Other parts of the EU like Ireland, Sweden and more have already adopted progressive smoking laws, barring it from public places and essentially stopping you from smoking anywhere that you may be polluting common air. You can not even smoke in a pub in Ireland! That seems extreme to me.
Germany still has smoking cars on trains, smoking rooms in our office, and smoking "areas" at the airport that are not enclosed in any way. You just stand under the sign and smoke. Most restaurants do not have non-smoking areas and this is one of the things that bugs me a lot. I cannot think of much else that ruins a nice meal than smokers nearby. I don't even like going out much here because every place you go is so packed with smoke that your clothes and hair will reek of it when you leave.
By and large, German smokers are pigs. Cigarette butts litter the ground in any central area and this concerns me greatly as the parent of a curious two year old. We have to be pretty careful that Liam is not picking up cigarette butts when we are out walking around.
The final straw for me is that Germany still has cigarette vending machines. This is something that we had in Canada in the late 1970s. Rather than remove the machines, Germany is actively upgrading them! They have machines by the train here where you can buy the smokes with a debit card! I cannot believe they have this kind of thing and then wonder how on earth the 12 year olds are getting their cigarettes.
Here is the machine next to the train inthe morning for me. Like stepping into a time machine or?
7 comments:
I think we've had cig machines more recently than the 70's??
80's at least...
When were they 'banned'?
Speaking of the 70's... My sister, who was a chain smoker from the time she woke up to right before turning out the light at bedtime, when she was in her early 20's (ie, in the 70's)... well she traveled across Europe and was so disgusted at the amount of smoking there at the time, especially all the young kids etc... so disgusted she quit on the spot! She even became a vegetarian...
Now she eats meat, but hasn't smoked since. Hopefully Germans will change their ways soon too.
Some bars had them until the 90's here, and Im sure there probably still some in small ontario towns that have them.
GS
Drunken German Man Brings Horse Into ATM
Wednesday April 25, 2007
O.K., we admit.
This is one of those stories we're running just so we can show you the picture at left.
But what a picture.
It was handed out by police near Berlin and yes, it is what it looks like - a horse standing inside an ATM.
It started when the animal's owner had a few too many at a local bar on Monday.
For reasons we may never fully know, he brought his horse with him, perhaps because he was afraid of drinking and driving.
Whatever the excuse, in his alcohol laden fog, the 40-year-old man - identified only as "Wolfgang H." - decided he need a few bucks before he rode off into the darkness.
So he stopped at the nearest ATM, but quickly realized he'd had such a snootful, he wouldn't be able to make it home in the cold.
So he did what any normal drunken idiot would, deciding to sleep it off inside the heated bank vestibule.
But what about the steed named Sammy? This wasn't the wild west and the bank thoughtlessly hadn't provided any hitching posts.
That's when Wolfgang apparently decided to use some horse sense and bring the animal inside with him.
And that's where security cameras and a customer who ventured into the ATM in the early morning hours found both of them. The shocked patron promptly called police, who rode to the rescue.
They woke Wolfgang up (there's no word on whether the horse was asleep, too) and sent him on his way without filing any charges.
But that wasn't the end of the story. It's said bank employees were forced to do a little clean up after the impromptu hotel stop.
If you look closely at the picture, you'll see there are some spots inside the automatic teller booth where Sammy made a few deposits of his own.
I totally agree. The worst of it seems to always be at the departure gate at the airport, when all the smokers are getting their last drags, and all the non-smokers are sitting in a cloud of smoke. Imagine preparing to get on a 14-hour flight, and you start the journey already smelling like an ashtray with no chance of a shower for the next 14 hours. Terrible!!
OK, maybe we had these in Canada in the 80s as well, but not for long. I am sure they were gone by 1985...
I also hate the people on the train who stand at the door with an unlit cigarette in their mouth and a lighter in their hand, poised and ready to go the second they pass through the door at the station.
I hope they miss with the flame and get serious nose burns.
Hate to disagree with you Fraser, but I distinctly remember cigarette machines in bars, specifically The Loose Moose on Adelaide in June 1992. I know because I bought them there one night.
The Loose Moose?
I was only talking about civilized Canada.
I think last time I saw the loose moose, the people were not even wearing shoes.
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