Smoking in 'Bubbles' - small gondolas

A snowHead

I was lucky in another similar situation as only one of them smoked and he asked me for permission.

I didn't have the heart to say no but got off at the next mid station to ride another gondola.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Single woman gets into confined space with 5 blokes ......
So many punchlines so little time.

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fatbob, they didn't actually smell that 'herbal' - in any 'sense' of the word - I do have some idea of what some of these things smell like through past experience of being in areas where they are smoked - they smelt more like filthy ordinary ciggies - though one out the five did roll his own so I guess that may have been something different - if so it was over powered by the others.

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as a smoker i deffinatly wouldnt do that out of politness. I wouldnt even enjoy the fag because of the enclosed enviroment

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We were having a look at some recently retired old bubbles recently and were remarking at how ropey they were. Boys said it had been fairly common for the instructors to wedge the doors open with a boot and have a fag on the way up.

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don't see the problem here if you don't like them smokeing ask them to stop... what's the worst that can happen.... they say no?

After all it is free

I would go straight to the point and tell them in English and French that it was not allowed and illegal. Coughing or delaying just makes you seem weaker. I would then tell them that if all occupants were agreeable then I wouldn't see the problem but they must ask first otherwise it's just rude. If they didn't agree then I would ask for their lift passes and say that I would report them to the lift operators, this being because I would be wearing my instructor uniform and they wouldn't know how much or little authority I actually possess. In your situation as a lone female I would still confront them; what are they going to do, beat you up? That would be pretty obvious to the lift operators as you could tell them as soon as you reached the top and they could then be arrested so they wouldn't do it. Last time someone smoked with me on a chairlift (which was stopped for about 30mins) I confronted him about dropping the butt and not respecting the mountain environment and he apologised. Then when the lift re-started to a big cloud of smoke from the top station we both had a good laugh about the respect for the mountain and environment in the face of lift pollution.

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I was a teacher all my working life and had to confront kids doing all sorts of things on my own - including groups of lads smoking. I hope I would have confronted them. Non-teachers tend to be afraid of 'youths' but I never had any problems in 37 years teaching - but my nickname was Psycho Bates!
Last week in 3V I got on a chairlift with 2 ESF instructors. Their pupils (2 groups) were all ahead of them. As soon as we set off the female instructor got out her fags and was about to light up. I said in French that I didn't like it and asked her not to smoke. She said she would face away from me but I insisted that I didn't want her to smoke. I then said (still in French) that if she did light up I would report her to the ESF office - they all have name badges on their uniforms. That made her stop. I also said that I thought it made their skischool look bad to smoke in uniform.
My parents both smoked but I cannot stand it at all. If people wish to do it they have to go somewhere where non-smokers will not be polluted in my opinion.

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simon_bates, not sure the French would work in Austria wink

. Agree the coughing thing is a waste of time. Young people lighting up like that is just them "toughing it out" in my experience

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ricfrench, no internet annonymity in a bubble is there? Depending on the situation I can be a bit of a 'shrinking violet' in real life!

It is also worth remembering that I am fluent in neither French or German - I could just about remember something about 'defence de fumer' which, without checking, IIRC means something about no smoking, but I think a lot of my reticence was a lack of fluency in a local language.

You know it makes sense.

I agree that people are unnecessarily timid about confronting youngsters. My diminutive teacher daughter does it regularly, as do other teachers. my OH went out and wrangled with some kids who were being rowdy and unpleasant (lots of effing and blinding) and climbing up the ladders onto our private quay. he pointed out this was a private area, and asked how they would like it if people invaded their garden, and they were quite polite and moved off. On another occasion there was one who dropped his pants, did a "moonie" and called him a "paedeophile" (some confused notions there, poor lad). Laughing

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Two French guys lit up in the gondola a year or two back, I managed to summon the biggest sphincter ripping fart I could, as the french guys looked at me in disgust, I simply pointed to the "No smoking" sign. Touche'

A snowHead

Its really funny that many people wouldn't confront someone smoking but there must be a Bates gene for it! I see that while I was typing my reply my son Simon Bates was saying exactly the same thing! I won't say who my other son is.... Husband isn't on here - he just reads it all over my shoulder - just as he is doing at the moment.....

A snowHead

I think I'd go native - tap on the no smoking sign with my ski pole and point at them whilst wagging my finger and saying No, Non, Nein.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

halfhand, I looked for the no smoking sign with the intent of doing just that - which I would have deemed a suitable and deployable solution. However it was a strange bubble and I didn't spot it when I needed to. Further inspection of the bubbles later on in the week and I discovered them on the doors in a pale yellow!! of all colours to easily spot rolling eyes

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I think halfhand knocks the nail on the head ......
I can appreciate a single lady maybe keeping quiet to keep the peace .... but it should never have happened anyway.

