Persian no-smoking sign: "The employees of this inn do not use nicotine products."
I kept seeing various versions of the above sign (see photo above) at various inns I stayed at in Iran and wondered about its significance.
It says: “Dearest Guest, The employees of this inn do not use nicotine products.”
So what? Why are you telling me this? Why would I care what the employees do?
Then one night my father came in sneezing and complaining about German tourists smoking in the lobby.
“There’s a no-smoking sign there but the darn thing is in Persian,” he said plaintively.
What no-smoking sign? I asked.
To my amazement, I realized he was talking about the mysterious employees-don’t-smoke sign.
You see, by expressing its employees’ dislike for smoking, the hotel is indirectly asking the guests to not smoke! I am not kidding. My father tells me this is just as serious as any non-smoking sign in the West. They’re just doing indirectly, trying to be polite and non-confrontational. They’re being gentle and considerate but they expect you to understand it as a request not to smoke.
It might seem weird to the Westerner. For chrissake, why don't you just say it plain and simple in two darn words: “No smoking”?
But who am I to say what is normal?
Below is another no-smoking sign that caught my attention in a hotel in China, right next to the ashtray. The message seem to be, "no smoking allowed, but only for those who care to obey this sign."