all of Europe should follow the Americans’ lead on is reducing cigarette smoking. Good- ness gracious, it was like living on the set of Mad Men.I was almost burned by people’s cigarettes a half-dozen times just walking on the crowded streets. Switzerland has the same “no indoor smoking” laws as in the US. But there’s so many people smoking just outside of most buildings – and at the bus and trolley stops and walking the streets – you lose all the health benefits of being outdoors.I mean, if 20 people are waiting at a bus/trolley stop, and 15 of them are smoking – the other five people are smokin’ too – just against their will.
My concern is that the Swiss are pass-
ing this nasty habit on to their kids. But they don’t seem to be too damned concerned with it, because their kids can buy cigarettes, beer, and wine at 16 years old. And for all these privileges they do seem to be very mature, re- sponsible kids. I saw what looked like ele- mentary aged kids navigating the bus, trolley, and train system – all by themselves. Hell, here in the states, we can’t even trust our kids to catch the school bus at the end of the block. I see parents here holding their kids hands while walking middle-school-aged kids to the bus stop. And I didn’t see one kid with his pants hanging off his ass where I could see his drawz.
Now, the public transportation
throughout Europe is simple, efficient, and safe enough for a kid to navigate. Not like these rolling ghettos here in the states. Hell, in some US cities, if you get off at the wrong stop, you gotta get jumped into a gang just to get back home
alive.In Geneva, all the public transportation vehicles are clean and well- maintained. And all forms of public trans- portation are use by the wealthiest people and the working class people. Every train, bus, and trolley actually runs on time. And if you miss one, 10-15 minutes later another will fol- low. On rainy days, two buses on the same
route will run together to ensure no one waits too long in the rain. Did you hear that, TARC and MARTA riders? In my series of Fakebook posts, I
touched on some of the technology used in Geneva that we don’t see in the states – and I encourage you to check them out. Publicly, Geneva is a fully automated society. All the doors open automatically at the public shop- ping areas, museums, and municipal build- ings. In most restrooms around town, the lights come on automatically when you enter the room and the toilets and hand-washing water are automated. We see this at a lot of places here in the states, but not like in Geneva. There is a public agenda to conserve energy and water and increase efficiency like few other places I’ve visited. And this fully au- tomated “no touch” society also goes a long way towards preventing the spread of com- municable diseases as well. And what sense does it make for me to go pee, wash my hands, and then grab the door handle of after some idiot who’s been pickin’ his damn nose all day? I would also like to see a change in the
overall currency situation in Europe – and this is an extremely sensitive topic through- out Europe. I made friends from London, Liv- erpool, France, Italy, and there in Switzerland, who feel very strongly about whether their country should be part of the European Union (EU). The EU was formed in 1993 for the express purpose of creating a common currency throughout Europe, the Euro. I won’t get too deep into the political part of this debate with Brexit, and the other non-currency related issues. I listened to my newfound friends discuss these issues, and each of them made valid points. But I’m speaking only from the perspective of one the most important economic sectors of the EU – tourism. It is confusing as hell going from country to country and being forced to have a totally different currency. And countries in
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