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April 20, 2008
Smoke free?
German restaurants and pubs went smoke free recently. Smoke free in theory, that is. Mausi cannot understand why it is apparently such a problem in Germany when Ireland, England, Scotland and even Italy went smoke free without a problem. The Irish even invented a new form of social intercourse - smirting, a combination of smoking and flirting or what else would you do if you have to go outside for a smoke?
In Germany there have been endless discussions in all the different Federal States. Each state wanted have some sort of exemptions or at least modifications to the law. Rhineland-Palatinate started the ban on smoking later than the others because they were afraid inn keepers were going to loose too much money during the carnival season because people would stay away from pubs if they weren't allowed to smoke there. Bavaria wanted the strictest of all laws in the first place and were even going to ban smoking in the big tents at the famous Munich Oktoberfest. But after the last elections in Bavaria a few months ago where the dominating party lost a lot of votes they are going to lift the ban on smoking a bit and allow smoking in tents again.
Bavarian inn keepers are also very inventive on circumnavigating the law. Some of them founded smoking societies whose members meet in the former pubs. They are all issued a member card which they show when they are inspected by law enforcing agencies. The only draw back is that societies are not meant to make a profit. Mausi has no idea how they are going to get around that. Another proposal is to define smoke free and non smoke free restaurants and pubs. That seems a bit unfair, as the non smoke free ones would retain their old customers and the smoke free would have to look for new ones.
The inn keepers keep complaining that they will loose all their customers if smoking is forbidden. Nobody seems to give all the non smokers a thought who have stayed out of pubs for years because they couldn't bear all the smoke and stink which settled in their clothes. Mausi hadn't been to a pub for the last 25 years if she could avoid it. And she was really looking forward to being able to have a beer inside a pub again. Now it seems that the law that bans smoking will be so full of holes that it is not worth the paper it is written on.
Germans seem particularly good at making things as difficult as possible....
Posted by Mausi at April 20, 2008 07:18 PM
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Comments
raargh , 30 % of the euro people smoke.
start your own smoke free bar if you have a lust for that, but nooo you wanna lay up your will to someone else.
say you own a bar 70 % of your customers dont smoke and the other 30 % does.
you forbid the smoke and voila you still have a a great average score on your grades,
What you keep forgetting is custumer is KING so 30 % is seriously pissed off at you.
me smoking does not mean i bother you
avoid the smoke places start your own circuit, me forbidding to smoke irritates us much more.
what's next a vegetarian who can't stand me eating a porkchop?
Fuck the government fuck their rules.
Posted by: hemaworstje at April 21, 2008 06:23 PM