You are witting at a table, in the non-smoking section of your favorite bar/café/restaurant, and someone sitting at the next table lights up a cigarette.

Vous êtes assis à une table dans la section non-fumeur de votre café/restaurant préféré et quelqu'un à la table à côté allume une cigarette.

ask the waiter to be moved
I am a smoker myslef but I will politely remind them that this is not the smoking section.
I do nothing.
I don't care.
I don't like it, but I ignore it.
i move
I politely ask him to move to the smoking section if he wants to smoke or put off his cigarette if he does not want to move
I tell him/her that this a not smoking section politetly
i will tell him/her to go to the smoking section
I won't say anything, but will be annoyed. I might stare at him/her.
I would ask the person to extinguish his cigarette.
I would feel annoyed, and I would ask the person to please smoke outside.
I would get up and tell the person to extinguish his cigarette.
I would politely remind him/her that he/she is in the non-smoking section.
I would tell him to go somewhere else.
I would think they were impolite.
I'd ask him to stop smoking , or to do this in smoking section.
I'd ask the service person to talk to the person.
Makes no difference to me unfortunately; however, if it bothered my friends I would tell the person to switch to the smoking section.
Mention it either to the serving staff or the person.
Politely inform them it is the non-smoking section.
Remind them this is a non-smoking area.
wait until the waitstaff notices

Ca ne me dérange pas, je suis fumeur
j'attends un peu avant de lui demander d'arrêter
j'en allume une aussi
Je détourne mon visage
je lui demande de l'éteindre
je lui demande de l'éteindre ou de changer de place
je lui demande de l'éteindre ou de changer de place
je lui demande poliement s'il ne peut pas l'éteindre
je lui demende d'éteindre sa cigarette
je lui demende d'éteindre sa cigarette
je lui dit que c'est une zone non fumeur et que ça c'est interdit
je lui dit que l'on est dans un espace non fumeur
Je lui en demande une.
je lui fais la remarque
je lui fais remarquer qu'il ne peut pas fumer ici
je lui indique que le coin fumeur est de l'autre côté
je lui ordonne de l'éteindre
je lui rapelle un peu agacee qu on est dans la section non-fumeur
Je lui rappelle que l'on est en section non fumeur et lui demande s'il peut aller fumer ailleurs.
je lui signale poliment que l'endroit est non-fumeur
je ne dis rien
Je ne dis rien, et change de table si vraiment ça m'ennuit.
Je pense qu'il exagère et si cela est vraiment trop gênant, je l'interpelle
Je penserais qu'il est impolie.
Je suis géné mais je suis tolérant. Je sors du restaurant si la fumée devient trop génante.
Je suis non-fumeur mais la fumée ne me dérange pas.
je suis tolérant
Manque de respect à autrui
s'il est dans une zone non-fumeur, je lui demande de s'arrêter
si ca me derange je lui dirais de l'eteindre
si ça me gêne, je le lui dit...si il n'y a pas de fumée de mon côté, je ne dis rien.
Tolérance
un Français évidemment!

Discussion

Les réponses des étudiants français et celles des étudiants américains sont similairement identiques. Ainsi, en tant que non fumeurs, vous demandez à la personne de changer d'endroit.
Existe-t-il encore dans les grandes villes américaines des endroits pour fumeurs. En effet, j'ai récemment été interpelée par la lecture d'un article de journal (Libération) dans lequel le chroniqueur avait interrogé quelques fumeurs américains : ces personnes expliquaient qu'elles devaient descendre de la tour dans laquelle elles travaillaient plusieurs fois par jour pour aller fumer une cigarette sur le trottoir. D'autre part, on entend souvent parler aux Etats-Unis d'agressions verbales des non fumeurs envers les fumeurs.
Sur ce point, j'aimerai savoir ce qu'il en est réellement ?
Un autre point est celui des attaques incessantes contre l'industrie du tabac. J'aimerai savoir si vous cautionner les condammations de ces industries par les tribunaux américains, et si vous êtes d'accord, d'une part avec ce principe de réparation aux victimes, et d'autre part sur le montant pharaoniques de ces sommes qui leur sont versées?

Je suis assez étonnée des réponses des américains que je ne trouve pas très sévère par rapport à la situation de quelqu'un qui allume une cigarette dans un endroit non fumeur. je m'attendais à des réactions plus draconniennes de leur part, compte tenu de la législation concernat la réglementation de l'usage du tabac aux Etats-Unis. Il semble que même les français, considérés comme de gros fumeurs (aucun restaurant en France n'est réservé qu'à des non fumuers) soient plus sévères envers les fumeurs dès lors qu'ils sont des non-fumeurs.
Je suis agréblement surprise de leur tolérance vis à vis de ce genre de comportement.
Julie

Il vous faut savoir que les Français fumeur sont beaucoup moins respectueux que les américains fumeurs. Les délimitations fumeurs/non-fumeurs ne sont pas souvent respectées, et les gens fument dans la rue ( mais ce n'est pas choquant pour un Français)
Comment sont vu les fumeurs aux Etats-Unis? Eric et Charlotte

J'ai lu une fois un commentaire d'une personnalité américaine (je ne sais plus laquelle) qui disait la chose suivante : aux USA un fumeur a plus de chance de se faire agresser verbalement s'il fume dans un endroit non autorisé, qu'un drogué en train de se faire un rail de cocaïne ou un "fixe" d'héroïne dans un abribus (au nom du principe "not my business".)
Est-ce une réalité, ou une grosse exagération de la part de cette personne ??

Isabelle (ex-fumeuse. Depuis 5 semaines. c'est dur.)

