Smoking Ban Hurts Flatulent Bar Patron

Back when comedian Steve Martin was in his "wild and crazy guy" days, he had a bit in his show concerning smoking. Someone would ask him "do you mind if I smoke?", to which Martin would reply "do you mind if I fart?" Well, for one flatulent bar patron, a ban on smoking has revealed his secret and gotten him banned from his favorite watering hole:

Scotland's ban on smoking in pubs has backfired, so to speak, on a regular customer whose constant habit of breaking wind has now resulted in his expulsion from his favorite watering hole.

Stewart Laidlaw, 35, is being barred from Thirsty Kirsty's in Dunfermline, Fife, for failing to control his flatulence.

"No one could smell anything when the pub was full of cigarette smoke," Laidlaw told Wales on Sunday. "I never used to complain about the smell of their cigarette smoke, but now everyone complains about me. It's just a natural thing. What can I do about it? I must be the first person in the country to get banned from a pub for passing wind. But it's not a title I want. I certainly don't see it as funny."

The pub's owner is crying foul, saying the stench has become unbearable since the country's smoking ban went into effect last year. He thinks drinkers could have been breathing in the waft for years without ever noticing it.

When you eat stuff out of sheep stomachs, you shouldn't be surprised if some gas results.