Bye-bye fresh air

What if they were to start by forbidding smoking outside instead of inside? Now that’s a good idea. That men poison each other in their houses or offices wouldn’t be a problem if everyone smoked. Outside, you come across a non-smoker now and then. Me, for example. Sometimes, even now when it’s cold in Istanbul, I sit outside on the boat, just to enjoy the view and the cold air on my face. But inside the boat, smoking is not allowed, so on the outside deck I’m usually the only non-smoker. Byebye fresh air. Likewise in Istanbul’s bus station, on the Anatolian side, not very far from where I live. I sometimes stand there waiting for the bus under an awning. It’s outside, but the smoke hangs in big clouds under the awning and really, it’s like being in a bar. A bar in which babies sleep and children run around. Not to mention the pee breaks during a long bus trip. If you want to get from the bus to the toilet building, it’s impossible to avoid the wall of smoke you have to cough your way through. Now maybe I sound like a fanatic non-smoker, but really, I’m not – actually I allow smoking in my house. But I was shocked by the plan of the Turkish governing party to restrict smoking in public places. I would suggest instead, forbid smoking outside, and let the 95% percent of the Turks who smoke (they say it’s forty percent, but I don’t believe that) poison each other inside.