[ruby-talk:10327] Another OT smoking story Re:

On Sat, Feb 03, 2001 at 07:36:20PM +0900, Yukihiro Matsumoto wrote:
> 
> By the way, I was surprised to see so many people smoking in public in
> France.  It's worse than Japan, which I had believed the worst country.

A few years ago, some Frenchman (whose name I can't recall) rowed solo
across the Pacific ocean. He started in Japan and landed at Ilwaco,
Washington (USA), a small town near the mouth of the Columbia River.
The row took something like three months, and he said he'd lost count
of the number of times he capsized.  He was a bit thin after the
journey, and needed some physical therapy because he'd been sitting 
in a cramped position for so long.  Considering the circumstances, he 
was in good shape.  The first thing he asked for when he stepped on the 
dock was a cigarette.

David S.