Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

I was trying to have a laugh!!

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

I don't think you were. I think you have utter contempt for people who would rather sit in a smoke-free environment.

Unfortunately that makes you fit in rather well in Switzerland.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

The big advantage of democracy is that the people decide.
The big disadvantage is that the people decide.

I don't see any evidence that the people here are not unbiased thinkers. Many votes have not gone the way the government wanted them to, so its certainly not a case of vote as we tell you and shut up. My Swiss friends discuss politics a lot and on an intelligent and analytical level and listen and analyze rather than just sticking to pre-conceived opinions. In the other countries I lived political discussions rarely got past the level of "this government sucks" or personality cults around their favourite hero (which is how phenomena such as Obama and Blair come to be). I actually find that one of the great refreshing things about Switzerland.

Maybe the people don't vote as you would want. But then maybe you need to differentiate between being ubiassed and not agreeing with you.

I don't see what not owning a home has to do with not being an independent thinker. Back in blighty we once had a law that only landowners and such people could vote. We introduced universal suffrage and generally we consider that a good thing. For some people not owning property is the smart thing. It can depend on circumstances. Are you sure you're not falling into the trap of thinking, "I'm smart and I own property therefore people who don't own property aren't smart?"

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Yes, amogles, it's a "smart" thing not being able to pass something onto next generations so they can have a start on a different level...anyway, I guess it's a question of mentality so we don't need to agree with each other.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

smoking in the underground station might seem as a huge violation and an assault on your health. But lets be realistic, there is also shit and piss all over the tracks which create all kind of gasses, toxins and particles which you intake into your body. Next time you see someone entering a toilet in the station you better take action!

Switzerland, where small things are a big deal!


Cow 'emissions' more damaging to planet than CO2 from cars

Meet the world's top destroyer of the environment. It is not the car, or the plane,or even George Bush: it is the cow.

A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs.

The 400-page report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation, entitled Livestock's Long Shadow, also surveys the damage done by sheep, chickens, pigs and goats. But in almost every case, the world's 1.5 billion cattle are most to blame. Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environ...rs-427843.html

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

What does owning a house have to do with passing something on to the next generation?

And how does inheriting stuff when you are 60 or 70 allow one to start on a different level?

Tom

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Vegetarians of the world also create their fair share of C02 just like cows. I do my best to rid the planet of cows by eating them when I get offered a nice slice. :)

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Interesting, shame there isn't a link to the original report.

There are a couple of clangers - ammonia is a base, not an acid, and although cows may use a huge amount of water I've seen them piss and that is equally impressive at putting it back into the ground ;)

Probably Swiss cows are a lot more environmentally friendly than most US ones.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Not since along time, all in sceptic tanks now !

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Not to mention septic tanks. :)

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Are those the same tanks loaded on to planes that spray Chemtrails?

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Actually sceptic tanks was better - only 60% currently have tanks ;)

http://www.sbb.ch/en/group/the-compa...en/wasser.html

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Wouldn't they be brown in that case? :eek:

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

They're making the snow yellow.

Have you ever wondered where all that stuff goes when you flush the loo on a plane?

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Actually the issue was owning a house (which you could obviously pass it on to your children/grandchildren) vs. renting all your life (being a tenant all your life, in other words). I'm personally not happy at all that each month those over 2000 chf representing rent just go out of the window..well they do go into some pockets heh (and please don't get me started on buying a house in CH)
Anyway we're off topic, back to those dirty smokers. :D

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Well they don't really get out of the window. You get to live in an apartment in return for that money. In the same way that the money you spend on food, clothes and vacations isn't gone out of the window but you gained something in return. If you think you're spending too much on rent, look for a cheaper appartment. As I said previosuly, whether or not buying makes sense depends on the circumstances and it would be incorrect to claim that it is a good strategy in all circumstances or that those who don't do it aren't smart.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Hahahaha you're hilarious I love it!

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Can we get back to the topic of the thread ie smoking on platforms? Sorry but it makes me smile after a hard day:msngrin:

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Can we now add "Smokers who light up as they are stepping off the train" and "Smokers who light and smoke as they walk through the station underpass"

My ex-MIL was a heavy smoker and I asked her why she never "smoked and walked" - she (Swiss - farmer's daughter) responded was "what poor people did". :D:eek:

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Yeah and whale oil was used to lubricate transmissions in the last century. So what? Ok bad for the whales. 100% true. But....so what.

One is a food and the other is a necessity/luxury depending on ones situation.

What is this reverse psychology or something? What have I missed here?

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

What I love to see, is all those desperate addicts, dying for their fix, who have just lit up, knowing their train will along in one minute, and then continually 'drag, suck, blow' until they end up with a 1cm red-hot poker on the end of their fag.
Still doing so, with their foot on the train step and then throwing half it, unsmoked back on the platform, to set fire to some peasant, wearing synthetic material clothing.

We were much more cool in my day - simply remove the burning end quickly and gently between forefinger and thumb, tap the end to ensure no burning residue is present and place remaining half behind ear for later.
Did get a bit pongy, after a while, with the ear being relatively close to the nose, though - but did mask the smell of sweaty-Bettys.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

There is another angle on this that for me is very important. I was in Luzern HB the other day and right in the middle of the station where passengers get on and off their trains and buy tickets from the machines were a group of 14-16 year olds all puffing on their fags with a bit of a swagger, out of about 8 of them every one was smoking at the same time. I felt very sad...

