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Back in June, my wife and I were part of a 48-member tour group that spent 3 weeks in Spain, Morocco and Portugal. The trip was booked on Trafalgar Tours thru local AAA offices. I was one of the few in the group that smoked, and the ONLY one who did so openly.

It turns out that most AAA travel agents had billed the trip as "a nice, non-smoking tour of Spain, Morocco, and Portugal." Yeah, right.

Get a grip, AAA. Spaniards, Portuguese and Moroccans SMOKE. A LOT. Everywhere. There IS no non-smoking section. There are NO non-smoking hotel rooms. And you would not have believed the hue and cry. These tourists were aghast - AGHAST, I say - that these Spaniards, Portuguese, and Moroccans would DARE to smoke "around them." They whined and complained, and all the Tour Director (a Madrilleno with English as a second language) could do was to tell them, "Well, in es-Spain, people SMOKE." This guy talked a big anti-smoking drill and then bummed Marlboros from me. He said that Trafalgar had told him to bad-rap smoking because the AAA had sent a bunch of non-smokers on the tour.

One red-headed gal who puffed like the Komodo Dragon at the Madrid airport was never seen smoking the entire trip - until, when she thought the entire group was off visiting some archaic castle, she decided she could do so. I just so happened to NOT be with the group and came across her.

"I thought you gave that up at the Madrid airport," I said to her. She replied that she didn't want others on the tour to "think badly of her."

I said, "Sweety, I've got an advantage you don't have. I'm old, and I don't give a flyin' patooie what any of them think." She didn't know what to say.

Which is just as well.

Michael

Michael, we live in sad times. I have heard that some of the loudest screamers of the No Smoking Movement, smoke and drink with the best of them behind closed doors. I believe it.

I have nothing to hide. I smoke where ever I am able.

One thing about being a smoker: we can be out in the public and not bitch about ANY of them. Right? :)

I must agree, I find that smoking is quite in vogue all over Europe.
I recently went on a business trip to The Netherlands and the one thing that really stuck out in my mind was the amount of people in the workplace who smoked right at their desks for all to see.
My Mother smoked all her life, it doesn't bother me in the least.
I can see how smoking would affect business at a bar room as I like to indulge in a Marlboro while I'm tipping a few.

One of these days they will all finally learn - 25% of the adult population in the US smokes - if they refuse to serve us they will loose 25% and more of our $$$$. All of us smokers have friends and family who don't smoke, but don't care that we do and WILL patronize the places that are accomodating to evryone.