June 30, 2009
Greece introduces smoking ban
“Faced with mass disobedience, which is an art form here, the authorities often give up and allow lawlessness to continue.”
Malcolm Brabant – BBC World
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7 Responses to “Greece introduces smoking ban”
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Oh, I can just imagine how this is going to go over.
“Greeks are not really used to following rules.” I noticed that.
You bet, Sheila. Like a shit sandwich!
I shall of course report back.
Well it was a pretty hard sell over here in Ireland too, but it’s working. At least it’s warm in Greece, so a lot of the restaurant tables are outside. If the police have any sense at all, they’ll target the fines at the restaurant and bar owners, so they have to handle the ‘civil disobedience’ thing on the front lines, themselves. It’s just such a pity that people decide to be revolting when it’s to do with the right to kill themselves nastily.
I expect that the deep pockets of the Greek enforcers will be bulging ‘ere long.
Seriously, though. If they can do it in Greece, they can do it in Denmark. They’re huge smokers there too. Fuck I’m all for the serious today. I need to dance, clearly.
That 40% number reminds me of the striking contrast I noticed between the two colleges where I did undergrad.
At Cobleskill, there was smoking everywhere. Despite laws in NY saying you couldn’t smoke within some distance of doorways, you were walking through clouds of smoke (and crowds of smokers) between ever class on the academic side. Fortunately they were really hard on smoking on the ag side, so I didn’t have to deal with it when we were outside working with the animals.
At Tech I remember being confused on the few occasions that I found myself bothered by smoke. I’m not sure whether there was just a lower prevalence or if everyone was just smoking somewhere else, but it was a beautiful thing. I felt healthier there than I ever did at Cobleskill (that one time when I got cancer notwithstanding).