I think smokers have paid for so many of them being unwilling to compromise. For a couple of decades I've been saying wouldn't it be nice if there was one room in every pub for non-smokers? And maybe some did, but I never seemed to find them, and now they're being forced to hand me the entire pub.
A few years ago, I was at the Lancashire (County Cricket Club) AGM, when there were alternate proposals up for banning smoking - one from the committee, going for a partial ban, and one from an ex-smoker demanding a complete one. The ex-smoker, who had the zeal of a convert, did make a hash of his case, going on far too long until the audience would have done anything to shut him up. And I was thinking of voting for the partial ban anyway. Until a smoker got up and made a taunting speech about how people who couldn't cope with a little smoke in their faces shouldn't be allowed to watch cricket anyway, at which point I lost my temper and voted for the full ban.
I really think they have no idea. First, there's the unpleasantness of the smoke and dirt; when I used to live in London and travelled up to Manchester to see my mother, her first words would be "Oh no! You had to sit in the smoking compartment?" And of course I never sat in the smoking compartment; the smell came from working in an office in which some people (not those sitting near me) smoked, and my clothes still stank after a four-hour smoke-free journey. Then there's the short-term, trivial effects on health; I frequently have a 24-hour streaming cold the day after I've been in a smoky atmosphere, which the doctors tell me is simply an allergic reaction. It's a nuisance having to mop my nose all day until it's sore, but at least it always clears up by the second day. Then there are asthmatics like Hafren's husband, who suffer something more serious. And then there are the ones who get lung cancer. And I get so angry that all these years so many smokers have insisted that their rights outweighed ours.
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2006-02-15 05:40 pm (UTC)A few years ago, I was at the Lancashire (County Cricket Club) AGM, when there were alternate proposals up for banning smoking - one from the committee, going for a partial ban, and one from an ex-smoker demanding a complete one. The ex-smoker, who had the zeal of a convert, did make a hash of his case, going on far too long until the audience would have done anything to shut him up. And I was thinking of voting for the partial ban anyway. Until a smoker got up and made a taunting speech about how people who couldn't cope with a little smoke in their faces shouldn't be allowed to watch cricket anyway, at which point I lost my temper and voted for the full ban.
I really think they have no idea. First, there's the unpleasantness of the smoke and dirt; when I used to live in London and travelled up to Manchester to see my mother, her first words would be "Oh no! You had to sit in the smoking compartment?" And of course I never sat in the smoking compartment; the smell came from working in an office in which some people (not those sitting near me) smoked, and my clothes still stank after a four-hour smoke-free journey. Then there's the short-term, trivial effects on health; I frequently have a 24-hour streaming cold the day after I've been in a smoky atmosphere, which the doctors tell me is simply an allergic reaction. It's a nuisance having to mop my nose all day until it's sore, but at least it always clears up by the second day. Then there are asthmatics like Hafren's husband, who suffer something more serious. And then there are the ones who get lung cancer. And I get so angry that all these years so many smokers have insisted that their rights outweighed ours.