Smoking Gun

Not to constantly go over things that annoy me about my adopted home country, but this article sums up one of my biggest problems with Greece. Smoking here is beyond out of hand. They are finally starting to get around to banning it from government offices, but most private businesses are still fair game. Everywhere you go, there is a man, woman, AND child with a cigarette in their hand (by child I mean teenager, but still). I cannot bear to eat in a restaurant in the wintertime because of the overabundance of cigarette smoke (in the summer you ALWAYS eat outside). Thank god all buildings are made out of concrete, otherwise our apartment would be filled with the smell all the time. Unfortunately, sometimes the odor does sneak through, when someone can't wait to get in their apartment to smoke, thus smoking up the hallways, or when everyone has their windows open in nice weather. I couldn't even keep the cigarette stench away at my own wedding, because half of the invited guests smoke!

At least the government is starting to target smoking, as well as the EU in general. Even so, Greece is a LONG way from cutting back their cigarette consumption. Yuck.