Smoking prohibited on your own balcony!

As it has not been custom for quite some years to smoke indoors in your home here in Finland, the Finns have been going outdoors into the yard or onto their balconies to get their doses of cigarette-smoke. I think that has been quite nice and considerate to take into account all the other people present, not forcing them to be passive smokers. Now there is a building society here in Finland that has banned smoking completely in the building.

Which means that people living in that building are not allowed to smoke on their own balconies!

I always thought that the balcony of an apartment belongs to your home which would mean that you are in the privacy of your home. And nobody could impose restrictions upon what you do in your own privacy. I’d hate anyone to tell me what to cook for dinner tonight!

Well, I am an ex-smoker myself, and find it annoying to have to inhale the smoke someone else just have exhaled when opening a window, but hey, we just inhaled most of Carelia this summer!