices, hospital waiting rooms, cafeterias. buses, There was no respite.
In the 1970s some cafeterias set off portions for NON SMOKING so people could still taste their food. Problem was, you had to walk through the smoking area to get to it.
Ahh, the good old days. I’ve been around long enough to have smoked in a hospital bed (bummed a cig off the nurse) after knee surgery. There used to be ashtrays in some doctor’s waiting rooms, too. I quit a long time ago.
Flying was civilized back then.
My husband and I were just talking about this with our teen son. Booking a flight and sitting in the “nonsmoking” section on an airplane. What a joke it was! People smoking at the mall, in restaurants, everywhere. IMO the advent of making smoking less available is one of the few benefits of living in the 21st century. (Donning flameproof.. And smoke proof.. Suit.)
Great days before the Government Nazis. I remember traveling on an airliner in the 1980s with my then new wife as we smoked in the plane half way across the country.
I recently saw “The High and the Mighty.” (That was the movie that was spoofed by “Airplane”). Back in the old days when it took 8 hours to fly from Honolulu to San Francisco at 8 thousand feet, the passengers could smoke and bring a loaded handgun on board. Those were the days.
I remember when there was a “Smoker mafia” here that would descend on any thread critical of smoking. They were vicious.
I remember when air travel was civilized. Passengers were treated as valued customers. There was food, friendly service, and yes, you could sit back and light up a smoke.
God, I miss those days.
L
I seem to recall someone once saying that on Aeroflot, the left side of the plane was smoking, and the right side was non-smoking.
Those bad old days when there were stewardesses and you weren't just cattle.
America was a better country when they allowed cigarette commercials, and banned lawyer commercials.