It's my day for an intolerant rant, I'm afraid. Be warned. Subject:
smokers.
While I'm not thrilled about higher insurance premiums, I
suspect those show more effect from corporate greed on the part of HMOs and drug
manufacturers anyway. Other than that, I don't much care what people do to their
own lungs -- unless they're people I care about, in which case I'd much rather
they took good care of themselves. Where I do mind is where other people's smoke
impinges on me.
I don't know if most smokers realize just how bad
they stink.
When I work with a smoker, or, worse, get trapped in an
elevator with one, I can instantly tell whether they smoke only at home (no odor
or almost none), smoke at work (some odor - not too bad) or have just come back in
from a smoke break (pfaugh!). (This is assuming they wash self and clothing
frequently, but that's another issue entirely and in that case the smoke smell
wasn't the revolting part.)
Back in my early days in an office,
smoking was just beginning to be restricted. For a while there, it was allowed in
private offices, just not in cubicle farms. (I don't know whether the strategy was
just to kill off the old guys and managers faster and preserve the workers, or
what.) I was assigned to a mentor, a senior engineer who had his own office, and I
spent a lot of time in there. It didn't take me long to quit wearing anything to
work that wasn't machine washable, because my clothes stunk by the end of the day.
Grosser yet, I had long hair at the time and could smell cigarette smoke in it
well after I left work.
My dad still smokes, though I think less than
he used to. I've won an argument on the subject exactly once, on my wedding day.
I'd stayed at their house the night before, instead of at the hotel across town
where Rudder was and where the wedding would be, mostly just to please my parents.
I told Dad flat out that if he was planning to smoke in the car on the way there,
then I would be riding with a neighbor, because I was not going to have my
wedding dress or hair smelling of smoke.
Worse, it doesn't just float
in the air, it clings to walls, furniture, and anything a smooker touches. My
parents have to paint periodically just because Dad smokes in the house. I'm
ranting now because yesterday, I had an IT guy from our Help-less Desk come in to
fix something minor on my computer. When he was done, I touched my mouse and had
my fingers come away smelling of smoke. Ewwww!
It's not a good smoke
smell, either, like the smell of a bonfire. It's a used smoke smell, more like
smog, except in the case of (tobacco) pipe smoke, which can be pleasant in small
doses. As I've said, I don't want to restrict other people's rights to enjoy
themselves, I just want to keep it off me. There's more and more pressure to
legislate that all bars and restaurants be smoke-free -- I think there's now a
bill at the state level here. My suggestio is that you don't ban smoking, you just
make it an economic decision. Require restaurants to be all smoking or all non-
smoking, clearly labeled outside. Restaurant owners would figure out quickly which
way attracted more business (I suspect there would be no one universal answer) and
nonsmokers would know where to go if they wanted to avoid fumes. Anyone wanting to
have both would be requireed to have separate rooms with separate ventilation
systems -- none of this crap where the two areas are separated by 3 feet and a
small partition that smoke floats over. I suspect setups like that are one of the
things driving the smoking ban in the first place. Let people choose what they
want and avoid what they don't and individual liberties will be
preserved.
And keep that smelly film off my mouse and keyboard,
dammit.
Addendum: As Natalie correctly points out,
and as I actually meant to say but forgot, the above applies to any reek that
clings to walls, furniture and other people. I have encountered cologne that's
almost as bad as smoke close up, though at least usually it only leaves a faint
trace.