My next door neighbour when I was a kid had a similar story. He was horrified by the waste, as I think it might have been wartime. They brought in a fuel bowser and just opened the valve and got the brooms out
Exactly - papers full of how everyone has to save everything and petrol being very tightly controlled
for the good of the country during the war
but if a senior officer is coming round then precious fuel becomes a floor cleaner to make it look all smart for him
and the point about cigarette is a valid one - everyone smoked in those days
In fact my Dad said he never actually liked smoking and only started in the war as you needed to "to fit in"
They did spend a lot of time sitting around in a shed in the middle of the airfield waiting for bombers to come back
drinking tea and smoking was all there was to do
