Pinthouse Pizza
Smokers Are People, Too
RECEIVED Mon., March 7, 2005
Dear Editor,
I write this in hope of giving a face to smokers in the revived debate about a smoking ordinance in Austin [“Smoking Ordinance Headed for the Ballot,” News, March 4]. Though I am only one of those faces, I suspect many nonsmokers lump all smokers together in a category of inconsiderate idiots who are ruining their own health and impinging on the health and general enjoyment of others (nonsmokers).
I am a 33-year-old, college-educated female. I am a vegetarian. I exercise daily. I wear a Lance Armstrong bracelet. And I smoke.
My family is riddled with all types of cancer, including my father who died of bile duct cancer in 1996. I give my financial support to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, right alongside the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Sierra Club, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Clean Water Action, and NARAL.
I have had long stretches of not smoking, and I recognize how unpleasant the habit can be to a nonsmoker. I try to be as considerate a smoker as possible: I don't toss my butts on the ground; if people are in close proximity, even in a smoking establishment, I ask if they mind if I light up; I only blow smoke directly in someone's face if he or she truly deserves it.
Nonsmokers should have places to go where the air is clear and any stains are from substances other than tobacco. But, smokers should also have places to go and enjoy themselves and their habit. Limiting or eliminating the range of smoke-friendly establishments will not make people smoke less. It will only make them stay at home more, or go outside of the club or restaurant for frequent smoke breaks. It will make them unhappy. It may make them mean.
I want us all to be happy. And I say this out of complete self-interest, as I have been a nonsmoker before, and I may be again someday. But I will always have the soul of a smoker.
I write this in hope of giving a face to smokers in the revived debate about a smoking ordinance in Austin [“Smoking Ordinance Headed for the Ballot,” News, March 4]. Though I am only one of those faces, I suspect many nonsmokers lump all smokers together in a category of inconsiderate idiots who are ruining their own health and impinging on the health and general enjoyment of others (nonsmokers).
I am a 33-year-old, college-educated female. I am a vegetarian. I exercise daily. I wear a Lance Armstrong bracelet. And I smoke.
My family is riddled with all types of cancer, including my father who died of bile duct cancer in 1996. I give my financial support to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, right alongside the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Sierra Club, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Clean Water Action, and NARAL.
I have had long stretches of not smoking, and I recognize how unpleasant the habit can be to a nonsmoker. I try to be as considerate a smoker as possible: I don't toss my butts on the ground; if people are in close proximity, even in a smoking establishment, I ask if they mind if I light up; I only blow smoke directly in someone's face if he or she truly deserves it.
Nonsmokers should have places to go where the air is clear and any stains are from substances other than tobacco. But, smokers should also have places to go and enjoy themselves and their habit. Limiting or eliminating the range of smoke-friendly establishments will not make people smoke less. It will only make them stay at home more, or go outside of the club or restaurant for frequent smoke breaks. It will make them unhappy. It may make them mean.
I want us all to be happy. And I say this out of complete self-interest, as I have been a nonsmoker before, and I may be again someday. But I will always have the soul of a smoker.
Cheers,
Lael Atkinson
Lael Atkinson