I don’t smoke and never have but I do have relatives, loved ones and friends who smoke. For health reasons I would prefer they not. Nonetheless I try to be tolerant of their habit and let them weigh the facts for themselves. After all, I’ve got habits too. Still, I’m glad when smokers go outside or stand downwind when smoking.
Parents and Smoking
Both my parents smoked when I was young. Here’s a picture of my sister and me with our dad, notice what he has in his right hand. Once my sister had to go to the doctor’s because she ate a cigarette. That’s what she thought our parents were doing. Awww, children can be so impressionable.
In the 60s smoking was all the rage; there were even doctors endorsing different brands on TV. At the same time the wildly popular TV show ‘Perry Mason’ was in its second year of reruns. Everyone knew the actors who played Perry and the district attorney Hamilton Burger who lost all his cases against Perry.
Then in 1968 there was a commercial. It showed the actor who played Burger with his happy family. Then he said he had cancer and that was because he smoked. His message: if you don’t smoke, don’t start and if you do smoke, quit. He died 6 weeks after the commercial was made and it aired even after his death.
I was impressionable and that commercial made an big impression on me. I went to work on my parents pleading with them to quit. And finally they stopped. I don’t know if it was because of my pleading or what some people might call bugging, or not. Still, I’m glad they did.
Both of Ben’s parents smoked practically their whole lives. They were heavy smokers with his father leaning towards cigars and pipes. Ben sometimes jokes about how he and his siblings became little smoked salami after travelling by car with their parents.
Swiss and American Laws
In the States there is no nationwide federal smoking ban they are made on a state level. Although there are about 14 states that have no statewide ban I have never had the feeling that as a nonsmoker I was at a disadvantage. But you never really know.
We have a friend in America who was in charge of hiring people at his company. The company didn’t necessarily want to hire smokers. But because of discrimination laws he was not allowed to blatantly not hire someone because they smoked. In fact, they weren’t even allowed to ask the person if they smoked.
He told us he got around that rather easily. He simply asked the applicants if they were interested in hearing about the smoking rules the company had. Depending on their reactions and answers, he knew without having to directly ask.
In 2010 the Swiss put into force a protection act against secondhand smoke in enclosed spaces accessible to the public. That makes it a lot nicer for people like us to go out to eat. We no longer have to worry if we got a table next to a smoker or not. In the summer, when tables are set outside and no longer in an enclosed space, people are allowed to smoke. That’s when I realize there are still a lot of smokers out there.
Swiss Age Regulations
It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to purchase cigarettes in the States and Switzerland. In both countries the states or cantons regulate the age of consummation of tobacco products. In Switzerland none of the cantons have made a smoking age regulation. It is generally accepted that if you are old enough to buy cigarettes you are old enough to smoke them.
After holding out so long on the right for women to vote, Appenzell shows its tradition awareness on another front. As smoking is being banned in more and more places, at traditional cattle shows custom still allow children to smoke. I’m not only talking about teenagers but 6 year olds, too. Of course, everyone has their opinion as to why this tradition should or should not be upheld.
Trains and Trams
As of 1964 smoking is no longer allowed in trams.
Banning smoking in trains took a bit longer. Probably because there were the smoking sections and compartments to separate the smokers from the nonsmokers. I remember the smoking compartments being overfilled often. So much so that smokers would come into the nonsmoking compartments so they had a place to sit. Then, in 2005 smoking in trains was banned completely. While the smoking compartments disappeared it was still allowed on the platforms.
The last word hasn’t been spoken yet. Smoke-free platforms are being tested and depending on how they turn out smoking there will be banned or allowed.
Smoking Goes Way Back
It seems smoking originated in the Americas and goes way back to 5000 BC. The spread of the consumption spread like wildfire in the 16th century thanks to the Europeans.
It looks like even back then smoking polarized. In 1604 King James I of England and Ireland wrote a treatise to counterblast tobacco. He declared smoking to be “a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs.”
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