16 December 2009: Secret smoking nans and the families who pretend not to notice

Secret smoking nans

Scott had been warned that a friend’s grandmother secretly smoked but denied it completely.

She ran the hot tap in the kitchen so that steam mixed with the cigarette smoke, then emerged claiming the smell came from builders outside. The entire family had learned to avoid confronting her and behave as though they believed the explanation.

Listeners reported remarkably similar grandmothers who denied smoking, claimed not to inhale or changed their story depending on who challenged them.

Oh, What’s Occurring?

The game counted the excuses or tested how many members of the public believed a deliberately weak explanation for the smell of cigarettes.