I have one question...
What happened to the "polite" smoker? What happened to the person who used to stand next to you at a bar, or sit at the next table in a restaurant and would ask..."Do you mind if I smoke?"
Nowadays there are a bunch of rude ass MotherF-kers who don't care if you have asthma, are allergic to cigarettes, can't breathe or maybe even lost someone to lung Cancer or better yet...2nd-hand smoke Lung cancer like what my mom died from last year.
Don't get me wrong....I don't expect any smoker to do a preliminary interview before lighting up...but damn...what happened to just being polite and maybe...just maybe respecting the fact that the people you are smoking around aren't smoking? So why would you sit there and do it?
I went to an event in NYC and this friend of a friend came and sat at our table... (bottle service...VIP...yada yada yada) and she just started smoking. She didn't say shit...she didn't ask shit...she just started smoking. Wait...isn't NYC smoke free INDOORS? Isn't it against the LAW??? I know everyone doesn't follow the rules because I always smell hella weed in every venue I go to. But Cigarettes affect non smokers worse than it affects smokers. I rather smell weed than nicotine but sometimes or should I say as of lately...I don't have a choice unless I leave.
One time on South Beach after a casting I wanted to go buy some accessories for a shoot. So this girl I knew wanted to roll with me and offered to drive. We got in the car, windows up, AC on and guess what she did? She started to smoke. I told her I couldn't take the smoke and if it was cool with her...I'd get out and walk. I wasn't far from where I needed to go. (Lincoln Road, I was on Washington...) She then offered to roll down the windows. What the F$*K???? So just to go down the block you can't just chill? I mean...I wouldn't want anyone to tell me how to live in my own car but I clearly was ready to jump out while the car was still moving. She rolled down the window and started to drive with her face facing to the left. Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezus!
I didn't ride back with her. I walked and it was raining but I didn't care. How could I get back in the car with someone who rather not keep her eyes on the road because she has to smoke?
Same shit happened while I was working on a reality show. I had to get some props and a Production Assistant had to drive me around. I didn't know the area so it was cool until he started to smoke. I told him I didn't smoke. He said..."I didn't ask...ha ha ha!" I was totally offended. On top of that he was driving a production van so I felt like I could say something, you know? "It's not your van...it's production's van and I'm part of production!" But he kept on smoking and I had to fight and argue on the way back so that he wouldn't smoke. I'm working on a show now where my producer smokes. What do you do? It's all up and thru the office and I need to work in that location sometimes when I'm not scouting or conducting on-location interviews. Instead of feeling my pain...she opens the window and fans the smoke with her hands when I walk in the room.
And what do you do if you are in NYC and it's cold as shit and you need a ride to a part of town where no one you are hanging with lives and the particular train you need to take stops running at 11 pm and you have clearly stayed at this event passed 11 and a SMOKER offers you a ride?
Yes this happened to me and I accepted but explained that I can't do the smoking thing and don't want to put him out of his way because he wants to smoke. Okay...he still wanted to give me a ride...so we rolled. But he rolled down the window and still smoked. Again I say...what the F$*K????
I had dude drop me off half way and took a cab the rest of the way. And it was cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't do it! And statistics show that there are more cigarette smokers than ever before regardless of all the "TRUTH" advertisements and other form of campaigns to help educate people on the hazards of smoking. But unless I move to Mars or walk around with an Oxygen tank...what is a non smoking chick to do?
WHERE IN THE HELL HAS THE POLITE SMOKER GONE?
So to all my smoke-a-holics who may take offense...I'm sorry. This is how I'm feeling right now. I know that there is Global warming to worry about along with millions of other things that are wrong with us humans that in turn makes us affect the world or universe negatively. I mean...I forgot to recycle today and put all the garbage in one bag. So I'm not innocent and I do my share of adding to the fucked-up-ness of the world. But just think how much better we could be to and for one another if we were just a bit more careful...a bit more sensitive to one another's needs...a bit more understanding...a bit more polite. Not asking for you to quit...just be polite when you step onto a non-smoking scene.
And if you take offense...here's a smoking middle finger for you.
Claudia...
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