Smoke That Somewhere Else

Smoking has a bad rap in Canada and America, and I forgot what a progressive attitude that is until we moved to Austria. In North America, people smoke in the margins, almost apologetically, rightfully embarrassed at the error of their ways and promising themselves they'll quit one day. Now banned from bars, airports and rent cars, Canadian smokers are expected to nurse their habit out of doors, and even then far away from bystanders, especially children.

No such etiquette exists in Austria. People light up right in the bus shelter where the girls and I are sitting. The girls cough and whine, and the smoker takes absolutely no notice. If it bothers you, you're the one who's expected to move away.

I'd grumble less if the smoking rate in Austria were that of a civilized country, but these people are everywhere! I looked up the stats, and my guess was close: nearly half of Austrian adults smoke.

My annoyance level at any given man-made irritant is given by the general formula

The rudeness and frequency of Austrian smokers are both double what they are in Canada. Worse still, my tolerance for smoking is close to 0, which, as the divisor of the fraction, makes the final product enormous indeed.

\