soapboxdiner

On smoking and non-smokers

So, I'm getting back from lunch yesterday and advise my work partner, who is on her way up to break, "Um, you might not want to eat the clam chowder today. The clams taste dirty."

Which prompted a whole conversation with Boss and Other Co-Worker.

Boss: You know who makes good chowder? Restaurant down the street.

Other Co-Worker: Oh, yes. They do make good food there. But they are a non-smoking restaurant, so you probably wouldn't want to go there, SBD. I mean, you probably only want to go places where you can kill some lung cells, right?

Boss: Oh, that's right. You're a smoker.

Me: You're right. I have a really hard time not smoking for 30 minutes in order to consume some nourishment. It's really amazing that I can make it those two hours between breaks, if you think about it. Yeah, that not smoking for 30 minutes is a tough one for me.

Other Co-Worker: I don't mean to be critical of you or anything, but doesn't that whole cancer, emphysema, hacking cough thing mean anything to you?

Me: You know what I find amusing about smoking? I find it very amusing that of all the terrible things people do to themselves every day, drinking to excess, drugs, pollution. Of all the things that don't just hurt the individual but every living creature on the earth, people today feel it's their right and responsibility to come down on smokers, when 20, 15, even 10 years ago, smoking was common and accepted not just inside, but while working inside. Nobody said anything then. I guess there have always been groups of people on earth that have to jump on whichever convenient better-than-thou bandwagon happens to currently be popular, so they can feel good about themselves. That is what I think of smoking.

Boss: Oh, but 10 years ago, people didn't know it was bad for you. People didn't know it was addictive. I mean, the information wasn't available to them. We just didn't know.

Me: Really? That whole "I need a cigarette right now!" thing didn't clue them in?

Boss: You know, last summer we took a road trip with the in-laws. FIL was smoking in his car! I lasted maybe two cigarettes when I finally worked up the courage to tell him not to smoke. I mean, really. Can you believe that?

Co-Worker: Good for you!

My Brain: You mean, you went on a trip in the man's car, which he owns and pays for, knowing he is a smoker and you don't like smoking? You mean you got into his car knowing he would be smoking, and you think that it's your right to tell him he cannot engage in a legal activity inside his own possession? It didn't occur to you to simply either take your own car, or - oh, I don't know - deal with it?

You know, I understand that not everyone likes the smell, taste, or physiologic effects of cigarettes. I respect non-smokers enough to not light up in their homes or vehicles. A great deal of the time, I don't even smoke when in their company, as I know they find it offensive. This is a thing I like to call social nicety.

But I tell you another thing, just because it's socially acceptable and congratuated when non-smokers look down their noses at smokers, if a person gets into my car, or enters into my house and commenses to tell me how disgusting they find my habit or me for engaging in it, I will happily tell them to bite me, with all respect. Show a little couth, people. And please, feel free to make use of the right to get the fuck out of my face. You know?

8:50 am - 01.11.03
previous | next

Home | Archives | Profile | Notes | DiaryLand | Random Entry