You'd Rather Fart than Smoke on my Face
Yes, I really mean that. And you would agree if you knew
why I say so. I am so angry that whenever I am walking, as
a proud pedestrian, who does not own a car & tired of
waiting for the bus, which otherwise should be a healthy
exercise is actually often very frustrating. People, rather
smokers, pass you from left, right, center and back,
listlessly letting their disgusting smoke into the thin air
as if they own it. And the thin air, now smoke laden, hits
my face and I have to inhale some of that filth no matter
how quick I'm to stop my breath or how long I hold my
breath. And this happens for 40 minutes (at least) everyday
that I have to walk, to and fro work or running errands. No
matter what time of the day it is (7am or 10pm), one thing
is for sure that you will get the flavor of smoke brewed in
the air.
I feel that if one smokes, he/she should be assumed to be
insensitive towards others to some degree (already). People
with other kind of addictions like drugs and alcohol, do
not cause instant and consistent harm to passersby (except
if they would be DUI, I guess!)
A friend at work said that she quit smoking when she was
trying to get pregnant. Now, eight months pregnant, she
claims to have been a non-smoker for more than a year. And
she said that now that she does not smoke and does not want
to stand by a smoker, she realizes how disgusting smoke
can be to non-smokers.
It is amazing to witness and be a victim of such atrocity
(if you may). Well, (not that I have not been tempted to)
wish I had the heart to rebuff a smoker to have let off
smoke on my face probably I would if I had asthma or were
pregnant.
I feel like smacking the parents who smoke with their
little children around them.
I see these ads on bus stops and subway trains with
messages for "quit smoking", and the dangers of "second
hand smoking" (especially to children). I would really like
to see some ads that would tell if the "second hand
smoking" ads really work.
Working as a rehabilitation counselor and dealing with
addictions, I wonder why we do not treat smoking for what
it is: an addiction that corrodes the society. Cigarette
smoking is not just any other drug/alcohol addiction in at
least one way, i.e. not something to be ashamed of.
Oh! one should see the smokers congregation everyday in
front of the art colleges (SVA or FIT for the matter), as
if smoking is inseparable to creativity. Smoking is so
normal, that its dangers have never been able to overcome
the normalization yet. What can one say when counselors and
doctors themselves are smokers, and we have designated
areas to smoke around rehabilitation
facilities/clinics/hospitals.
To understand the politico-economic basis of cigarette
industry won't be arduous. Following that it won't be hard
either to understand why cigarette smoking is not
considered a social aberration, crime, and a serious threat
to self and others, when it actually is.
What if we had public smoklets (like toilets, ya!), where
smokers should go in to smoke away their lungs to dust? And
the smoke would go through some recycling pipes before the
air is let out to the open. Now I think that this is a
legitimate proposal! Come on, if we can raise hell over
pollutants from vehicles why not try to curb the human
chimneys' free poison reign over our air.
Now coming back to my claim regarding the fart vs. smoke
choice, not that I would easily forgive a person to have
let go in a crowded subway train or in an elevator, but at
least I know that farts don't hurt beyond the fleeting
olfactory discomfort (I hope!).
~Amrita
(10.23.06)
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