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not read the thread; if it happened to me I would start coughing and say i was asthmatic - did that on a bus once and they all feel very guilty

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Megamum ... pale yellow is the perfect camo against nicotine !!

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I wasn't impressed with the colour choice, it was almost as though the signs were a token gesture that they didn't really expect to be obeyed anyway. However, as gdbn, says I think it smacked more of just plain bad manners - no smoking signs or not if every occupant had of indicated a wish to light up then I couldn't have seen a problem with doing so provided all the windows were opened to disperse the smoke prior to the next occupants. However, to have a single occupant that wasn't smoking and (though I don't wish to press the 'sexist' button) that occupant being a middle aged lone-female to boot, I was very unimpressed by the lot of them. I didn't expect skiing to be as frequented by the Yob mentality as places like Ibiza esp. in a family resort.

After all it is free

Megamum,

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T Bar, Megamum, I mentioned Dutch earlier from another incident Toofy Grin

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Lou, OK, Gotcha Very Happy

halfhand, Luckily the smell did clear out of the jacket, but it did stink somewhat in the immediate aftermath Sad

It was a real shame really. The jacket, as I mentioned was brand spanking new and a damn good one too. I had only owned it about 3 days - I had a panic just before I went when I discovered my other jacket had.............ahem.........shrunk in the wash Embarassed

and given the cold week forecast was not about to take decent layering of items under it. So I'd been out emergency shopping and had arrived home with the only jacket of a suitable size and shape - a mens Schoffel Ryan (what is it about mens jackets? - far more roomy cuts and always made (at least visibly) to a lot more durable standard than women's ones, also made of heavier weight materials, decent hood). Looking online I could have got it a bit cheaper than I paid, but I was able to try it on and had paid a resepctable £240 for it in a sale, I was really pleased with it and the last thing I wanted was for it to be contaminated with smoke. Evil or Very Mad

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Inhaling smoke makes me vomit. I would have asked them politely and then let nature take its pukey course

A snowHead

Just take a crap in the middle of them... if they object just say that 'Well... you never asked me if I wanted to breathe in your fumes.'

A snowHead

I would have felt very threatened in this situation, and I definitely would not have said anything to them. They seem to have been extremely inconsiderate.
If there was someone at the top that I could have brought it to the attention of, I would have done that, but there usually isn't.
This seems to be an extremely rare occurence. I hope you never encounter a situation like this again.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Quite a few people seem to have taken bravery pills this morning!

I would suggest the most prudent course of action for a lone female in a group of 5 males was the one you took. At the end of the day sitting in a smoke filled gondola for 10mins (or slightly longer) is not going to ruin you Holiday, getting Velociraptored by 5 blokes would.

I take nothing away from the fact that it was rude and inconsiderate behavior but I would suggest the best course of action is not to give it a second thought.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

If I could summon one up (and I usually can), a big loud smelly one like tangowaggon....that's what made Britain Great. Evil or Very Mad

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Selfish assholes!! It's bad enough to get in a gondola which smells of smoke, but for them all to light up without asking is so unbelievably rude.

I like to think I would have asked them not to - and been polite about it rather than angry. It's a difficult one though, being a woman on your own with five guys, so maybe in reality I'd have done the same as Megamum and put up with it.

I'm an ex-smoker but I never smoked in gondolas, and I was always considerate and kept away from non-smokers.

Someone in a ski group I was with once got in the gondola up to the glacier in La Plagne with two boarders who were smoking spliffs! I don't think he said anything (pussy!), just moaned about it when he got off.

After all it is free

clarky999, the culture issue played its card in my decision - on the continent smoking does still seem an acceptable thing to do in many situations. I was also mindful of the long gondola ride and perhaps not wanting to suffer the rest of it under the gaze of 5 guys that I'd done the 'school marm' bit to - I certainly didn't want to get them in bother either - it was their holiday as much as mine and given it was the first day every chance that I'd bump into the same group in a bar or restaurant before I was done. Perhaps they remembered me as that nice long suffering woman who let them smoke in peace in the bubble Laughing

. I am very pleased that all the smokers who have posted sound the type of person who wouldn't have done the same thing themselves.

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Megamum, Live and let live. Perhaps there have been times when your own actions have annoyed others?

Before initiating any potentially violent confromtation remember the quote (Ruskin I think) "Nothing matters very much and most things don't matter at all"

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Smoking in 'Bubbles' - small gondolas

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