On my way to Zugdidi:
The driver pulls out a cigarette, lights it up without asking (and offers me one, of course) and, quite surprised I refused the cigarette, asks:
"Do you smoke?"
I say:
"No."
"Like - no no?"
"No."
"Like - generally no, at all?"
"No."
"Why?" (sounding dumbstruck)
"Because it's unhealthy."
And now he looks at me with a you-don't-know-what-you-are-missing-out-on stare:
"You should try it."
It's completely useless to try and explain to him that it is rude to:
a) light up a cigarette as a taxi driver while ferrying a passenger, let alone without asking.
b) offer a cigarette to a passenger who minds smoking
c) asking why one does not smoke
d) persuading one to try it (as if I didn't know what I was talking about by refusing)
For Georgians (and especially Megrelians and Svans) it's entirely unimaginable that a man doesn't smoke. So it's completely lost on them, that a man (or woman, for that matter) may even mind it, find it highly disagreeable and unpleasant or be allergic to it. In this context it is interesting to observe that if a woman smokes on the street (i.e. outside of a private house) she is considered a prostitute. As a result, in more than half a year I've been here I've seen only two women smoke at two separate occasions. Some social prejudices are indeed very useful (and healthy!).
An exchange in a Megrelian village very near the border of Abkhazia:
A Georgian middle-aged man: "So, do you go and watch football matches of your home club?"
Me: "Well, not really. The league is not terribly interesting and it costs somewhere between 10 and 14 lari [5 to 7 euros]."
GM: "10 to 14 lari? Oh, that's very expensive. Here it's one or two lari. But I can't go watch football matches. We just cannot afford it. You know, I have no job and there are little if any social benefits from the government. And we have to eat every day. You know, buy things like bread, cigarettes, or sugar."
In this context it is interesting to observe, that while most of Georgian men in villages are unemployed (the statistics don't show this as according to Georgian law if family owns at least a medium-sized patch of land, all of the members are automatically considered self-employed) and receive no money, they feel no remorse about not doing anything (for God's sake, they can't help women with housework, that would be a disgrace!) and they are actually burning money (virtually every Svan and Megrelian is a chain smoker as are most of Georgians. Somehow the Georgians don't realize that they are being financially raped by rich western cigarette-manufacturing companies and concerns.
On the train from Kutaisi to Tqibuli, where I complained to the conductor that people are smoking there:
I pointed at the no-smoking sign in the carriage and said:
"Hey, no smoking's allowed here!"
The conductor, thinking I probably didn't know how it works in Georgia, said:
"You know, you cannot smoke in the carriage, but you can smoke near the exits."
(The fact that sometimes there is no door between the exit space and carriage does not seem to perturb anyone.)
I told him:
"In my country, or anywhere else in the developed world, one cannot smoke even near the exits."
Incredulously, his brain must have deduced the following:
"So they smoke in the carriage itself."
And ending on a winning note, he added:
"You see, that's even worse!"
I reiterated:
"Where I live it's not possible to smoke anywhere on the train at all."
He eyed me with suspicion, as if disbelieving me, and then spotting the difference:
"But this is an almost three hour journey! We have to smoke!" Note the use of personal pronoun 'we'.
I saved him from of his misconception:
"A train journey in my country could last 6, 7 hours, or even more. Yet no-one is allowed to smoke."
He thought it impossible, so added a punchline as if to redeem or excuse himself:
"But if I don't smoke for two hours, I will die."
No you won't.
Georgians (more so Megrelians and Svans) smoke everywhere, though my information indicates it is prohibited in public places according to the law. They even smoke on public transportation, such as trains or marshrutkas (minivan). Especially the driver; and the seats next to him are virtually reserved for chain smokers. They smoke even on short-distance buses, because they cannot not smoke for 30 minutes. If you tell them you mind it, they will most likely tell you to go and mind your own business (no pun intended). They smoke in private houses automatically, without asking or waiting for permission, even if the host family is entirely non-smoking (a rare thing, really). Pitiful losers, and as my friend put it, slaves of the cigarettes.
One last picture to illustrate the aforementioned. This Georgian graffiti says: 'Natia, I love you more than myself.'
I was tempted to spray-add: 'But not more than cigarettes.'
