“I don’t like smoking and eating at the same time. I can see how that would bother other people, so I’m OK with the rule.” This N.C. State staff member had been smoking for decades, so it surprised me to hear her say this about the recent restaurant smoking ban. She admitted that it would be nice if they had maintained separate sections for smokers rather than banning them outright but didn’t feel adamently about it.
“Ask me about the 25-foot rule,” she said, “and I might have a different opinion.” She was talking about the NCSU rule that people must stand 25 feet away from any building in order to smoke.
And that’s where our conversation became interesting. Smoking is seen as a nefarious activity by society and we have become obsessed with trying to eradicate the habit. But let’s not forget that smokers (a word which has become pejorative) have the right to smoke. Our dismissive stance towards people who do is unhelpful and unethical; smoking is not a criminal activity and there is no reason to forget about basic decency when we see people smoking.
“When I first started working 30 years ago, we were allowed to take smoke breaks in the front of the building. But that’s where visitors entered, and nobody wants to see people smoking in front of the door when they approach.” This made sense to her, and smokers were fine with moving to the side of the building.
At least they had a covered place to smoke. Soon, however, people who used the side entrance “started coughing and hacking” when they walked by. Smoking was moved to the back of the building – where there was no cover. “When it was a nice day, we had no problem, but it was awfully difficult when it was raining or snowing out there.” And that’s pretty much what happens today.
Smoking by doors or windows gives undue (and dangerous) smoke exposure to passers-by. But the exaggerated fits of coughing and rudeness are a bit much. Smokers generally don’t try to blow smoke in people’s faces, and there’s nothing wrong about mentioning it to the smoker — sometimes people don’t realize that their smoking is making someone uncomfortable. “We just need to respect each other.”
I’m not saying that smoking is a good thing; smoking is unhealthy, addicting and expensive. But people currently have the right to put smoke in their body if they choose to and society and the legislature ought to be spending their efforts on better causes.
People who smoke have to jump through all sorts of hoops nowadays, be it changing their clothes in different company, standing out in the cold or rain or garage when they take a break and dealing with judgmental and confrontational people when they pull out a cigarette. While it’s nice to tell people they “ought to kick the habit,” I suspect that these people have never really had to overcome an addiction.
It crosses a line when we are dismissive of our friends, neighbors, teachers and advisers because of their habit. Smoking might be obnoxious, but enacting legislation to prevent “obnoxiousness” is not a good direction to go in. If we are going to do that, then we must also examine eating habits, drinking habits and grooming habits and anything else that might possibly affect our own health or the comfort of the people around us. It is strange to me that we have singled out smoking as the one vice for which we can openly criticize people.
