Smoking or Non-Smoking?

The cultural difference that bothers me the most is the viewpoint and attitude on smoking. Greeks smoke everywhere, all the time. According to Drake in the text Cultural Dimensions, “Greeks smoke more than anyone else in the EU, and there is no such thing as a nonsmoking section. Going out to restaurants or clubs can be tough on people with allergies to smoke or asthma as everyone will be smoking.” Now I know exactly what he means. It does not matter whether you are walking down the street, watching an outdoor movie, in a restaurant or shopping, someone is bound to be smoking a cigarette. This is quite an inconvenience if you have any type of asthma. For the most part, I “outgrew” my asthma, meaning it doesn’t really act up anymore, but cigarette smoke is one of those things that still agitates my lungs a little bit. In America, there are laws and regulations to restrict people from smoking in restaurants and in most public places. Almost every American store and restaurant has “no smoking” signs posted and even some college campuses are smoke-free. The Greeks don’t even seem to know there are such things as “no smoking” signs.

 
Examples of the Greek smoking habit are everywhere you turn. During a group lunch, the Greek woman at the table next to us smoked at least five cigarettes over the course of our meal (it could have been more but I think I lost count), with the smoke drifting right to us. While some people might enjoy a nice smoky smell with their afternoon meal, I am not one of those people. When we were volunteering for the service project, the Greek student Kiara rolled and smoked three cigarettes within an hour. It is not just the fact that Greeks smoke everywhere, they smoke constantly. It is hard to understand why Greeks smoke so frequently, seemingly without any regard for their health. According Kiara, a reason for this is that there are nearly zero visual advertisements about the cons of smoking cigarettes in Greece. The tobacco and cigarettes do state that this product could potentially kill or harm you, but that is about all the warning there is. In America, we are shown the negative side of smoking with the advertisements about losing your voice, hair, teeth and visuals of what the tar in your lungs looks like. Greeks are not presented this side of smoking; they simply smoke because it is pleasurable in the moment. Kiara relates the smoking habits back to the Greek mentality of being carefree and more laid-back. Greeks live for the moment, live in the moment. The future is not of concern because if you think about the future you are wasting the moment you should be enjoying right now. So if you want to smoke, then smoke. It doesn't matter what might happen to your body later. Americans are more conscious of the damages that smoking can have on your lungs, so the percentage of people who smoke is lower.  

There is really no way to adapt to the massive amounts of smoking and the only way to avoid it is never to leave the safety of your room (clearly not an option!). I just had to accept the fact that Greeks are going to smoke, regardless of my preferences. It can come across as rude and inconsiderate if you look at it from an American viewpoint, but after realizing that it is just a natural Greek way of life I know that it is just natural for Greeks to enjoy a cigarette anywhere and anytime.