Smokin'

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally posted by V_D
One ISSUE for ME as a SMOKER .... IS the harrassment I sometimes receive from NON-SMOKERS. Verbal abuse, put-downs, shame, bullies. I becomea scapegoat for bully-ing for smoking PERIOD, even when I smoke away from others where they can't be effected etc. The issue isn't me SMOKING, the issue for them is that I'm a smoker at all.

I get the same, VD, as do others I know. Tis a shame some can't leave others to their own lives (I'm reminded of the fur thing a few years back and more recently, the PETA folks).

FYI, I don't even smoke in my OWN house (pain in the ass) because no one else here smokes anymore. For me it's the garage or my back porch. That's OK, though, keeps the peace. neither do I smoke in the houses of non-smoking friends or relatives... if I want one, I got outside (yes, even in winter).

Interestingly, I lunch probably three times a week with a chap I've known for several years, a successful insurance salesman working close-by; he has never smoked in his life, but prefers the atmosphere and company of our [smoking] bar. He's become quite a good friend.

No, I would not smoke in his house; but he has no objections to my habit while sitting beside me in the bar and trading stories three times a week. It's well-ventilated and he believes thesubject is a matter of personal choice. And he's there by choice.

Before him there was a woman I used to hang out with with the same attitude (she didn't smoke either, but quit her job to move out of Toronto).

Not all non-smokers are zealots, nor are all smokers. Until tobacco is banned (unlikely, considering the taxes our bloated governments earn from it), some middle ground has to be established. I believe in tolerance, on BOTH sides of the issue.