My partner and I attempted to enjoy a late lunch at Gus’s yesterday, it was warm and reasonably sunny so we sat in the outside area hoping to enjoy the fresh air. WHAT FRESH AIR?!?! We were enveloped in a cloud of passive smoke. Around our small table for two were 9 separate people smoking, 8 of them women between about 16-22. It was ridiculous we went inside where there was no ventilation and no airconditioning and asked whether any ofthe outside areas were designated non-smoking. The waiter told us “We’ve tried but because it’s an outside area it doesn’t matter what we do they just light up.” Isn’t the government supposed to be banning smoking in outside eating areas or have they already? If so where do I lodge a complaint? If a business is serious about stopping people lighting up it’s not that hard, DON’T SERVE THEM!
As for the issue of those smokers being almost exclusively young girls, well that problem is already well recognised and attempts are being made to address it but such a concentration really highlighted the point. I don’t know whether the most effective influencers of young women are young men or (more likely) other young women but we need to stop these girls young and dump the cigarettes in third world countries where they belong.