zone non-fumeurs

I'm sitting at a PC-bahng in Kangnam, in the non-smoking section. This PC-bahng charges a fuck of a lot for usage: 1700 won an hour. It's normally a great place to go during the lunch hour-- quiet, clean, with strict rules about smoking. I've used the place on and off for the past couple months precisely because it's so quiet and clean. Smokers and non-smokers are seated in completely opposite sections (the place is huge), with a wide space between them.

But right now, right as I'm writing this, there's a fuckhead in front of me who's dragging on a cig, and if he keeps it up, I'm not sure I'll be able to stop myself from pulling his stupid head right off his neck. His wife is next to him; I'll have to apologize for the breach of etiquette.

Koreans aren't unique in ignoring rules: Americans ignore rules, too (look at underage drinking and jaywalking, for starters). But here on the peninsula, rule-ignoring has been raised to the level of national pastime, and every once in a while it pisses me off.

Oh, good. The fucker and his wife just left. Enough ranting for now; later on, I might have to write on the ubiquity of smoking here. Even at 6:30AM as I'm lumbering down the nearly-empty sidewalk to the EC office, I usually find myself walking through clouds of smoke: some numbnut in front of me has decided to light up upon exiting the subway station.

_