Smoking

I know, it's a nasty, non-healthy habit.

We smokers are rapidly becoming social misfits, with limited places we can indulge, and we're paying more and more 'sin taxes' for our bad habits.

I have adapted to the smoking bans in public places. Even in my own house, we smoke outside. That's fine--it's a choice. Well, ok--sometimes we cheat and have an occasional smoke inside, but 99% of the time, we smoke outside. Fortunately, we have mild winters, so it's not real cold and nasty very often. It's hot and humid in the summer, but that's ok; the A/C feels so good when I go back inside!

The choice to not smoke in the house has resulted in me smoking less than a pack a day; I used to go through about 2, sometime 2½ packs a day. That's an improvement, who knows--maybe someday I'll quit?

Honestly, I never gave it much thought, how smokers are treated in other countries. Then I happened to read an article in TimesOnline, and smokers are outcasts abroad too. In the article I read, Jeremy Clarkson writes about the smokers who gave up:

If you start smoking at a party, I can absolutely guarantee that within five minutes everyone else will be smoking too. And what makes this even worse than being made to stand outside is that they will be smoking yours.

Since the smoking ban, no one has given up the tabs. They’ve just given up buying them, and this is the most annoying thing in all of human history.

(Read full article here.)

I see that happening around me all the time, usually among the friends of my children. There's always someone who has "quit", but he or she is more than happy to smoke everyone else's cigs.

Usually the 'quit-smoking' person doesn't want mine though. I smoke the cheap off-brand, menthol lights.

And the extra 'sin tax' we smokers pay? That is a whole 'nother rant, for another time!

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