I hate the phrase, "If you don't like smoking, don't smoke." To me, that's the equivalent of saying, "If you don't like murder, don't kill anyone." It's as if the only person who is affected by smoking is the person with the stick in their hand. Obviously, that's not true. Yet when I complain about smoking, I come across as unfair and insensitive.
I am close to people who smoke. I don't hate them and understand that smoking is addicting. I mean good grief, I couldn't even give up chocolate. It would be rude of me to say that once the addiction has set it in, smoking is an easy choice. However, I think where smoking happens is a crucial. That's when I start to point the finger at smokers: when you smoke in public, it becomes a personal choice.
I cannot tell you how many times I have walked out of a building on my campus through a cloud created by a couple of smokers taking a break. I cannot tell you how many time I've gone into coughing fits, most of which result in me having to pull out my inhaler and give my lungs a moment to recuperate. I have had asthma since before I was in elementary school.
Unlike smokers, I didn't get the choice to have the inability to breathe. Asthma cannot be found in a package of 12 with all the warning labels. You don't get a choice that comes to asthma. I struggle with breathing on a daily basis. I have to carry an albuterol inhaler on me at all times because my lungs just don't cut it. Because of this, you can imagine my frustration when I am innocently heading to class and suffer from other people's smoking habits.
Smoking isn't a personal choice and doesn't only affect individuals with asthma. Secondhand smoke is a very real issue that is terribly overlooked. According to the American Cancer Society, secondhand smoke has the same harmful chemicals and causes cancer. Secondhand smoke is a serious health risk and affects countless people.
So, what am I getting at here? Stop smoking in front of doors. Stop smoking in places with a lot of foot traffic. Stop smoking in indoor places. Stop smoking in cars with others that don't want you to. Stop being oblivious to the fact that you are not the only one affected by your smoking choice. Stop making being rude to people who politely ask you to put out the cigarette or move away to a more private location. Stop making people suffer because of your choice.
Smoking isn't a personal choice, but you can bet your arsenic, acetone, and ammonia-infested sticks that when I'm affected by it, I take it personally.
