Smoking

Now let me start this off by saying I have nothing against smokers. I've had my fair share of cigarettes and cigars in my time, and if the tobacco train is what floats your boat then more power to you. However, I've been stewing over some thoughts recently that have been more than just a little bothersome. Take example one. I'll call him George. George is typically in his late twenties to mid thirties. George had a hard day at work, so throughout the course of his trip to the grocery store he decides to pick up a pack of smokes. Inevetibly George loves his cancer along the lines of Marlboro Reds or something equally aeromatic and pungent. Now, George is fairly young, but apparently too old to remember what it's like to be a kid passing a smoker with his mom on his way to get some Cookie Crisps because in his impatient need to get a fix, George lights up RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE AUTOMATIC DOORS. George, I'm sorry, but you are officially an asshole. Take a minute to look around you. See the seven year old holding his breath? The old woman with the oxygen tank who has to pass you to get to the pharmacy? Hell, the EIGHTY PERCENT of people around you who are non-smokers? You're in a mormon state, friend. It's just common manners. Wait until you're in your car. Or home. Or twenty five feet away from the entrance as dictated by the damn law. You may get your panties all up in a wad over this, but seriously, everyone thinks you're a prick.
Example two. Mary is anyone, man or woman, any age. The only thing that sets Mary apart from the rest of us is that cigarette she has lit in the car. Oh, and the kids in the back seat. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SMOKING AROUND CHILDREN? Congrats, Mary. Every time anyone passes you on the road they mentally give you the douche of the decade award. As I said, I have absolutely nothing against smoking or smokers. Turkish Golds are more relaxing than slipping into a warm bath. But smoking is a choice we all have to make for ourselves starting at that magical age of nineteen, and you're forcing your junior jazz star there in the back to inhale your death stick. You're probably not worried about the effects. You've been smoking for years and you're fine! Well I've got news for you, honey. You're not trying to steal third in tomorrows coach pitch game. You don't have to hang on the monkey bars because for the first five minutes of recess the sand in the playground is lava. You probably sit at a desk all day not worried that you're son or daughter always ends up "it" in tag because they can't catch their breath. Mary, stop being a dumb bitch.
Smokers, you've had enough. It's time for example three. Ralph is typically in junior high. If you've ever lit up in a car, you know this kid. Here you are minding your own business and enjoying a good drive home with your pack of camels when some bastard little kid yells some snide comment from the back of his mom's minivan. Hey kid? FUCK YOU. Smokers pay for your schools, your roads, your playgrounds, your parks... Everything. Take away the tobacco tax and you're screwed. But lets not overlook the real problem here, Sarah. Ralph's mom. Honey, I'm a pretty docile guy. It may not sound like it in this little rant, but in real life I'm actually pretty non-confrontational. All the other smokers, however, are not like me. Just like any group in society, we have our crazies. Someday someone is going to beat the living shit out of your kid, and the rest of us are going to applaude. Do you really not care that your son is an annoying shit? Are YOU really such a bitch that you'll just let your kids mock random people in the street? I really hope you realize what a severe fuck up you are as a parent right now. There are all kinds of people in this world, and if you can't teach your family that they need to learn how to deal with all of them, then you should have your children taken away from you.
In conclusion, why can't everyone just accept everyone and be mindfull of each other? You don't blow smoke on people just like you try not to pass gas in public. You don't break old thermometers in kids hands so they can play with the mercury, but giving them the black lung is okay? You don't yell racist comments down the street... why can't that apply to more than just color? I say live and let live. I'm not forcing my smoke on you, don't force your ideals on me.