Men over 60 are the loneliest generation in history.
Not because they’re unlikeable. Not because they’re
difficult. Because the structures that kept them
connected — work, sport, mates — quietly disappeared
one by one and nobody told them how to replace them.
Walk into almost any pub or club in Australia and you’ll notice something.
The smoking area is where the real conversations happens.
Someone steps outside for a cigarette or vape and within 30 seconds someone says “How’s it going?”
That’s it. Conversation started.
I’ve seen it hundreds of times.
Man over 60 walks into the pub or club. Buys a drink. Sits down alone. No one to talk to, watches the sport on TV. No one to celebrate his teams win with. Game ends. He walks out. Lonely man.
Meanwhile, his twin walks into the same bar, buys his beer, walks into the smoking area. Instantly the conversations starts. Where you from mate?, watching the footy? Conversation flows, other people come and go. Its lively, he is meeting new people. He talks to the locals, finds new places to go, maybe even meet the woman of his dreams.
Sometimes it turns into a friendship.
Sometimes it turns into a phone number.
Sometimes you just get good local knowledge from a stranger.
I met my last partner in a smoking area. I was with my mates on a golf trip to a strange town. We were in another area of the bar. Each time she went for I smoke, I went out too. We chatted, I invited her inside to play a game of pool and Voila, love bloomed.
Meanwhile, plenty of non-smokers stay inside, sit on their own, stare at their phone, and leave without talking to anyone.
The smoking area forces a kind of social interaction that the rest of the venue doesn’t.
It’s one of the last places left where strangers still talk to each other without it feeling forced.
You don’t have to like smoking. This post would be silly if I was trying to encourage people into an unhealthy habbit.
But you can’t ignore the social reality of it.
In Australia, a packet of 20 Benson and Hedges cost at the supermarket $AU67. Thats 35 British pounds or US$50. Thats why the illegal smoke shops proliferate in Australia where a pack of 20 costs around 15 Australian Dollars.
In my one pub 2 bar town, the smoking area of the pub has the best views of the Marina, the Golf club smoking area has the best view of the town towards the Ocean, The other club just has a great vibe.
There is something to be said about the advantage of popping into the smoking area of your local Australian bar. You never know who you will meet. Or you could just stay inside the bar, sit on your own and be bored.