Smoking or smoking?

The past two states we have lived in had bans of smoking in public places. Not having to smell like an ashtray or breathe in toxic air is easy to get used to.  In Moldova, smoking is well, let’s just say commonplace. There is not a distinction between smoking and non smoking in most restaurants. It seems to be culturally acceptable to blow smoke in the face of the person you are dining with and do so while enjoying your food. Now that is multi-tasking. There are, of course, those who are turned off by cigarettes and therefore there are a select few non-smoking restaurants. Most restaurants allow smoking as it is still so very much part of the public custom. People gather at the public parks (the small ones with the bright colored metal play equipment) to smoke. People smoke at the bus stop, in the underground street crossings, at the hairdressers and even in the waiting room at the dentist.

This is a stand selling cigarettes. Stands like these can be found on most any corner in the Chisinau.

Cigarettes are cheap. Each pack is between 50 cents and $1 U.S. dollar. This includes recognizable brands such as Marlboro and Camel. We see people smoking everywhere we go. We see many older men smoking the long thin cigarettes which our culture categorizes as a ‘women’s’ cigarette. There is much smoking on local television programs, in closed cars with kids inside and everyone piles outside for a smoke during cinema or play intermissions. From what we have heard it is considered unhealthy to smoke inside the house. At least there are some health considerations being made. Maybe the thin cigarettes are the Moldovan equivalent to the ‘light’ cigarette myth in the U.S.

Smoking, albeit entirely unhealthy, is a personal prerogative and will most likely never disappear entirely. The smoking everywhere policy may diminish in order to accommodate a blossoming tourism industry if the transportation infrastructure is improved.  I am all for sharing in the customs of the locals, but since I conquered my smoking demons many years ago, I’ll let others smoke ’em if they’ve got ’em.