Smoking.
In principal I have no problem with it, so long as those who choose not to smoke are not affected. This appears to be the line that countries like Britain and New Zealand have taken in banning smoking "in enclosed or substantially enclosed public or work places" since July 2007. This prevents non-smokers from experiencing the dangers of passive smoking and retains their element of choice over the whole situation. The Germans and Austrians have other ideas, however, and it wasn't until living here that I actually began to seriously notice the difference.
In basic day to day life, smoking here takes a much higher place in normal public activity. Everywhere you go it can be as much as every other person who has lit up and is smoking their way down the high street, into a restaurant, in a taxi or at a football game. And when the street happens to be empty of real life smokers, posters and adverts everywhere are promoting the tar enriched products at reduced prices through images of beautiful looking women and perfect happy couples.
Here this seems completely normal and what really gets me is the number of people smoking around very young, or young, children. Mothers pushing prams will stop, light up, and then grab the hand of their toddlers before continuing, pram and cigarette in one hand and child in the other. It's been a long time since I've seen that in Britain and certainly not as often as I see it here.
Amongst students too there is a growing smoking epidemic and no wonder. The constant exposure to advertising and the ease of purchase makes them easy prey for the tobacco companies who recognise this growing sector as a massive profit margin. Playing with lives to make money. There are cigarette machines on many streets and at the supermarket the tobacco and cigarette sections are right by the till, all you have to do is push the button of your desired brand and it drops right onto the belt ready to be paid for and I have never seen an ID been shown, or any questions asked. Ok at the machines outside you need to swipe a valid 16+ ID card but with no one there to control or oversee the machines all it takes is one friend over 16 or one fake ID and you can get your hands on as many cigarettes as you like.
I guess it's only because I am a non-smoker that I notice these things as after sitting in a smoke filled restaurant or cafe, I notice the smell on my clothes and in my hair for days afterwards even after washing. Or even when my 11. or 12. Klasse arrive for my lesson I can smell it on their clothes as they walk past to their seats.
The tide is changing, however, and now most restaurants for example will either out-rightly declare they are non-smoking or they will at least sit the smokers together, away from the rest of the room as was normal pre
2007 in the UK. But the figures are still high. Germany has one of the highest numbers of smokers in all of Europe with the number of cigarettes smoked per adult per year (average) standing at 1,045 compared to Britain's 750. These vending machines I mentioned earlier are also demonstrative of the phenomenon as Germany has the highest number of cigarette vending machines per capita with 800,000 per 82 million people. In a comparative survey of medical students in Goettingen and London, it was found that around 23% of the German medical students smoked compared to the 10% ratio of London medical students.
This is one of those things that moving to another country teaches you. It's not something you're going to read in a guide book or even a text book but it's evidently a much bigger part of their culture out here and probably says more about the hyper-sensitive and over-protective Britain than it does about the more relaxed Europeans. For my part, it's an aspect of the culture here which baffles me as for a nation so obsessed with their health and good living, to be so dependent on things which are not only expensive but have serious medical drawbacks, feels a little non-compliant and will probably remain so until I leave in June.
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