Exactly fifteen years ago, the smoking ban in the catering industry came into effect. Owner Jac van Dongen (67) of café De Klomp in Etten-Leur fought against the ban for a long time. He eventually had to accept it and quit smoking himself. According to him, that was the start of a snowball effect that leads to loneliness and the disappearance of the brown café in the street scene.
“I went out with a denim jacket and a pack of tobacco in my pocket when I was sixteen,” laughs Jac. He looks back on a time in the hospitality industry that was ‘much freer’. “That was normal then, about fifty years ago. The youth of today is used to smoke-free catering.”
On July 1, 2008, smoking was banned in the catering industry. Jac didn’t let it go over his side and tried to turn the tide. In his cafe people continued to smoke for years. “The last fine fell on the mat in 2016. I really couldn’t pay it then. We’ve come a long way, but the government got us on our knees.”
“I see more and more professional brothers dropping out.”
The cigarette had an ‘economic importance’. That was also the reason that Jac participated in many protests. “Unfortunately they didn’t do anything, but I have absolutely no regrets about the protest. Those were good times to stand up for the same interest together. The sad thing is that I see more and more professional brothers dropping out. The café on the corner is to disappear.”
The number of brown cafes is decreasing. There are still about five thousand left in the Netherlands. According to Jac, it is a snowball effect that started with the ban on smoking. “People then just stay at home to light a cigarette. The addiction has not diminished, but has simply moved. I also see it in the crowds in the summer. Then everyone is outside to smoke. In the winter it is quiet. Nobody goes out in the cold.”
“All forms of pleasure in life are taken away.”
Jac also stopped himself. “From one day to the next, not too long after the ban. It was impossible if you had to go outside all the time to smoke. Of course it is also a lot healthier, but people are also more likely to isolate themselves without smoking.”
Jac is also not tender about the upcoming alcohol ban at sports clubs. “It is horrible that people who exercise once a week are not even allowed to drink a beer afterwards. All forms of enjoyment in life are taken away from them, there is too much interference from the government.”
Jac says that it can get very quiet at the bar anyway. “All the guests go out. That’s terrible for the bartender standing there alone.”
“A beer and a cigarette are social binders.”
According to Jac, the disappearance of the brown cafés is just one consequence. According to him, another problem that has arisen from the smoking ban is loneliness among young people. “The brown cafe is a social binder. A beer and a cigarette are that too. It’s that you do it together. People keep doing it anyway, only now in solitude.”
After 41 years he is still in the café and if it is up to Jac he will stay there for the time being. “Bringing people together makes the profession so beautiful. That social and connecting factor are my motivation.”
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