The Smoker

Picture this.  It’s a beautiful summer evening.  I’m sitting on a restaurant deck enjoying some good food, good drinks, and a great conversation with one of my all-time favorite people.  And then…  someone next to our table lights up.  My nose and eyes start to burn and my food starts to not taste as good.  I immediately feel my emotions rise and my mood sour.  Despite the fact that the person lighting up is pretty cool, I immediately start to look down on them and judge them.  Do they not know how they are affecting me, and everyone else on the patio who might be trying to enjoy the fresh evening air?  And, I absolutely hate those people that just say, “Well, you can leave.”  Like, it’s the smoker’s way, or the highway.

I can think of countless instances like this.  Like, I hate everyone in my building that smokes, particularly the pot smokers.  They stink!  And, I find it incredibly invasive because it comes into my apartment and there’s nothing I can do about it.  And, apparently, their “right” to smoke in their apartment trump everyone else’s right to a healthy environment. 

This topic just gets me fired up!

Because this is such a sensitive issue for me, I have been incredibly mean and rude to smokers in the past.  And, I realized after I did some successful self-reflection and evaluated “The Morning Person” a few weeks ago, that I needed to do the same for “The Smoker.”   I believe that it all comes down to tolerance and taking responsibility for our own choices.

Some thoughts…

·         Even though I don’t agree with smoking, I still have my own vices that I’m sure other people don’t like dealing with.  Like, I snap my gum.  I don’t mean to.  It just kind of does it on its own as I chew.  I try to be mindful of it and chew with my mouth closed at all times, but it still happens.  I’m also a moody person (something I’m actively working on).  I’m sure that anyone who spends time with me might get annoyed with either one of these things, or multiple other annoying habits that I have.

·         I need to be able to calmly ask someone who might be smoking next to me, if they would please move down wind or if we could continue our conversation after they’ve taken their smoke break.  I need to explain to them that I have bad allergies and the smoke makes my nose run and I eventually start to not feel well.  Sitting there and stewing or taking my emotions out on the smoker will no longer be acceptable.  I really don’t think smokers understand why I’m snarky with them.  They probably just think I’m a bitch.

·         I’ve also tried smoking!  So, doesn’t this make me a bit of hypocrite for judging someone else that does it?   

·         It’s also my choice to live in an apartment.  Housing is expensive in my area, so buying a home at the moment doesn’t seem possible.  But, there are plenty of people that live further away from the city in order to afford something decent.  It may not feel like an option, but it’s still a choice.