You could easily change the title from Smokers here to public transport passengers! I will touch on that one in the future!
I fully appreciate as a smoker that not everyone wants to, or should have to put up with having it blown in their direction/faces! I understand that inhaling it passively can be extremely offensive to a lot of people! It has unquestionably gone well beyond the stage of equality now though!
You get the look of a ‘freak’ for sparking up these days! Sometimes as if it’s against the law and you have committed a proper crime! Or you can just get sly digs with purposely loud, unsubtle comments and remarks! The way to deal with these people is to blow it twice as fast in their direction! SNIFF THAT!! What did these people used to say back in the day I wonder?
At several outdoor sporting events, you are told to smoke in a segregated area whilst you try and peruse the grounds! Really?? AT the U.S Open tennis, spectators were actually having lighters confiscated on entry! Is that actually even allowed? I assume it has to be!
The constant reminders on planes or even trains that you can’t smoke grate me! Is it really necessary? As if it was not bad enough on long journeys! I remember a story/rumour of the late and great Whitney Houston offering to pay 1k to have a cigarette on a non-smoking flight! The maximum fine at that moment in time! Class that!
You just need to see the advertising on cigarette and tobacco packs these days! There is a point when this goes overboard in getting a message across! The pictures shown on these does just that! Do you see the same type of aggressive advertising on alcohol? Point proved!
The anti-smoking campaign has been in full swing for some time now and only looks to be heading in one direction! Why are we treated so differently? Smoking should be freedom of choice but it has not felt like that for 10 years! We even accept we cannot smoke in certain places or areas! I am sure that is why extra liberties are being taken to stretch the rules even further against us!
I don’t like the smell of tequila or whiskey! It can, in fact, make me want to throw up! Imagine segregating people in bars for that! “No sorry sir/madam you will have to take that outside” or “your not allowed to drink that in this area, over there please for that”!
That will of course never happen though as drinking is obviously a lot more healthy….
Andy Del Potro
The Gubbage and the Glory! 