Whenever I walk through the doors at school I am treated to that wondrous odor that is the smell of burning tobacco. It seems like subconsciously all the efforts to disengage people from smoking haven’t worked, and I wonder sometimes how virtually all of my close friends and acquaintances are chain smokers. Mostly they are respectful, but I do have a neighbor whose son flicks his spent butts into my yard, and I detest picking them up. In fact, they are the most common piece of trash I collect while hiking in the wilderness. I find that odd. What I also find odd is that King James wrote a counterblast about tobacco when it was first brought back from the New World, meaning that even back then some people knew it was a paradox.
Smokers seem to think that it’s ok to indulge in their habit wherever it suits them and whenever the mood strikes. Frequently, you will see them smoking in the right of way, just outside the door, such that it didn’t really matter that we banned smoking inside. You get second hand fumes while you walk through them. Just today at the gym I commented to the guy at the desk how paradoxical it was that they were smoking just outside the gym door. I like nothing better than a fresh wiff of burnt tobacco before a game of racquetball!. They don’t like going outside, especially when it gets cold, and then they flick those infernal butts wherever they like as if it’s totally ok. I know you’re addicted. I love chocolate, but I don’t apparently have the addiction that these people do. Today, I even had to call attention to a custodian smoking an electronic cigarette inside. Those are also illegal, but it doesn’t even cross their minds. Also, I think, although I don’t have any data YET, that they’re just as bad if not moreso than the paper ones.
It annoyed me that smokers seem to have privileges I lack. Coworkers constantly seem to enjoy extra smoking breaks when I am only allowed two and expected to be at work even when I’m stressed. So, I’m essentially punished because I can handle tough situations without a narcotic. Sounds perfectly equal to me. Then there’s our health care which provides monetary assistance for smoking cessation. Well, it would be fair to pay me that money in lieu of the helps because I don’t smoke. What do I get? I get a pat on the back and asked to return to work.
Although I know it’s not really true, far too many smokers don’t seem to pay any price. My SCUBA instructor was a chain smoker, but he could dive far longer than we could. My hiking buddy has smoked for 15 years, and only now does he seem to suffer from diminished lung capacity. Many people who smoke die without black lung, lung cancer or emphysema, even though they are warned it can cause those things, and some of them literally laugh at us, like that one old person who boasted that her secret to longevity was to drink, smoke, and carouse.
Fortunately for me, I have never been interested in smoking, and it shows in my health. I know there’s more to it than that, but I thank God that I was never persuaded to join in that behavior and I thank my parents for keeping us away from it. I think that smoking is a disgusting habit. My buddy’s car smells awful. I think the butts destroy the pristine landscape. I can’t believe people piss away so much money smoking these things every day. I just hope that food stamps and welfare can’t be used to buy it, because if so then I’m essentially subsidizing a drug habit. I don’t know why we give them special allowances and favors, why they get away with things. The paradox of it all is that despite all of that, they are not free. I love the recent advertising campaign that shows how smokers are slaves to their habit. Cigarettes are bullies, and those who smoke them do pay a price.
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