Why a "smoking section" is absurd

In response to my dear friend, Arthur, and his comments on a smoking section:

I think it is ideal to have Smokers and Non smokers in seperate sections. I believe that Giving the people choices to pick from is at least better then BANNED it all together. Hey, you think Smokers Don't want a place to smoke freely and not Posion others? Heh

Do smoking sections really work? I cannot remember the last time I went to a crowded restaurant in Hong Kong, sat in the so called non-smoking section, and did not smell smoke. It is extremely difficult to properly create smoking and non-smoking sections within the same restaurant. The problem lies in the nature of smoke. Smoke is a gas, and that god-awful smell can travel around closed doors, air-conditioning vents, and even neighboring apartments.

Restaurants make feeble attempts to accommodate customers by drawing an imaginary line between tables that have ashtrays and tables that do not. Then they half-heartedly try to sit smokers far away from non-smokers. This works fine for the smokers, but sitting across the table or across the room makes no difference for someone who does not smoke. Most restaurants and bars simply don't want to put in the time, money, and effort into creating a segregated environment for smokers. Those that attempt to do so are often met with other problems such as the setup not working, or one set of people not able to get a "window" seat (just read some HK restaurant reviews and you'll see), or the smoke simply edging its way to the other side of the room as it always does.

Another problem is that most smokers simply haven't got a clue. They just cannot possibly fathom how much regular people are bothered by cigarette smoke. So here are some of the reasons:

1. Smoking kills. Everyone with half a brain knows that, yet why people continue to smoke baffles me. Why cigarettes are still on sale, I can understand. I don't agree with it, but at least I can see why tobacco is still being put on shelves (the answer has to do with economics in case you slept through that course in college). There are absolutely no redeeming qualities in smoking. Why do people still smoke? What the fuck? Anyways, I've strayed off the path; back to the topic at hand.
2. Smoking sucks because of the pollution it creates. Tobacco is a crop that destroys the land. Ground that has been used to grow tobacco takes a much longer time to recover than lets say... if it were used grow corn, or rice, or apple trees. However, most people tend to ignore or are oblivious to this fact.
3. Cigarette smoke smells really really bad. Think about a smell that you absolutely detest. Now imagine that smell being sent towards your direction constantly in the form of a gas. Even if its not sent in your direction, that gas starts to dissapate, and eventually reaches your clothes, nostrils, hair, eyes. It clings to every part of your skin, hair, and clothing. This god-awful smell won't disappear until you take a shower (sometimes twice) and wash your clothes. That is what cigarette smoke is like for people who don't smoke. People who do not smoke are quite sensitive to cigarette smoke, and smokers are naturally not as sensitive to smoke; hence, the divide widened even more.

*I am hesitant to mention that cigarette butts are polluting our streets and destroying the look of our cities because this is the result of human laziness and utter lack of respect for fellow citizens, also known as: littering. It is not necessarily a direct cause of tobacco and cigarettes, so I won't include it in the "list".

Okay, before you let loose your army of hate mail, let me explain why some smokers don't have a clue. Let me first explain the ones who actually do have a clue and understand how much non-smokers detest cigarette smoke.

• Type A: the smoker who does have a clue and does not smoke in the presence of non-smokers. I have one or two friends who do this, and I bow down to their considerate behavior. Mr. A. Huang, you are awesome, and there aren't many people out there as considerate as you.
• Type B: the smoker who does have a clue and just doesn't give a shit. These people know that smoke bothers the people around them, but they are too selfish to care. Some of them even write rants about how they hate people who get in the way of their cancer sticks. These people are all over Hong Kong, and sometimes they'll go out of their way to smoke in designated non-smoking areas. Why? Because they're assholes, that's why.
• Type C: the smokers who try to be considerate, but don't have a clue. These smokers mean well: they try to cause non-smokers less pain and suffering by blowing the smoke in a different direction, or hold their cigarette under the table, or behind their back in attempt to somehow hide the smoke from non-smokers. They don't have a clue because they don't know that these well-meaning actions make little to no difference to the non-smoker. They think that opening a window, blasting the AC, or turning on a fan will make the non-smoker feel better. It does, but its like taking a piss to put out a forrest fire: the effects are minimal.

So in response to Arthur's comment: yes, it is good to give people a choice, but 99% of the time (at least in HK), you're taking that choice away from people who don't smoke. Even when smoking is completely banned, smokers can still always choose to do their puffing outside the establishment. Non-smokers have never been able to choose to avoid smoke.