Free to Be a Non-Smoker

God, I hate smokers. I know that's a terrible thing to say, especially since I know a few personally that I do not hate. It's just so difficult sometimes to maintain a level head, living in this city which requires being so close in proximity to so many different people. I get to the point sometimes when I feel that everyone is so egocentric, just concerned with themselves and their world, that they forget to notice the rest of us who are living our lives side by side with theirs. And the main culprits, beside the stupid people who don't know how to get on and off the subway, are the SMOKERS!

Prime example: I am walking on the sidewalk. Yes, it is outside. Yes, smoking is allowed outside. But WHY WHY WHY do smokers just assume that the person directly behind them wants to inhale their cigarette smoke? Sometimes, I'll be jogging in Central Park and take a nice, fresh, deep breath in, only to discover, too late, that there is a smoker in front of me. No care in the world, the smoker will puff away, blowing out his or her smoke rings, not worried about silly little me who has never been a smoker and would like to keep it that way. It is possible that I have a super-sensitive nose. I can smell a cigarette when there are no people immediately around me and I will become Eagle Eye until I locate its source. And then I will become Greek and give them the Evil Eye. Another scenerio... I'm eating my lunch at a concrete park right outside of Macys. I hope that I will be able to enjoy it, but inevitably, right nearby is a smoker, so each mouth of my healthy salad is mixed in with a mouthful of second-hand smoke. Not so yummy.

So maybe I am just naive. Is there no proper way to hold a cigarette and exhale while smoking so that nobody else is affected? Or does being a smoker immediately turn you into a rude person? The smokers who work in the same building as I, congregate immediately outside. You cannot enter or leave the building without inhaling a big, black cloud of their smoke. The smoke gets caught up in the revolving doors, too, making it hard to breathe until I am safely at the elevator bank. There are other people who cannot exit the subway without having their cig already in between their fingers, lighter in hand. As soon as they hit the exit stairwell, they light up. What that means is a big mouthful of smoke for anyone behind them. They don't care. No "sorry, is my smoke going in your face?" Not even a glance over their shoulder. I am smoker, watch me smoke!

I am for a smoke-free city, a smoke-free world. Smoke in your own homes, but not if you have kids. Or pets. Smoke in your own car, but again, not if you have kids. Just don't smoke around me!