I still can't buy booze or fags without feeling a bit naughty
and half expecting to get asked for ID.

I am 33 and have greying hair. The last time I was asked for ID was in my mid-twenties. I just have a guilty nature.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 13:13, 21 replies)

I expect that naughty feeling comes from the fact that because of the millions of pounds spent on increasing awareness of the health impacts of smoking and the burden that it places on our already strained health service you know that you shouldn't smoke.
And yet you continue to do so.
( 2 Can Chunder Word to your mums, I came to prod bums, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 14:07, closed)

He didn't say he smokes.
He probs just sells them to kids in the swing park, so no harm done.
Oh, and your 'because' should be 'despite'.
( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Mon 2 Feb 2015, 14:55, closed)

No, it should be 'because', but thanks anyway.

( 2 Can Chunder Word to your mums, I came to prod bums, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 14:59, closed)

You're right. My apologies.
Just couldn't believe that by the time I got to the end I was still in the same sentence
( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Mon 2 Feb 2015, 16:13, closed)

Would it help if I randomly stuck a couple of commas in there for you?

( 2 Can Chunder Word to your mums, I came to prod bums, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 17:10, closed)

You know where you can stick your commas.

( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Mon 2 Feb 2015, 18:38, closed)

I actually quit back in November
but the thing I miss most about smoking is that it pisses off sanctimonious twats, so thanks for the reminder.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 15:12, closed)

sanctimonious twats health professionals
( 2 Can Chunder Word to your mums, I came to prod bums, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 15:21, closed)

Them
too.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 15:37, closed)

I thought that they were two and the same thing.

( spanishfly is so fucking sexy people impersonate him, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 17:44, closed)

Sanctimonious twat
can be abbreviated to 'St.' as in 'St. Peter' or 'St. Paul'.
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 22:58, closed)

Well done you.
22 years and counting here.
( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Mon 2 Feb 2015, 16:18, closed)

Might be tempting fate
but I've actually been surprised how easy it is (once past a certain point). I'm barely even tempted anymore.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 16:37, closed)

The NHS would be even more strained if everyone suddenly quit smoking.
It would take years for the harmful medical effects to dissipate (costing an estimated 5 billion annually), but the loss of revenue would kick in almost instantly (12 billion annually).
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 15:35, closed)

Yes, if the government decided to cut NHS funding if tax revenue dropped. The two are not directly linked.

( 2 Can Chunder Word to your mums, I came to prod bums, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 15:53, closed)

No, not linked directly.
But there would be a £12 billion hole in the country's budget, at a time when the NHS happens to be squeezed.

Does that sound likely to put the government in a position to help the NHS out?
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 16:11, closed)

That's the first time I've ever seen someone take issue with that "fag tax funds the NHS" defence.
It's almost like you know what you're talking about.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 16:20, closed)

Don't worry,
the best he managed was the "but these aren't exactly the same pound coins" objection.
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 17:01, closed)

*sigh*

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 20:06, closed)

*sigh*

( FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Tue 3 Feb 2015, 23:01, closed)

I'm glad I'm not the only one.
I'm fast approaching 40 but the last time somebody asked me for ID without joking* was only a couple of years ago in the local small supermarket jobby -- they did so just because of how I mumbled as I was trying to ask for the booze. Of course, being that I looked at least 30 they worked it out but it reminded me of how many times I was ID'd in my youth.

*the time before that when I was asked for ID the guy cracked up a few seconds after I said "Erm, no?" thinking it was some weird Midlands law about identification and alcohol sales. Thinking back I ought to have berated him for assuming that I, at around 32 at the time, was so definately "over 18" and that was funny.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Mon 2 Feb 2015, 18:28, closed)