Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gal]

It always amazes me how obnoxious many smokers are. Even Westerners, who should know better, will enter an empty pub , sit down next to you and light up. Whatever happened to manners? Just because you are allowed to smoke in pubs in Korea doeasn't give you a green light to smoke anywhere you like. If you're at a table full of non-smokers, and you're the only smoker, don't light up! If you are walking down a busy street, surrounded by other people, don't light up! Nobody, in front or behind you, wants to be assaulted by your smoke. In fact, unless you're 100% certain that your cigarette smoke isn't assaulting someone, don't light up at all. We constantly complain about how mannerless Koreans can be, and with good cause. But the one area in which my fellow expats never fail to disappoint me is in their lack of smoking etiquette. Are you as inconsiderate in other aspects of your lives? Or in just this area? And if just in this one area, why? Enlighten me.

[wormholes101]

This should help you.

http://www.gifbin.com/bin/1236536987_how_high_-_redman_vs_method_man.gif

[Wangja]

There are plenty of non-smoking countries available.

The choice of smoking countries is limited.

Choose where you want to be.

[DorkothyParker]

If it bothers you when as associate smokes at the table, you should let them know. They may not realize they are being rude. If you are too much of a pansy to say anything, then you deserve to suffer. If it bothers you when a stranger smokes at a table at a BAR then you should never leave your apartment EVER because people will do things that bother you sometimes. Saying not to smoke when you're OUTSIDE because there are other people around is absurd.

I don't smoke. It just peeves me for people to complain about others doing something that is legal and none of anyone else's business.

I was going to continue with my tangent, but I am drinking and I can't tell if I am being overly aggressive. :/

[Olivencia]

Why would you have to let someone know that the activity they are choosing to engage in is killing you when studies everywhere and for a number of years have consistently pointed out how harmful second-hand smoke is?
Do I really have to remind people not to sneeze or cough on me?

[BoholDiver]

The fact is, so many Koreans are just inconsiderate in general.

Yeah, scream at me and call me racist if you want. But it is true. Even other Koreans agree for the most part.

So if someone is an inconsiderate person who doesn't care for shit about other people already, smoking in a crowd is nothing big. It's par for the course.

[Sleepy in Seoul]

OP, for someone complaining about a lack of manners in others, you could try asking politely.

[Dev]

OP, we live in a selfish world. Forget about smokers for a minute and think about other everyday actions. Get on the subway and people cut in front of you to take the last vacant seat. Jaywalking is a complete lack of respect for the law, personal safety and the safety of drivers. Drive a car and see how many disrespectful people you meet on the roads. People who spit right in the middle of sidewalks (and elevator floors in Korea) don't care if you have to look at their mess. There's the neighbor who plays his TV & stereo too loud (and knows it).

You'll always find the worst people in cities. I don't know if it's the stress that causes this. Better to live in places with smaller populations where you can avoid people and the people you do meet are more cordial.

As for smokers, don't expect respect from a group of people who don't respect themselves. They walk around with their clothes and hair stinking. Every time they smoke a cigarette, they're ingesting some 500 different chemicals. They're addicted. They're not thinking about themselves. Why should they think about you?

[Dev]

As for smoking in Korea, what upsets me the most is smoking in PC bangs. Koreans allow this despite the fact that minors are allowed in these places.

I once saw a man (customer) who bought a baby in a carriage into a smoky PC bang. The baby cried a lot while he used a computer. Because of the smoke?

I wanted to complain to the manager, but didn't because I thought I might just get brushed off. He's making money. The father of that child should know better. The problem seems so obvious. Hello!

Hopefully, Korea will change its smoking laws for public places someday.

[machinoman]

koreans don't worry about the effect second hand smoke has on westerners for the same reason westerners don't worry about the effect indoor fans have on koreans: popular nonsense studies from one part of the globe generally do not effect behavior patterns on other parts of the globe.

[Steelrails]

If second hand smoke is that bad, then why do Korea and Japan have longer life life expectancies and higher rates of smoking? Clearly second hand smoke, while dangerous, is not the bugaboo that its made out to be.

If you don't like smoking, don't go to a bar. BTW who died and made that bar 'yours'? That bar belongs to its owner, and if he wants to allow smoking in it, then so be it. If you want a bar without smoking go raise the money and buy your own bar.

[Draz]

[pkang0202]

This thread makes me WANT to light up a cigarette and blow it in people's faces.

[themagicbean]

The concept of "rude" here is different--elbows in the bus ticket line, smoking everywhere, etc. There's nothing wrong with telling someone you don't want them to smoke in front of you or you don't want hem to blow it in your face. In fact, you'll probably have to do that. If, after that, they keep doing it, either keep reminding them or tell them to get lost (or leave).

Even when I smoked I prefered non-smoking bars so that I didn't reek the next day. Here I wish there were more. Even when I smoked (except in my teens) I would hold my cigarette up and try not to blow in people's faces. But that's just me.

Now that I've made a few intelligent points I just want to say that most of you that commented on this thread have a combined mental age in the single digits.

[nautilus]