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materials are copyright© 2006
by Michelle Weisblat-Dane. All rights reserved No portion may be
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without written permission.
Smokers
by Michelle Weisblat-Dane
Why, in general, are smokers so
inconsiderate? I realize they feel that
it's their right to smoke. Yes, they have a right to slowly kill
themselves. It
is their right to have their family and friends watch them slowly die.
It is,
however, not their right to leave their butts wherever they feel like
it. It is
not their right to stink up my life. They don’t even realize
how badly they
stink. It’s not even just themselves that stink. It rubs off
on everything,
the couches, the chairs, the car. Have you ever had a guest in your car
after
they have had a cigarette? It’s like the smoke just
hovers around them
and stays with them. You turn on the fan to try and get rid of the
smell. The
noxious odor stays in the ventilation system and for months you can
still smell
it.
Smokers put out their butts
everywhere, in my yard, my porch, out car
windows, and on sidewalks. While we were at a hotel for an
anniversary, someone decided
to flick his butt out the window above us. It caught the tree outside
of our
hotel room on fire. We were trying to throw pitchers of water
on the tree
to put out the fire until the fire department got there. It made for a
wonderful anniversary. Not! Another time someone threw a butt out thier
car
window. It caught a field on fire just as I was driving by. My friend
and I
stopped. By chance, I had a fire extinguisher with me. If I hadn't, the
whole field
would have been on fire by the time the fire department got there.
I do not understand why a smoker will go to such great lengths to be
able to smoke.
Our local hospital has banned smoking. Rightfully so! They
don’t want to
encourage people to kill themselves or expose others to such
toxins. I
have seen people trek across the hospital and across the driveway in
zero
degree weather to stand at the park, to have a cigarette. They are
literally
standing in those skimpy gowns and a coat, some of them even on oxygen.
What,
they' re not killing themselves fast enough?
There was once even a lady who stopped her car on the fast lane of the
freeway
and got out of her car. She went around to her trunk, pulled out her
cigarettes
and lighter and lit-up before she got back in her car. Why was the need
so
great that she risked her life and others to have a cigarette?
People will do anything to be able to smoke. They will lean out 5 story
windows, break the law, dig through trash cans, lie, cheat, and steal,
all for
a cigarette. None of this seems worth it. The fact that
smokers are willing to
do all of this to kill themselves doesn’t make sense. Then
again, I’m not a
smoker.