Sign of the times?My friend Mrs H and I went out on Saturday night , by invitation again, to hear our friend Mr.D sing (or Tom Jones 2 as he has been christened by another friend). We went to the social club that Mrs H has just joined as a member. It is a very smart club, unlike some that we have been to this year!
The room was filled with cheerful, chatty people all high on Bingo of which we were part .... well Mrs H was, I certainly had the tickets (five ... all joined together!) far to much for my poor brain to cope with. Mr D, still in casual clothes before his performance, came to my rescue, he marked my tickets for me and tried to show me how to take a logical approach to it all. Meanwhile, Mrs H was methodically crossing off all her numbers like a trouper. Mr. D was amused at my efforts, while I was totally bemused!! After all that, no money was won on our table, which seems to be about par for the course in this game!
The last time we were there, a woman who was really drunk, verbally 'insulted' us (and others I suspect) so we sat as far away from that side of the room as we could in case she showed up again (which she did, but she didn't spot us ...thankfully) we had enough trouble on our hands with our neighbours when they took their seats. A really weird married couple, not too young, who were 'three sheets to the wind', but not abusive ..... in fact they were quite funny. They danced every dance. He looked like a 'daddy long legs' and moved like Lurch from the Adams family, she could hardly stand, but managed to stay on her feet ....well almost, it was compelling viewing I can tell you, Even poor old Mr. D had to do a Frankie Vaughn 'kick' to get our attention! By the end of the evening we were their best friends. A committee member that Mrs.H knows suggested that the next time that we go there, we stay away from any weirdo's ......... well we don't invite them, they just seem to be drawn to us!
Mr. D had more time to spend with us last night as he had a back up act, so I mentioned to him that there were not so many people in the club as I had seen previously. He replied that the smoking ban is dragging business down. Regulars are turning their backs on the clubs, instead they are choosing to drink at home where they can smoke in peace.
Across Wales membership has plummeted as the price of supermarket alcohol gets cheaper and cheaper. Originally the government was in favour of making private member clubs exempt from the no smoking law, which would have meant members could have carried on smoking in Workingmen's/Social clubs, but the House of Commons threw out the idea before the legislation was passed.
Whatever anyone thinks of the 'No Smoking law', good or bad, I feel it is a great shame that we are seeing this long tradition of Workingman's/Social clubs diminish due mainly to Government legislation.
The room was filled with cheerful, chatty people all high on Bingo of which we were part .... well Mrs H was, I certainly had the tickets (five ... all joined together!) far to much for my poor brain to cope with. Mr D, still in casual clothes before his performance, came to my rescue, he marked my tickets for me and tried to show me how to take a logical approach to it all. Meanwhile, Mrs H was methodically crossing off all her numbers like a trouper. Mr. D was amused at my efforts, while I was totally bemused!! After all that, no money was won on our table, which seems to be about par for the course in this game!
The last time we were there, a woman who was really drunk, verbally 'insulted' us (and others I suspect) so we sat as far away from that side of the room as we could in case she showed up again (which she did, but she didn't spot us ...thankfully) we had enough trouble on our hands with our neighbours when they took their seats. A really weird married couple, not too young, who were 'three sheets to the wind', but not abusive ..... in fact they were quite funny. They danced every dance. He looked like a 'daddy long legs' and moved like Lurch from the Adams family, she could hardly stand, but managed to stay on her feet ....well almost, it was compelling viewing I can tell you, Even poor old Mr. D had to do a Frankie Vaughn 'kick' to get our attention! By the end of the evening we were their best friends. A committee member that Mrs.H knows suggested that the next time that we go there, we stay away from any weirdo's ......... well we don't invite them, they just seem to be drawn to us!
Mr. D had more time to spend with us last night as he had a back up act, so I mentioned to him that there were not so many people in the club as I had seen previously. He replied that the smoking ban is dragging business down. Regulars are turning their backs on the clubs, instead they are choosing to drink at home where they can smoke in peace.
Across Wales membership has plummeted as the price of supermarket alcohol gets cheaper and cheaper. Originally the government was in favour of making private member clubs exempt from the no smoking law, which would have meant members could have carried on smoking in Workingmen's/Social clubs, but the House of Commons threw out the idea before the legislation was passed.
Whatever anyone thinks of the 'No Smoking law', good or bad, I feel it is a great shame that we are seeing this long tradition of Workingman's/Social clubs diminish due mainly to Government legislation.
No comments:
Post a Comment