mardi 11 septembre 2007
France is, as many people know, a place where a lot of people smoke. I am not sure if the percentage is different than in the US (I am guessing higher). What struck me when I first arrived here is the places that people smoked, where no one would ever smoke in the US, such as in national government office buildings. Thankfully Alain doesn't smoke.
However, when the French government decided to make all public places smoke free, starting February 1st I just had to laugh. Right- because people are actually going to OBEY the no smoking signs. I feel like asking people in the Metro "Excuse me, would you mind moving over to the left so I can get a picture of you smoking in front of the no smoking sign? Thanks so much." Whether restaurants will ever become smokefree remains to be seen. I highly doubt it.
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3 commentaires:
This is an interesting question, though...I suppose it points to the fact that the French, culturally speaking, are rebellious by nature. In NYC, people respected the smoking laws, and the fines gave business owners reason to enforce said laws.
Here's we have smoking laws, but the people still smoke everywhere and it's not like anyone is expected to actually respect the laws.
It really hasn't been that long since smoking was allowed in all US government office buildings. There are a lot of Parisian restos where smoking is no longer permitted and they're starting to become more popular.
The problem is the french have found a way around these laws : smokers get away with asking those nearby if smoke inconveniences them, something i dont understand. It's like asking people if they mind you hurting them. I'm a smoker and as i have not been living in a cave for the last 10 years i know second-hand smoking is harmful to others. I dont smoke around non-smokers, period.