Tim Blair

LISTEN UP, Mayor Bloomertunes: Caringbah

LISTEN UP, Mayor Bloomertunes:

Caringbah RSL tried to quit, but found it just couldn't give up.

Eleven months after becoming entirely smoke-free, the club is reintroducing smoking in parts of its premises.

At first things seemed to be going well: the club moved to a renovated building next to the old premises last May, and membership rose from 2000 to 7000.

But the new members just didn't spend much money. And they certainly did not seem to gamble.

So chief executive Brad Pearson is welcoming back the happy, free-spending smoking people:

"We would love to be able to stay non-smoking, but we've just had to open it up to smokers.

"Otherwise we won't be here in two years."

New York City, welcome to your future.

Posted by Tim Blair at April 22, 2003 02:25 AM