Let me make myself clear, I do not smoke. I never have and I sure hope I never will. And I hate the act of smoking. But, my hate for the act of smoking and my hate for you as a person are separate. Smoking, I have hated from the moment I inhaled that dreaded cloud of carcinogens some inconsiderate human being has so graciously excreted from his bacteria ridden mouth (a trait to which we all have in common yet I put in for more dramatic effect). You, however, as a person, I have no reason to hate unless you provide me with one. And, without invitation, without me knowing you, you have managed to do so, by releasing smog which would then hit me in the face. Do not make me associate you with my hatred towards smoking by your inconsiderate actions of smoking irresponsibly. Do not increase my hate towards you by changing how I perceive you by not being considerate of others when you smoke.
How do you keep those two separate? The first thing you should know is what smoking does to you. But I needn't elaborate further, we're all educated here. I bet from the moment you set foot in school, you've already gotten the lecture and might still be getting the lecture from time to time. It's bad for your health, and basically the only benefit is the short lived stress relief that comes with each puff. A benefit greatly offset by cancer and dying and whatnot. Bad breath, difficulty of breathing, etc, I won't bore you with the details. What I'm getting to is that although you might be okay with those conditions, you might be at peace with that, I won't judge, your life is your own. But never assume that others share the same sentiment. I might not be at peace with the fact that every inhale decreases my life expectancy.
Hence a small amount of consideration is required in order for us to continue living our lives without me having to carry an oxygen tank around and not tempting me to bash your face in with it every exhale (a temptation that grows stronger with each exhale mind you). WATCH WHERE YOU'RE PUFFING FOR GOD'S SAKE. Is it so hard to simply turn your head away from people when smoking? Yet I see you gleefully filling the air with tar while conversing with your friends, without a care in the world for those around you. You've made this whole restaurant ground zero and I highly doubt that's a place you'd want to bring your pregnant wife or toddler for their breakfast. There are so many things you can do, simple things, that would make you a better person. I know it's completely possible because I have family members that smoke, I have friends that smoke and they're all considerate enough to not make me (or the people in the vicinity) to gasp for air (any friends or family reading this, you're off the hook cause you're awesome for doing so).
I use my uncle as an example because he's the best one. The amount of thought he puts into consideration extends even beyond what I have considered. When we were eating out, he would choose a seat at which the air would blow away from the table so that if he smoked, the smoke wouldn't drift towards us. He would sit at the edge of the table and not in the middle so that others won't breathe the smoke in. AND he blows the smoke away from the table and not towards people. When a pregnant woman or a group with children pass by our table, he would stop smoking all together. And as he puts out the cigarette, he would fan away the smoke, making sure the cloud in non-existent should they happen to pass by. And as a man with children, he makes sure that they don't breathe a particle of cigarette smoke even though he does. The same I cannot say for those of you who smoke in front of their babies and pregnant wives. FOR SHAME.
I don't expect you to go to his level, but even my friends exercise a good level of consideration when smoking, to which I feel is already adequate. When we eat together, they would sit at the edge of the table, away from the group that doesn't smoke and they blow the smoke upward, that way, the cloud won't hit others in the face but instead drift above their heads. So usually if we eat out, the smokers would sit on one side of the table and the group that doesn't smoke would sit on the opposite end. The ones that are casual smokers would sit in the middle, since they're okay with it. And that actually works. They would also try to smoke somewhere else if they could. There was this one time when we were on a field trip, me being new to the group, I was randomly placed with them in the same room. They excited brought in an ashtray and having seen my expression proceeded to say that they would just smoke somewhere else. I was actually the minority in that sense but they were considerate enough to leave the room. Even though we were travelling the whole day, and they would have probably preferred to rest in the room while having a puff or two.
See? It's that kind of consideration that differentiates a bad smoker from good people. The stigma of people normally hating smokers comes from the fact that the ones they hate have no regard for others when they are smoking. Hating the act of smoking and the smoker are again, separate, so long as you don't bring the two together, non-smokers won't hate you. My friends and family members are a good example for that and I am happy that I am surrounded with such nice and considerate people. They smoke but I don't care because what they it doesn't inconvenient me. They're smokers but they care about others when they smoke and you should too.
You, that inconsiderate smoker sitting at that table next to mine. While my sister carries her 2 month old baby in her arms.
And to those who vape, don't think you're off the hook, because you wouldn't spray someone in the face with perfume or deodorant (or spray a whole can in a restaurant next to people who are eating) so I don't think that whole "it's harmless" argument is valid. It's just as inconsiderate so it should also be practiced with etiquette.
Have fun and be considerate of others.
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