Takin' it to the Streets

Brr ...


What is that chilly breeze blowing through town? Has Hell actually frozen over? That is a distinct possibility, because something has happened in France that I never thought I'd see in my lifetime ...

FRANCE HAS BANNED SMOKING IN ALL PUBLIC BUILDINGS !!!

Although the law came into effect on January 1st, they made a big deal of how they weren't going to enforce it until the 2nd, so that New Year's revelers could enjoy a few more puffs at the end of their evenings.


Although this trend has been spreading across the US for several years now, I never thought this country of Gauloise-loving*, café-clope-addicted* nicotinis (eew ... sounds like a really bad cocktail!) would ever jump on the band wagon.


Philipp likes to tell the story of how when he was at university, he was one of three students (out of a few hundred, I believe) who didn't smoke. On a routine visit to his doctor, he was told that he really should give up smoking. Philipp responded by explaining that his fellow students consistently puffed away until they reached the door of the lecture hall, and just the final exhalation and smoke remaining in their clothes was enough to give him a whopping dose of second-hand smoke. Yuck.


Oh, and I have a little story, too, which I think is a bit amusing. On one of my Sunday-morning long runs, I was heading down the sidewalk of Boulevard Foch ... the main street in Angers. I passed a group of waiters and waitresses having a café-clope at one of the outside tables before the lunch crowd showed up. As I passed, a waitress had just stood up and was walking over to the gutter to toss her butt. She asked me if she could join me. I just gave a smile and told her she'd have to give up smoking first. As I continued down the sidewalk, I heard laughter from the group at the table. (one point for me)


So this morning, being Sunday, I headed out on another long run. It was not too cold, but the humidity and imminent drizzle gave the air an extra chill. As I looked down the road in front of me, I was a bit surprised to see group of people standing in clusters at various spots along the sidewalk. It only took running through the cloud of smoke hovering around one of them to realize why they were out there. We were all outside on a rather yucky Sunday morning, but for very different reasons.


So I don't know how this law will really affect my everyday life. I fully support it, and look forward to sitting in a café when I want (not that I do it very often) and not come out smelling like an ashtray. But will I be able to walk or run down the streets without getting a lungful of smoke? Time will tell ...



*Gauloise: a popular brand of French cigarettes
*café-clope: slang for "coffee and a cigarette"