Posted on 11/19/2004 5:35:36 AM PST by SheLion
Today is the day we set aside each year to badger, harass and pester that marginalized subculture of Americans, the Doorway People.
You know the Doorway People. They stand in doorways at work or at the mall smoking cigarettes because lighting up in mixed company has become as distasteful as nose-picking.
Yes, today marks the 27th anniversary of the Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, where modern incarnates of pinch-mouthed prohibitionists attempt to further ghettoize smokers.
Now, it's not that I think smoking is good. I have friends who smoke. I wish they didn't. On average, they will trade 10 years of their lives to enjoy their habit. But we're all grownups. Smoking is their demon and I have enough of my own demons to wrestle with.
But, unlike anti-smoking zealots, I sympathize with smokers.
That's because I was a smoker. When I quit for good in 1996, I was burning through 2 1/2 packs a day. I ditched the habit because each time I coughed, my lungs rattled as if someone had backed into metal trash cans.
Still, I loved every puff. I still miss it. In fact, I still have nicotine cravings.
So I'm sympathetic to smokers and believe they should be free to enjoy their addiction, which, last I checked, remains legal. Which is why I dislike the anti-smoking scolds. They are trying to criminalize smoking.
From New York City to Dallas, from Toledo, Ohio, to Eugene, Ore., anti-smoking zealots have racked up successful campaigns to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, the last bastion of peace and acceptance for smokers.
Eventually, the anti-smoking "movement" will have won enough smoking bans in enough cities in enough states to introduce national no-smoking legislation, said Zoe Mitchell, co-founder of Ban the Ban, which recently defeated efforts to enact similar no-smoking legislation in Washington, D.C.
"Ultimately, their goal is to make it a national issue based on their success at the local level," she said.
Anti-smokers say they're acting in the best interest of public health.
They say all those smokers burden the healthcare system with their cigarette-related maladies. It costs all of us more in healthcare premiums, they say.
Nonsense. Smokers die sooner than most of us nonsmokers, never collecting a cent from Social Security, which they've paid for decades.
Also, smokers pay outrageous cigarette taxes on each pack of smokes, which pours billions of dollars annually into government coffers.
At best, the money argument is a wash.
When an anti-smoking nut steps into a place like the Puss N' Boots Tavern in Fairless Hills, all they see is the blue-gray cloud of smoke hovering over the patrons crowded around the bar.
When I walk into the Boot, I see it differently.
I see a local cop who's seen more than his fair share of tragedy.
Or an emergency room nurse who was up to her elbows in blood just a few hours before.
Or a construction guy who's sacrificed years of Saturdays to work overtime so he could save for his kid's college tuition.
Or a middle-aged father worried about his son, who's fighting the war.
These are the good people the anti-smoking zealots want to stigmatize as public health leeches.
And if they accomplish their goal, they won't go away.
They will persecute the overweight, stigmatize SUV drivers and haul into court those who don't recycle.
They've got the money and the time and the lawyers.
We've been trying to come up with a Top Ten Good Things About Being in Iraq list.
Not having to hear about or be encouraged to participate in the Smoke-Out Day just became #6.
Bump!
LOL
ROFLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm thinking about breaking the smoking rules on National Smokeout Day. If I get asked to extinguish my cigarette.. I will say, "sorry", then I'll drop it on the floor, snuff it with my foot, then leave. Convenience store, restuarant, anywhere I spot a No Smoking sign.
Well, shucks. I think it was yesterday. Who knew. hehe!
Well! That will take a lot of b***! :)
I personally love the fact that I can go out Saturday nights in New York and Boston now and NOT come home reeking from cigarette smoke. I don't think the smokers mind all that much either--it's an easy way to meet people, going out front to smoke.
The issue here isn't whether you have the right to smoke anywhere you want, (you don't) but whether individuals, especially business owners, have the right to decide whether or not to allow smoking on their own property. What you're proposing is more of the same things that got smokers into this position in the first place. The actions you're proposing are those of an individual who has given up the fight.
It's raining today so I'll probably stay in the dang office.
And if there were that many people that REALLY cared about it the businesses would have gone nonsmoking, by themselves with no help from nanny govt, YEARS ago.
Oh yes! It's wonderful!
They will persecute the overweight, stigmatize SUV drivers and haul into court those who don't recycle.
They've got the money and the time and the lawyers.
This is where it's headed if something isn't nipped in the bud now. Our rights are being eroded.
How nice for you. You always did have a choice. When smoking was allowed in the bars and clubs, you could have NOT gone to them so you wouldn't 'reek'. Now you can get drunk and not 'reek'. What fun.
You don't know me so I'll advise you to take my remarks with a grain of salt. I have always been a considerate smoker. I was trying to bring out the Smoke Gnatzies with my proposal. You are right and I agree that it should be the business owner's choice.
Later
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