Try not lighting it up this summer

February 17th, 2006 | by: Afshin Afshar | Comments Off

Speaking about the German Government’s plan to launch a no smoking campaign during the World Cup, Sabine Baetzing, German government’s specialist on drug issues, said that she found the new legislation in Britain banning smoking in pubs, clubs, restaurants and private clubs to be “really quite strict”.

I don’t know what the British ban is like, but I live in California. I this state you can not smoke in any enclosed public areas. That means restaurants, pubs, buses, and yes even sports arenas.

Granted that I have never been a smoker, and don’t plan to be one in the future, I have to tell you that it is not too bad. You never have to worry about sitting in a restaurant, where the guy next to you puffs clouds of smoke up your nostrils when you are trying to smell the aroma of the delicious meal you have just ordered. You never end up sitting on cigar or cigarette ashes the guy sitting behind you in the Movie Theater or stadium dropped on your seat while you were out in the WC (no not the World Cup, the other WC!).

So I say to Ms. Baetzing and other German officials, “Try it, it is not that bad”.