h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As I live in California, I'll chime in. This is a very health conscious state ( among other things). I am not a smoker. I grew up in a household with parents who smoked, struggled to quit and who encouraged my brother and I never to begin smoking. We never did. I hated it. I felt trapped in our apartment, or in our car when my mother smoked. I couldn't politely ask her to stop--after all she was my mom. The fumes were terrible.

While I was growing up, so many people smoked and seemed to take it for granted that since "everybody" did it, it was all right. No one asked if it offended you (especially children). When CA began limiting smoking in public places a transformation took place. I suppose I now take for granted that I can go anywhere and not be subjected to smoke. When I travel out of CA into another state I find that I am suprised when asked in a restaurant for seating in "smoking or non". I have to think about my response.

While I don't smoke, I do agree that being courteous on both sides is important. Non-smokers aren't morally superior. We all have addictions, vices (large or small). The social trend has now changed (here at least) and smoking is not seen as socially popular here. School children are educated about the dangers of smoking by the time they are 7 years of age. We have no tobacco tolerance on our high school campuses (I am a teacher). If a student is caught with tobacco, they will be suspended (just as with drugs).

I suppose in open areas it really isn't a nuisance. It really does make a difference in enclosed areas and public places where groups congregate. ( I still remember bus trips as a child choking on someone's smoke, or being on an airplane--again subjected to smoke).I think more than anything these experiences made me a non-smoker.

I notice if smoke is about me, even more. I can smell it on my students' clothes and their papers. I can even smell smoke from my neighbors in the upstairs apartment . However, that is not the same as being forced to breathe it in...

I'm all for personal freedoms as long as it doesn't infringe on someone else's--and I do think polite communication about it goes a long way. I do think most smokers will remove their cigarettes if asked. No one needs to be rude.

Maybe I should move!