There's an opening line from the novel The Go Between which runs 'the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there'. I studied the book as a teenager and was entranced by the romance (and the saucy scenes). But reader, the older I get, the more accurate that introduction sounds. I think we can all look back into our collective past and think: 'did we really do that?' Did we really not wear seatbelts as a matter of course until the 'Clunk Click Every Trip' campaign launched? Did girls with long wavy hair really use an iron to straighten their locks? Did we really as kids all play out – down by the canal, on the old slag heap, three streets or three miles away – with no parental oversight? Well yes, we did.
Was society better or worse for it?
I suspect that's a very subjective argument and a bit like comparing apples with pears; similar but very different. We've moved on and this week it felt as though we'd taken the final step into a truly modern world with the news that children aged 17 or younger will face a lifelong ban on buying cigarettes.
The landmark legislation comes as part of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and aims to stop anyone born after January 1, 2009, from taking up smoking by making it illegal for shops to sell them tobacco, so creating a smoke-free generation. At long, long last. This should help to transform the nation's health. True, we have come a long way since the days when everyone smoked and you could light up anywhere – in pubs, workplaces, on buses – even on aircraft.
A personal reflection on smoking's past
In my first job, one of the photographers permanently had a ciggie hanging out of his mouth – despite being surrounded by dark room chemicals – while most of my relatives puffed away like chimneys. In fact if they were all gathered in the same room, a Victorian fog would descend within the hour. Even the budgie had a cough. But then as a society we started to learn more about the catastrophic health effects of cigarettes.
There were anti-smoking campaigns and nicotine patches and, of late, vapes to help people give up the weed. It's not been enough, though. Smoking still leads to 400,000 hospital admissions and 64,000 deaths a year in England alone. It is estimated to cost the NHS £3bn in treatments for tobacco-related illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.
But I'd say I've noticed more young people than ever using cigarettes. They call it 'social smoking'. I'd say it is playing with fire.
A turning point for public health
Now this new move will also ban vapes and nicotine products from being branded, promoted and advertised to children. That means ultimately kids will grow up free from the harm tobacco causes. This feels like a key turning point for public health. The end of smoking is now no longer uncertain but inevitable.
One more thing...
We're now weeks away from the arrival of the patter of tiny feet and my official transition into grandmotherhood. But will I be granny? Grandma? Nan? It's become the pressing concern. 'Granny' feels a bit old – also, I can't knit and do not own a pinny. Someone suggested 'glamma' or 'grams' but neither works for me. I had a 'nin' as a child - a 4ft 10in force of nature – but that now sounds a bit last century. Then I read about 'nonnamaxxing' – the adoption of the lifestyle of an Italian 'nonna' or grandma in order to live longer, given there are more women in Italy over 100 than almost anywhere else in the world. So think eating tonnes of homemade pasta, keeping active and knowing everyone's business while sitting on a hard chair on your front step. Nonna it is then. Although I resolutely refuse to wear a floral cotton dress with a hair net.