...whatever the argument about smoking in public there can be no doubt in my mind that they thought it was cool and they were even showing it off.
That is what is sad because if you are older (even cool) and visibly smoking in public you are (whether you like it or not) an endorsement to the younger generation who see smoking as being 'older'... and possibly even cool.

If you are a smoker and can't see that and would not give up smoking in public places for that reason then you have nothing to be proud about.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

On the contrary, I think young people nowadays are more prone not to start smoking. They are more into sport and healthy living than me and my friends were at their age.

My generation thought it was cool to smoke, most of us have stopped, except me!! And a few others.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

It goes into a tank which is emptied when the plane lands. Any "blue ice" is caused by leaks.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

I always thought those marks on the runway were skidmarks. Now I perceive they might be "skidmarks" of a different kind.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Black :confused: :eek:

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

That will be the Dublin flight :eek::D

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

I was just sitting on our local station platform when an old bugger, in his eighties or nineties, ambled over, sat down on the bench next to me and lit up. He sighed deeply, sat back and slowly drew on his cigarette while enjoying the cool morning air and a spectacular view of the Glaernisch massif. We nodded to each other, then returned to our individual reveries.

I couldn't help but think of this thread, and the torrent of self-righteous, intolerant, judgemental tripe that festers throughout. Which of you could, with a clear conscience, deny this poor old sod his few moments of peace and quiet? Which of you could demand he put his cigarette out for the sake of your own selfish comfort? Isn't there enough fresh Alpine air to go round? What harm is a couple of puffs of smoke compared to the happiness of some old codger who probably hasn't got much time left anyway?

The contrast between that delicious moment of peace and silent companionship and the miserable harping on this thread couldn't have been starker.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

I wouldn't have said or done anything either.

But, if you had actually bothered to read the thread instead of sitting on your (very) high horse, you would have read that the only time I ever complained to anyone on a railway platform was when I sat on a bench right at the end of the platform - away from anyone - and with my two week year old son, and a twenty-something man sat next right next to us and lit up.
He's response to me when I complained (I had already moved twice) was to say that it was his right to smoke and he carried on.

That's a far cry from the scenario you have described.

The contrast between the two couldn't have been starker.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

He wasn't wrong, was he? :)

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

That poor old sod is not on his own private property. There is nothing in the world that makes me feel sorry when people like him sit next to me and make me nauseously shudder and hold back the feeling of throwing up on the spot.

Smoking is disgusting and forcing others to feel terrible because you want relief for a self-inflicted addiction is incredibly selfish.

You’re also mistaken in that YOU are the one being self righteous. I’m trying not to smell like BO, perfume or anything worse that might make you want to vomit. You believe you have the right to smell awful enough in front of me and that I should just bear it, for your benefit, so you can feel the nicotine and tar in your lungs.

Honestly, I hope old men like this and people like you get cancer soon and relish in the misery of your revolting health choices.

What I would love would be to sit with a view like that and enjoy the elusive “fresh Swiss air” that doesn’t actually seem to exist anywhere in this country, even in the Alps. :mad:

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

And further, NO there is not enough fresh Alpine air to go around. This country has many positives, but unless I stay inside my house (and sometimes not even then), there is not a day that goes by when I am in this country that I do not have to smell smoke.

It hits me as soon as I leave the house, sometimes it comes in my house when someone decides to smoke in front of the forced air vent in the building and even in the Alps on a hike, someone can be 200m in front of me with an extraordinary smoke trail lingering behind them.

Surely you can understand that as much as you might love to smoke every day, some of us would love to have even ONE day here without having to smell something that makes us want to puke.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Gosh! Who's the loathsome bastard here, then?

I neither smoke nor drink, sweetheart. Do I really deserve cancer just because I think tolerance is a virtue?

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Sorry, you don't smoke then. But you enjoy the smell enough to tolerate it. You still think people who feel nauseated and sick from smoke should have to tolerate it too?

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Yes. Do I still deserve cancer?

What other opinions deserve cancer? I'd be grateful if you could make a list.

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

I get it. You have no moral or decency compass and need written laws to tell you what is right and wrong?

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

Huh? It wasn't me smoking next to you on the platform.

You seem to struggle a bit with this reality business, don't you, Tom?

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

I'm sorry but when you wrote "He", I assumed you were righting on behalf of "Him".

Perhaps the old man you described thought it was perfectly reasonable to smoke next to some middle-aged man such as yourself on his own but may not have done so if it had been a parent with young children in your place?

Re: Smoking on the train platforms.uughh
 

You're starting to ramble, Tom.

Let me put it simply for you:

I do not smoke. Therefore, I would never smoke next to a middle aged person, or a baby, or anyone else. That's because I do not smoke.

I do not have a problem with other people smoking. It is their legal entitlement except in certain places where it is forbidden. At the moment, smoking on open platforms at railway stations is permitted.

I do, however, have a problem with intolerant dickwads who are unwilling to acknowledge the legal rights of others to enjoy themselves as they please. Today they have smokers in their sights, but who will it be tomorrow? Puritans are never happy until everybody acts - and, more importantly, thinks - exactly as they do.

My feelings towards the old gentleman this morning were largely positive - we were sharing a pleasant, quiet moment in the cool air of an Alpine morning. My feelings towards those who would deny him his small pleasures are entirely negative, because they are intolerant, miserable dickwads.

Is that a little bit easier to understand, Tom?

I do hope so. :rolleyes: