Customer Smoking Despite Owner's Plea... When Complained, "Just Open the Window"

A Small Business Owner Troubled by Customers Smoking Indoors
Customers Smoke Boldly... When Asked to Stop, They Say "Just Open the Window"
Netizens Outraged: "It's a Nuisance to Other Customers," "They're Being Rude"

A self-employed business owner shared a story about struggling with customers who smoke indoors.

A customer secretly smoking in a restaurant.
Photo by Online Community

On the 20th, a post titled "How do you deal with people secretly smoking indoors while running a restaurant?" was uploaded to an online community. The author, identified as Mr. A, who runs a restaurant selling wine, lamented, "I've seen many troublesome customers, but now the number of customers secretly smoking indoors is gradually increasing."

In the photo posted by Mr. A, a customer who was eating is suddenly seen holding a cigarette in their mouth. The customer appears unfazed, exhaling white smoke while focusing on their phone. Fortunately, there were no customers at the adjacent table, but if there had been, they could have been exposed to secondhand smoke during their meal.

Mr. A explained the situation, saying, "The store has a two-story structure, and whenever all the customers leave the second floor, some middle-aged men secretly smoke." He added, "Indoor smoking is obviously prohibited, but they absurdly say, 'Can't we just open the door and smoke?'" He continued, "I've also seen people secretly drinking wine they brought in on the terrace. But I never imagined indoor smoking." He said, "I have a keen sense of smell, so I always notice which tables have been smoked at. I'm wondering if I should just ask these troublesome customers to pay and leave."

Netizens who read the story responded with comments such as, "You definitely need to take action. That's a nuisance to other customers," "Public manners have really declined these days," "There are all kinds of troublesome people," "Secondhand smoke is so harmful to health," and "There’s nothing to criticize about the Chinese tourists who were in the news a few days ago." Another netizen, Mr. B, who is also self-employed, advised, "In such cases, install speaker and microphone systems so you don’t have to go directly to the smoking table. Turn on the microphone and broadcast a message." He added, "Remove all kindness and say as dryly as possible, 'No smoking inside the restaurant.' They get embarrassed and leave quickly."

A Chinese tourist smoking indoors.
Photo by Online Community Archive

Earlier, on the 15th, there was a report about a Chinese tourist smoking openly inside a restaurant in Korea. Although a staff member told her, "You can't smoke here," the woman ignored the request and continued smoking, which caused public outrage.

According to Article 9, Paragraph 4, Item 16 of the National Health Promotion Act, office buildings, factories, and mixed-use buildings with a total floor area of 1,000 cubic meters or more are designated as entirely non-smoking areas. Smoking indoors in a non-smoking zone can result in a fine of up to 100,000 won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.