Turks Needs A Laxative? Or some Nicorette.

Today I was having tea with a fellow a met at at Model UN try out. After doing that Yale thing (debating politics, ethics, the business sector etc.) we fell into actual Yale discussion, like discussing smoking culture in the world.

Don't get me wrong. I am not a regular smoker. Smoke doesn't bother me, though I tend not to like the idea of smoking. But fact is, come tech week for a show, I smoke. I feel guilty as hell for it too. But also, I'm one of the only female members of SIGAR club at Yale.

However, when a woman with a headscarf is shoving a cigarette in your face after dinner, or when a group of Swiss entrepreneurs smoke in between each course of the meal you are having with them, the guilt disappears. In fact, it eases any tension that may exist (amen for the Muslims who can't drink).

So I was describing how Turkish men in particular tend to smoke a lot, drink 9 cups of tea, and click prayer beads away as they pass time in anxiousness, waiting for someone to come buy their donor or their rug or their souvenir. Let's face it. Long hours. The market is flooded with the same products. You need something to pass the anxiety time presents. Alcohol cannot do it. I told this to Richard who responded: "Turkey sounds like its constipated. They have this secularism kinda stuck in there and they don't know what to do with it so they sit around and smoke."

I laughed. HOWEVER, I love Turkey. Yea, it may need some nicorette or laxative and sort out its complex secular/nonsecular issues, but its always moving forward. (Just look at that domestic market that weathered the economic crisis storm!) haha.

Just sharing the image guys. Images aren't always reality. Thankfully Turks have nice senses of humor. Go ahead and use the line, Orhan Pamuk.