No outdoor smoke without ire
Stand by for a news flash from Paris's Had to Happen department.
Few can have failed to notice that smokers, faced with fines if they light up at work, are forming sad little huddles at the entrances to workplaces.
It is not completely new, of course - the same sight, involving smaller numbers, could be encountered even before the recent law took effect
as more and more offices imposed their own bans.
What is fresh, however, is the stern warning from the Mairie de Paris that anyone stubbing out a cigarette on the pavement faces a whacking 183 euro fine.
That is rather steeper than the penalty for defying the smoking ban and the same price you'd pay if caught allowing your dog to do its business on le trottoir.
Was there ever a better reason for the street, in the noble traditions of France, to make itself heard?
French workers hooked on the weed must instantly mobilise to fight for outdoor ashtrays.
Labels: ashtrays, ban, cigarettes, fines, France, Law, outdoors, Paris, smoking
By Colin Randall @ Wednesday, February 07, 2007 ¦
22 Comments:
You missed your calling, Colin. You have a flair for headlines. (Not, of course, that your writing and reporting skills aren't exemplary.)
Why 183€, I wonder, rather than a nice round 185 or even 200?
Are there similar charges for crotte de chiens, or chewing gum even? I have been sticking to the pavement all day (chewing gum, fortunately)
I think you have to go as far as Singapore to find any real laws regarding chewing gum. The rules were relaxed in 2004 to allow the importation of anti-smoking gum but otherwise it remains a total no-no. I believe the maximum penalty for trying to bring it into the country is a year in jail and a $5,500 U.S. (about 4,200€) fine.
Oddly enough, their smoking laws are less draconian than in many countries. It's permitted in air-conditioned bars, clubs and discos. Maximum penalty for smoking where you shouldn't is "only" $1,000 U.S. (about 770€). It's not for nothing that Singaporeans joke that they live in a "fine" country; one where you can be fined for almost anything.
Well, there is a very simple answer to the problem of fag ends in the street and one that is good for the economy, too...
In New York where those addicted zip down 80 floors for a quick drag there are virtually no ashtrays in the street - however the building employs a guy with a brush and pan to sweep them up.
I should run for PM - unemployment sorted out in a flash! And what about people who bag up your goods in the supermarket - the French and Swiss could take a leaf out of the American and English (well, Sainsbury's anyway) book.
If the Paris authorities are as successful at catching people stamping out cigarettes on the pavement as they are at catching dog owners who allow their pets to foul the streets, the revenue from such fines will not be great.
I disagree, SH. I've never found it to be much of a problem in Paris. There are lots of other cities that are far worse.
If you want dirty streets covered in dog shit, go to Toulouse...
What do you get for half of SH(IT), SH?
Half a fine?
I wouldn't disagree with that, Bill Taylor. There are quite a few French cities that could properly be described as "-sur Merde". Except for Orleans, where they have a good street-sweeper!
Which of the Ten Commandments deals with sewage disposal, though, Anne Gilbert?
Oh, stop being so PC, anne gilbert - you can call it canine excrement, dog poo or whatever you like - but when you put your foot in it, you probably say 'Oh, shit'. Point made.
Oh, stop being so PC, anne gilbert - you can call it canine excrement, dog poo or whatever you like - but when you put your foot in it, you probably say 'Oh, shit'. Point made.
I don't much like the SH word myself. Rather vulgar and crude. Typical of outre channel, even outre Hadrien. It's a bit better if you add an 'e', sounds more home counties, Buck house.
Of course if you decide to add an 'e' SH is not even half a S----.
The Anglosaxon of Orleans has got it wrong again. Shite is the Scottish version of the offending word - listen to Billy Conolly's pronunciation. Home counties and Buck house indeed!
Perhaps we could use the glorious German "Scheisse", where sh would only be a quarter of such a noble teutonic word and it could spare delicate feelings.
Keep your kilt on SH. We don't want half frozen turds.
I have no respect for the Scottish as hangers on to the English. Uncle Toms (read Gordons)and all.
Hangers on to the English? None of the Scots I've ever known were remotely like that. They wanted "oot." As I said a couple of weeks ago, the Auld Alliance would be a much better fit. Or perhaps a Celtic free trade bloc.
There's a nice patch of green in front of our office, here on the outskirts of Paris, that the locals seem to have mistaken for a doggy toilet. I'm glad I'm not the guy who has to mow the lawn.
BTW - interesting how many more comments there are on Colin's blog when we descended from dog ends to dog excrement (hope that's OK Anne) compared to the "Irish eyes for Ségo" entry. What a down market crowd we are.
A note from the Alpine Vulgarian - I am obviously also a Crétin des Alpes...I didn't know the word Sh** was pornographic (hope you note the use asterisks AG - I wouldn't want to offend your sensitive nature yet again).
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anne
The problem with shoelaces is they keep coming undone.
Just like the skivvying Scots are undone.
They are completely out of kilt and down on their sporran.
They show their bare bum but none are afraid
Now the Irish. There you have a people to admire.
The republique of Blarney shall be first
The monarchy of the scone colony is bust.
Sorry - don't know why this appears twice - I binned the second comment but it didn't want to be binned.
ON one occasion King James the Fifth of Scotland, when alone, in disguise,
Near by the Bridge of Cramond met with rather a disagreeable surprise.
He was attacked by five gipsy men without uttering a word,
But he manfully defended himself with his sword.
Anne There is no Scottish King, there is the Duke of Edinburgh that well known Scottish laird.
Post a Comment
<< Home