Clairement, en France, les non fumeurs sont très peu respectueux de la législtion qui les concerne et a fortiori des non fumeurs.
Aussi, la réaction de ces derniers est-elle plus "franche" dans une telle situation. Paradoxe : vous semblez plus tolérant alors que vue de l'extérieur tout donne à penser du contraire. Je partage tout à fait ce qui a été dit par les autres sur ce point ainsi que leur étonnement/incompréhension.

Qu'est-ce que vous pensez par rapport aux dernières décisions et projets de décision de la part du maire de new york concernant l'interdiction de fumeur non seulement dans les établissements ouverts au public, mais aussi dans endroits comme le "central park".Il s'agit d'être par l'intérêt général ou par l'intérêt d'une minorité? est-ce qu'aux Etats-Unis les fumeurs sont une minorité.
D'autre part, l' essor des actions en justice de la part des consommateurs affectés des maladies derivées de la consommation des cigarretes,peut-il porter un risque pour les fabricants? et de surcroit pour les fumeurs?.

It has been my experience that in general American smokers respect non-smoking areas, particularly indoor . If a situation like this does occur, it is definite that the patrons of the restaurant will approach the person and politely ask them to move to the non-smoking section, or to put off his cigarette. It is also certain that someone in the section will complain. Non-smoking sections are where usually families sit in restaurants and most parents do not want their children smelling second-hand smoke. Some people that sit on the non-smoking section precisely to get away from cigarette smoke, this people also will protest if this happens. Most smokers will gently comply and move or put off their cigarette. It is when they get mad and fight that verbal agression is made from both parts, smoker and the complainer. This however is not common and is due mostly to the bad manners of some, the person who complains did not ask gently, or the smoker failed to comply repeatedly.

Severine, here's my opinion about the lawsuits against the tobacco companies. In general, I believe that the money awarded in these lawsuits is much to great. Yes, tobacco kills. However, I believe that people must take personal responsibility for their actions. If people choose to smoke, knowing that it is harmful to their health, that is their choice. These folks gave their money to the tobacco companies knowing the risks of smoking. They lit up knowing the risks. The tobacco companies shouldn't be liable because they provided a product that people desire despite known dangers.

I'll make an exception, however. The tobacco companies knew about the dangers of smoking before the dangers became public knowledge. They chose not to disclose the known dangers of their product. I believe that people who began smoking before the dangers of cigarette smoke were widely known (and while the tobacco companies were covering up the risks) deserve their financial awards.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

This is the perspective of a smoker:

In the US, smokers are definitely a minority in terms of numbers but also concerning segregation. You have to be over 18 in order to be able to buy cigarettes. Most restaurants and cafes don't have a smoking section (meaning that you cannot go in there if you want to smoke). No public building allows smoking inside (even in a separated space). Basically, you can only smoke in your own private house (not in institutional or public housing), bars and night clubs, very few restaurants/cafes, and mainly outside. While I truly respect the choice of others to avoid passive smoking, I think that smokers' freedom is really impinged on, and this is very indicative of the so-called "liberal" American society. The situation is ridiculous compared to the treatment of handicapped people, for example (and there are more smokers than handicapped people in any building). Of course, smokers make a rational choice to be such and this choice impinges on the freedom of others but they are not criminals. It is a question of preference such as being a vegetarian can be. I am vegetarian. I hate the smell of meat. But I don't ask them to go outside and eat their steak Yeah, yeah, passive smoking is harmful, not only unpleasant. I am also allergic to perfumes. But I cannot kick out every person that uses them. (By the way, I think in Canada there is a regulation on the perfume you can use in enclosed public spaces, I'm not sure what exactly though.)

I enjoy smoking and I don't care about the harmful effects (face it: Life is carcinogenic.) It is not a flaw. It is not an addiction any bigger than the one I have for coffee. It is a treat like candy. I don't have problems going out for a "cigarette break" and I respect the others' consideration for their own health. However, I don't think I have enough freedom in the US to practice the thing I like. I think Americans are not as liberal and open-minded as they claim to be (The NYC mayor thing is ridiculous! I cannot believe that such narrow-minded and idiotic people can go so high in terms of power. I'll restrain from mentioning Bush here. Woops, I didn't.) I don't think that the European way is ok either - having smoking sections on "20-minute-trip" commuter trains or in "5-minute-wait" banks. I just think that it is ridiculous to be discriminated against in "the land of freedom."

People in this country smoke very little compared to Europe. There is a greater concern here among the non-smokers about passive smoking and the perception of how much harm cigarrette smoke can do to them. I think a lot of it comes from the negative publicity that you see here every day, more common than in Europe. Because smoking is less common, people here with time have also become less tolerant even to the smell of cigar (I know people who make a big fuss out of it). So yes, smokers have become a minority and the public opinion is not very sympathetic of them, which allows some politicians to make such statements and get away with them.

Now, I noticed that a some Americans mention that they would call the waiter and ask him to interve, but no single French mentions calling the waiter. Is this the usual way you solve this type of differences? Many Americans want to "avoid trouble" so they call the waiter. Why is this not of your concern? It seems as if you never expect the other party to respond in bad terms, or that you are not worried about this.

I agree that smokers are a minority in America, and that there are very few locations for them to go smoke freely. I don't see how this indicates that American society is not liberal.

I think that banning smoking in public places helps promote health. Second hand smoke is detrimental, and the lack of smoke allows everyone to go to restaurants and public buildings without having to worry about effects on their health. I'm allergic to cigarette smoke, so personally I'm really happy that so many locations ban smoking.

I also think that bans on smoking have led to a decrease in the social acceptance of smoking and consequently a decrease in the number of smokers. The percentage of teens that smoke has decreased from 29% to 24% in the last two years. I personally feel that this is because the image of smoking as unhealthy has become stronger, so most teens feel like it's less cool and don't want to do it. I think that the banning of smoking in social places like restaurants and clubs has had something to do with this.