Sheesha in Souq Waqif
I find it quite pathetic sight of Sheesha smokers in the highly admired Souq Waqif. It is intended to be a tourist attraction in a country which claims to promote health and education, and obviously the Sheesha smokers are not well educated about the health implications of their behavior.
There is a law banning smoking in public, but I am puzzled as how the Sheesha found a loop hole in that law?
It is not too late to stop this public health threat from the highest authority level. The Sheesha smoking gives an indication of an addicted society, unemployed, and ignorant healthwise. We all know that nothing of this is true for the population of Qatar, or how the leaders of the country plan for.
I was with my family in Souq Waqif last night, it smell bad, I tried hard to answer the questioning of my children about Sheesha, and there was no room to sit for non smokers.
The weather is beautiful now, and the air smells desert fresh, I doubt that you are entitled to full your lungs with poison, needless to say the people around you.
The souq looks alot better with people reading books, working on their laptops, drinking coffee, chating, but let the Sheesha to stay at their private places.
I call upon the public health authority, the tourisim authority, the cornell medical college and others to do all possible measures to include the Sheesha in the law banning smoking in public, and I hope this action will resonate a positive wave for the nearby communities infected with the same problem.
and how many blondies can you see around? are there any?
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“You become responsible forever for what you have tamed”. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
"The Sheesha smoking gives an indication of an addicted society, unemployed, and ignorant healthwise."
~I don't smoke cigarettes, enjoy shisha and am not addicted to it. I am highly educated and not unemployed. Do not consider myself ignorant healthwise. I do enjoy sitting outside and smoking shisha occasionally. Are you a careless driver toxic to the public, do you drink alcohol to damage your organs, etc. It is interesting that you post this comment, because when you point one finger out, you have several pointing back towards you. In Dubai campaigners such as yourself have managed to get shisha ban'd in certain establishments and I feel destroyed a social aspect that was intriguing to the culture or whatever you want to call it. Freedom of choice.
"I was with my family in Souq Waqif last night, it smell bad, I tried hard to answer the questioning of my children about Sheesha, and there was no room to sit for non smokers."
~Are you really a UAE citizen and under 18 as you state in your profile? Or did I misread it... Sometimes I wished they would ban certain areas to prevent screaming children from disturbing my relaxation.
in souq waqif sit down smoke and look around at blondies :D
Gawd Translator bet you're the life and soul.....if you don't like sheesha then don't go places where it is! Simple!
Cigarettes are for nervous people, competitive people, people on the run .When you smoke a Sheesha, you have time to think. It teaches you patience and tolerance, and gives you an appreciation of good company. Sheesha smokers have a much more balanced approach to life than cigarette smokers.
your absolutely correct... but here the rules r not good... they dont knw what to do nd dont...that is main problem... we are helpless... but we have to think....
by your logic, we should shut down all fast food restaurants, knowing what we know about how they affect people's health. we should get rid of cars, knowing what we know about how they destroy the environment. we should stop farming cattle, knowing what we know about how cattle farms contribute to global warming.
i love the souk but i don't go anymore because i have a baby and i don't want her exposed to all the shisha smoke. even i wouldn't call for taking away shishas, despite the fact that shisha smoke prevents me from going to the souk.
we can't make every corner of the globe safe. shishas are outside anyways, so go inside one of the restaurants or go somewhere else.
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"Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day." Withnail & I
Translator, I am a non drinker and it is also detrimental to your health. I even detest the smell of it and think it should be stopped in all the hotels in Doha as I want to go there with my husband and children and not have them subject to people poisoning themselves with alcohol.
You get it now?
If you dont like it and it is such a terrible place I would think as a responsible parent you would keep your wife and kids out of there?
Sheesha smokers are giving the impression of an unemployed and uneducated society? Please.
"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"
Qatarsun, what kind of tourist you attract? tourist who are watching people tarring their lungs to death?
I prefere tourists who worship health, environment and nature.
I wonder how many of those tourists get the bad habbit, and they will thank us in the future when the doctor deliver the news.
Yes Amoud, I am serious in every letter of what I stated. As you may all recall when our parents were equally excited about smoking and ignored health consequences in the past, it is just a matter of time when you reliase that the Sheesha is far more killer than cigarettes.
And wait a minute, since when the Sheesha became a "caltural icon" of Qatar or the Arab world? it may once was a culture of the old men of those lived in this part of the world, but now it is an overlooked behavior when teenagers smoke the Sheesha. I do not understand when we know what we know now about health risks from Sheesha, some still think it is ok to keep such a practice.
"The Sheesha smoking gives an indication of an addicted society, unemployed, and ignorant healthwise."
Are you really serious with that statement?
"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"
lol lets just hope loulsy doesnt see this she'll go wild! while others might be born with a silver spoon in their mouth she was born with the argile pipe in her mouth :D
Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)
_[]~SMoKE~[]_
that's what i was going to say...
Translator, you get it right : "It is intended to be a tourist attraction in a country "
I don't think the tourists would be so much attracted by another "internet cafe"...
On Thursday, there is a group of musicians playing traditional music; there are shops with the traditional stuff, souvenirs and gifts, and obviously sheesha is one of the most significant signs of the local culture. How is that possible to eliminate it? Ambiance won’t be the same.. By the way, I love smell of sheesha. It’s a smell of fruits and flavours rather than just tobacco… It creats a unique atmosphere on souk.
You can take your kids to this nice ice-cream shop, at the end of this street with the restaurants. Very good, hand-made ice-cream with the tens of flavours. and no sheesha..I am sure the kids will be more than happy..
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“You become responsible forever for what you have tamed”. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Translator,
I surely don't find it pathetic that you can find shisha in the Souq. I cannot imagine Souq Waqif without them actually!
Mind you, not any coffee shop has shishas in there, because not all of them get a license from the govt.
Also, there is no smoking shisha inside those places (that is non-smoking area of each coffee shop in there actually. Although i know it is not as nice as sitting outside).
If you're looking for a problem, you're probably gonna find one.
Translator.. I agree that smoking is bad for the health so is drinking. But in th west where as we go on about how bad smoking is and have banned smoking in enclosed and public places, we still have to educate ourselves with the dangers to health of drinking. Especially the smell of drunken on the train or in the bus..
Anyway getting back to the point. I personally think that Sheesha is part of the Arab culture and should be visible in a place like Souq Waqif.
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HE WHO DARES WINS
But this is the charm there, it's the flavour of Qatar, which we're looking for being here...Where to have a shisha moment elsewhere? It's true smoking (kills and...)is banned in public "closed" places but the Souk Wakif is quite open and there are enough cafeterias/restaurants without offering shisha, just find one...I am not a smoker but I really enjoy sometimes a shisha there,with friends, just sitting and feeling the Arabian spirit, I found it quite relaxing:-)
Like it or not, sheesha and the souqs will always go hand in hand. Take the sheesha away and the souqs will loose even more of their traditional charm than they already have.
Plus, as most of the smoking takes place outside in the open air I do not think it is covered by the law you mentioned.
The Souq is also meant to be traditonal. There's more tradition in Sheesha than there is in a laptop!
Did you Google it first?
Read this..know why: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookah
as for me shisha smoking in the souq really blends in with the place, if you dont like it go to corniche or the malls that have "family day" coz there is no family day in souq waqif...Smokers RULE...chokers drool..
Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)
_[]~SMoKE~[]_