That was nice.

I’m working in a café today (Tal Bagels) and I’m at a little table in the back, just workin away. It’s a pretty good setup in a nice place – until someone at the table next to mine pulled out a pack and lit up a cigarette. It’s funny, my Dad smoked so I was around cigarettes most of my life – but I can’t stand them. I really dislike the smell and the sensation of breathing the smoke.

Now, there is a law in Israel that proscribes smoking in public establishments such as cafés and restaurants – but it’s only spottily enforced. It’s a culture thing. People frequently just let this kind of thing slide or ignore it, so as to avoid a hassle or making a ruckus or anything like that.

Another factor is that many perceive a certain stubbornness and scofflaw streak in the common Israeli psyche.

So I tried being patient for a while, until he lit up the second or third cigarette. At that point I was annoyed, and the option of asking the owner of the café to deal with it crossed my mind. But I told myself that it would be far more considerate to appeal directly to my fellow patron first, and give him a chance to respond directly to me instead of going through an authority figure.

Here’s the nice part – as soon as I asked him to take the cigarette outside, he did. No fuss, no muss. He was nice about it and there was no hassle at all.

Sometimes it’s worthwhile to test those stereotypes – you never know when people might break them.