You are in the non-smoking section of a restaurant. Someone at the next table lights a cigarette.
Vous êtes dans la section non-fumeur d'un restaurant. Quelqu'un à la table d'à côté allume une cigarette.
Ask him or her to not smoke.
Ask him to move to the smoking section.
Ask the waitress to reseat us
Ask them to move.
First, ask a waitress to talk to the person. If that doesn't work, ask, "Excuse me, but could you please smoke outside?"
I fake a cough.
I inform the waiter or host.
I say "excuse me but I have allergies and you are sitting in non-smoking; can you please put out your cigarette. Thanks." If they don't I they don't I ask to speak with the manager.
I start coughing as if i was having a strong reaction to the smoke in order to make the person feel bad
I think they are rude and I ask the waiter to tell them to stop smoking
I will get very agitated as cigarette smoke bothers me a lot. I'd probably ask the waiter/waitress to reseat me.
I will not do anything but will consider it rude.
I would ask a waiter to speak with them or move them out of the section.
I would ask to move to another table.
I would either ignore it, or ask to be seated at a different table if the smoke was really heavy.
I would politely remind the person that they are in a nonsmoking section.
I would say: this is the non-smoking section of the restaurant please get rid of that cigarette or move.
I would start coughing obviously.
I'd ask them to put it out or go outside. If they don't, I'd speak to the manager about it
I'd ask them to put it out. I don't like being near people smoking for extended periods of time.
Politely ask them to put it out.
Really annoyed. Certainly say something.
say something to the waiter/waitress.
Tell the manager to tell him/her to take that outside.
ça ne me dérange pas.
J'appelerai le serveur et lui demanderai de l'empêcher.
j´appelle le serveur et je lui dis qu´il y a quelqu´un qui me dérange
je demande au serveur d'aller lui dire d'éteindre sa cigarette
je demande au serveur si je suis bien à une place non fumeur
Je lui demande poliment d'eteindre la cigarette et si elle m'ignore j'appelle le maitre du restaurant
je lui dis dès la première fois que c'est gênant et interdit
je lui en taxe une puis lui demande d'éteindre sa cigarette
je lui fais remarquer que c'est la salle non-fumeur et que sa fumée me dérange
je tousse très fort en espérant qu´il comprendra!
Je trouve ce geste irrespectueux et profondément égoïste, mais je ne le fais pas remarquer.
si cela incommode quelqu'un à ma table, je lui demande de l'éteindre
Discussion
Il n'y a que tres peu de differences entre les reactions des francais et celles des Americains : soit on demande directement au fumeur d'arreter ou de sortir, soit on s'adresse au serveur. Par contre, si les francais n'interviennent pas, c'est que ca ne les derange pas, et ils ne simulent pas ou peu, alors que plus d'Americains decident de tousser ou de faire comprendre que ca les derange. Je pense que la mentalite des francais a change depuis qu'une loi est passee sur l'interdiction de fumer dans les bars, cafes et restaurants. Avant on osait moins s'adresser au serveur que de nos jours. De plus, je ne sais pas si c'est la meme chose au MIT qu'a Polytechnique, mais moi j'ai ete tres surprise du peu de fumeurs qu'il y a a l'ecole Polytechnique en comparaison avec les autres universites francaises. Avez vous le droit de fumer dans les bars, restaurants et cafes? En Europe, depuis deux ans, beaucoup de pays ont decider d'interdire le tabac dans tous les lieux publics, donc meme les restaurants... Les salles fumeurs sont aussi devenues interdites dans les entreprises et pour les professeurs. Je pense que c'est tres bien.
J`ajoute que la loi en question accorde un sursis de un an pour les bars et restaurants, mais elle peut tout a fait stimuler les personnes derangees par la fumee de tabac a interpeller le serveur ou bien le fumeur.
There's kind of a sterotypical image of all French people being smokers (at least that's how its portrayed in movies, media etc) - how accurate
do you think that image is? Is smoking a big part of French culture?
In regards to where people can smoke or not, it depends on the state. I'm from New York State where smoking in public places is prohibited, but I know it caused a lot of controvery amongst restaurant and bar owners who felt like it would greatly hurt their business. At the time when the law was first passed, New York was only amongst a handful of states to have such stringent measures, but I think that other states are starting to take a harder line on public smoking.
What do the majority of French people think about smoking? I agree with Samiksha, and in the US the stereotypical image of the French people is that smoking is a big part of the culture. I think in the US smoking is starting to drop a little bit, however that may just be some sort of fluctuation and then smokers will start showing up everywhere again in a few years.
Je ne savais pas que l'image du francais qui fume était si imprégnée dans les clichés américains, je dois avouer que je suis très étonnée! Depuis une décennie et même un peu plus, il y a de plus en plus de gens qui s'opposent au tabac et de plus en plus de prévention pour éviter que les jeunes commencent à fumer. Le prix du tabac augmente sans cesse et c'est devenu vraiment cher pour les gros fumeurs. Je pense que maintenant la plupart des gens savent que fumer est très mauvais pour la santé. Mais le tabac n'est pas selon moi une partie importante de la culture francaise, loin de là ! C'est selon moi une fausse image!
I feel that smoking in the US has become more and more negative over the decade. I feel many young American non smokers associate smoking with lung cancer and uncleanliness. Are you (the French) ok with being around smokers on a regular basis? What about smokers in your home?
Americans and French both seem to have similar reactions to this situation, though it seems like Americans are slightly more ready to do something about the situation. I know a few states in the US have gone completely non-smoking in all restaurants and bars across the state, and many others are thinking about it. Even during my life span, maybe restaurants have gone completely non-smoking. When I was in France I noticed a lot of people with cigarettes, and it definitely didn't seem like restaurants had outlawed smoking inside, though things could have changed since I was there last. What do you think?
Something that I cound interesting were the different methods that people would use to complain about people smoking. Some would ask the smokers to stop directly; others would speak to the waiter; while others still would cough and hope that they got the message. These 3 types of response all appear on both sides. I think that the type of response says a lot about someone's personality. For example, those who cough are too embarrassed to actually rectify the situation, but want to satisfy themselves that they tried to do something. This response seems to be designed more for their own peace-of-mind than to actually be effective.
C'est tres etonnant de penser que les francais sont tous des fumeurs..., d'autant plus que les francais sont desormais conscients des dangers de la cigarettes. En effet, de nombreuses campagnes de contre publicite ont ete engagee et les prix ont considerablement augmente.
Personnellement, je pense que fumer depend beaucoup de la condition sociale. Par exemple, ici, a Polytechnique, il y a tres peu de fumeurs. En revanche, il m'est arrive de rencontrer certains etudiants (j'etais leur professeurs) qui etaient issus de milieu culturellement peu organise et tres modeste et qui fumaient enormement. Je pense que c'est un moyen de s'affirmer, d'occuper certains moments ou ils ne savent pas quoi faire, et surtout, un moyen de s'integrer au sein d'un groupe. En effet, dans certains milieux, si tu ne fumes, tu es exclus. En tout cas, c'est ce que j'ai pu constater.
Y a t il aux Etats Unis le meme rapport entre la classe sociale et le nombre de cigarettes fumees ?
Il y a cependant un paradoxe : comment financer ses cigarettes quand on n'a pas beaucoup d'argent ? La suite, sur le forum paradoxe...
I don't know if smoking has the same social effects here in the US as drinking does. At least on college campuses, most people see drinking as the way to socialize, and a lot of people say the same thing; that if you don't drink, you feel excluded in some way.