You are in the non-smoking section of a restaurant. Someone at the next table lights a cigarette. - Vous êtes dans la section non-fumeur d'un restaurant. Quelqu'un à la table d'à côté allume une cigarette.
Jorge - 11:26pm Nov 1, 2004
Today while in class we were considering the responses to this situation and found that the French seem to not care much about the laws against no smoking in public areas. It is noticeable here in the US that many people do respect these laws, possibly to a much further extent than the French. Is there any reason why this is, or did we come to an incorrect conclusion?
Henri - 08:07am Nov 2, 2004
En général, les gens respectent les règlements intérieurs d'un restaurant et aujourd'hui il y a des sections fumeurs et non-fumeurs dans la majorité des restaurants français. Donc ce problème se pose de moins en moins. Néanmoins, dans une telle situation, je pense que ce serait impolie de fumer dans la section non-fumeur et un manque de respect pour les nons fumeurs.
gregory - 08:19am Nov 2, 2004
Comme le dit très justement henri, les français sont de plus en plus civilisés. Et même s'ils n'atteignent pas encore le niveau des américains, c'est peut-être parce que les lois françaises n'engagent pas autant de répression qu'aux States.
Delphnie - 08:24am Nov 2, 2004
Même si je suis moi-même fumeuse, je ne me permets pas de fumer dans une zone interdire par respect pour les autres. N'importe quel fumeur devrait en faire autant. Par conséquent, même si sa fumée ne me gène pas mais qu'il y a d'autres non fumeurs autour je lui fais une réflexion.
Audrey - 08:38am Nov 2, 2004
les zones non fumeurs ne sont pas présentes dans tous les restaurants, loin de là, ou alors elles existent mais sont très petites et/ou collées aux zones fumeurs. Je trouve cela fort impolie de fumer dans une zone non fumeur, que ce soit dans un restaurant ou dans d'autre lieux public. Chacun fait ce qui veut tant qu'il n'impose pas ses choix aux autres! En France, un nouveau label vient d'etre crée sur Paris pour les cafés non fumeur, cela partage fortement les avis. Certains restaurateurs ont même été insulté pas des clients qui ne comprenaient pas pourquoi ils ne pouvaient pas fumer dans leur café....
Tufool - Nuaimi
In the US, or atleast in Boston, smoking isn't allowed in restaurant, bars or night clubs, work... I guess the laws here are pretty harsh against smokers, but it works well for non-smokers. Do you think that there is more smoking in France because the law against it is less rigid? Or is the price of cigarettes less? Also, in the US, people may get offended if a person next to them lights a cigarette. How does that work in France?
Brian - 09:44pm Nov 3, 2004
The way I saw it in Paris, the price of cigarettes is pretty much the same... about 5.20 euro or more. What I am interested in is why people dont' really care about the smoking laws? You're not supposed to smoke in most metro stations, in train stations, etc. But people pretty much do it anyway - are the consequences not serious?
Esther - 01:46am Nov 4, 2004
I think the reactions on both sides were similar, but I'm curious as to why less of the French students would ask the waiter/management to handle the situation.
Angela - 04:07am Nov 4, 2004
I noticed the same thing as esther, that the reactions were basically the same although more americans would ask the waiter to handle the situation.
I do think it is worth noting, as was mentioned briefly above, that there are way way less non-smoking areas in most restaurants. Some of this has to do with tradition, i guess, but also restaurants tend to be quite small in comparison to many here, making it impractical to have two sections. When I was in france I only encountered one non-smoking section, and i was there for five minutes when the table of five next to me all lit up at once. I asked the waiter to handle it (as I guess I'm more apt to do as an american) and they asked them to move, which they did, while making a bit of noise about it.
to the french students - would you say non-smoking areas are becoming more prevalent? what kinds of establishments are beginning to institute them?
William - 09:39am Nov 8, 2004
As we discussed the attitudes towards smoking in class, one of the possible explanations for the popularity of smoking in France centered on the French health-care system. Specifically, the idea was that since French health-care is free, people are more willing to take risks with their bodies.
To me, that seems a little bit unlikely. However, does the health-care system affect French attitudes and behaviors at all?