Second Hand Smoke

I've never been a big fan of smoking. It's not anything more than I just have never really understood the entire appeal around cigarrettes. I mean, people know they're unhealthy, they smell terrible, and they come with other inconveniences (see: addiction). Regardless, a huge amount of people smoke. This is something I've known for my entire life but it seems, at least to me, that the United States has done a wonderful job of making the smoking culture as subdued as possible. That's not something I can say about German smoking culture.

Last summer, when I returned to the US from Germany I had a very interesting experience. The first smell I could notice in the airport was something that was seemingly foreign after three months away but I immediately recognized what it was with a big inhale: cooking grease. It was a pretty symbolic return to the states, if I wasn't so ecstatic to be off of a plane and seeing some familiar sights, I would have probably gone to the closest bathroom and gagged. If grease is the symbolic smell of American culture, then smoking is absolutely the symbolic smell of German culture. I suppose it's just one of those observational behaviors that people pick up on (you know, kind of like obese eating habits in the United States but this is a condemnation of neither America's nor Germany's child rearing techniques).

What Cool Kid Wouldn't Want a Pack??

You know, I had a conversation with my guest family about the first time that many Germans have their first taste of alcohol. The consensus was from anywhere between 12-14 with parental guidance. Naturally this isn't as "outrageous" when compared to our American puritanism standard drinking age of 21 as it could be, especially since at 16 they're drinking willy-nilly anyway. My point is simply that, since German kids start drinking so young an integral part of their culture is drinking. I had a conversation with a friend about the first time many Germans have their first cigarette, the age is about the same. Now this isn't too different from the US where a lot of young kids smoke, hell, there are even cigarettes that deliberately target kids in the US. I think the difference is the magnitude of advertising, and socialization that admonishes smoking in Germany.

Personally, this isn't an issue of morality, or immorality. I'm of the firm opinion that whatever someone does to their own body is completely their business as long as it doesn't affect other people. The problem is, Germany, that your smoking does affect me. A. Lot. And other people too I was at a soccer game with my host brother and a few other friends and as I was cheering my head off for Münster on their way to a 3-0 win. But all I could notice was all the kids whose nostrils were getting filled with noxious gas and it disturbed me. Smoke blowing everywhere, cigarettes being lit up here and there, inside, outside, everywhere. For a country so focused on healthy habits, environmental safety and the like, there seems to be a disproportionate amount of people who smoke and it's really out of character of the country.


Like doesn't it seem odd, to see a country of active, constant movers that's been really motivational to my own quest for self-improvement (see: Take The Stairs) but at the same time they, in a rather large proportion of the population, fill their lungs with toxic materials numerous times a day. Hey, whatever sinks your battleship, right? I'm going back to the "neutral" apathetic thinker right now, in the relative security of my home which has never been plagued with the smells of cigarette smoke but I'm certain that when I get that next puff of second hand smoke blown DIRECTLY IN MY FACE I will have some different feelings about it.

And if you need "empirical evidence" well...here you go or here.

So kudos to America for getting it "right." Of course there are still smoking problems but it's not something that I feel is always in my face as apparently as it is here. I mean imagine walking into an airport (the American equivalent of German train stations) and the first smell you detect is cigarette smoke. It's really an unpleasant experience, didn't you know and I feel like Germany is adequately equipped to battle the issue.


So I'll kindly ask you sternly Germany: Fix it. Now. Please?

Before my lungs fail.