[Tango-L] New indoor smoking law in Buenos Aires

[Janis Kenyon]

We returned to our tables after a tanda.  The woman at the table next to me
commented on how much cigarrette smoke bothers her.  I looked around and
didn't see anyone smoking within twelve feet of us, so I asked her how she's
able to go dancing since so many smoke in the milongas.  We were in Lo de
Celia where there were only twenty people attending Emilio's milonga on a
cold afternoon.  She told me that things will be changing on October 1st.
The Congress debated the issue for a long time, but it finally passed both
houses.  A law will be in effect as of October 1 prohibiting smoking in
public places.  That is going to affect milongas.

During a tanda, I mentioned the new law to my partner.  He replied, no one
will come to the milongas.  The woman doesn't feel the new law will matter
to most people.  Her comment was, the desire to go to the milonga is
stronger than the desire to smoke.

Only time will tell.  If the law keeps people away, the atmosphere of the
milongas will change in more ways than one.  The foreigners will be happy to
dance in a smoke-free environment.  They may end up dancing only with other
foreigners.  Dancers who need to smoke will have to go outside, while others
will wait for them to return for the next tanda.