VIETATO FUMARE!

Pics by Teliung
VIETATO FUMARE, Ancona

I got very excited when I saw this sign.

I took this pic while waiting at Port Ancona, Italy side of Adriatic coast, while waiting for the ship to Croatia. The gangly, rowdy Croatian sailors and the proper elderly English ladies waiting in line with me seemed to be rather curious as to why I was so interested in this sign.

One thing I was shocked about Malaysians when I first returned from the States is how rampant and normal it is to see Malaysian men smoke. It's also amazing to see them smoking wherever they feel like it, in front of women, pregnant mothers and children. I think non-smoking Malaysian men (particularly Malay men) are an endangered or rare species indeed.

In Ancona I see this non-smoking sign everywhere, as well as "We don't sell cigarettes" at all their stores. What a relief. If you look carefully at the sign, at the bottom, it says.. "not only will those smoking in front of children, women and pregnant would be fined 10X the amount, but it also says they will have secret police and everyone watching out to report them".

This is one thing I admire about Italians, their attentiveness to family life, women and children. For e.g., I've seen the whole pew (of men) at the Vatican making much fuss to give a late arriving mother and a baby a seat in a full house mass, as well as children being fussed over on trains and everywhere I went in Italy. Whatever is lacking with the Italians, family and children is certainly a core part of their life :)

NO SMOKING SIGN

Pics by Teliung