can we please just ban smoking in public already

[kaberett]

Smoke exposure on my way into work again. It hurts to breathe again. It has been the case, two days running, that the people I've asked to kindly consider not smoking at the top of the ramp into the building, within 5m of the building entrance, have looked baffled and disgusted at me and not even bothered to make a verbal response, so that was a load of exposing myself further for precisely 0 gain.

Which means I am getting around to typing up this rant.

If you smoke in public, you are the reason I can't leave the house safely, where by "safely" I mean "without ending up coughing and wincing with every single breath for a week".

Here is a partial list of things that prompt me to alter my breathing patterns in public, just in case, because I can't really afford to be incautious:

• people standing at bus stops
  
• people standing outside tube stations
  
• people standing near building entrances
  
• people sitting at tables outside cafes
  
• people waiting at pedestrian crossings
  
• wind (because it means I need to be further away from any smokers to be safe)
  
• absence of wind (because it means that smoke doesn't disperse as rapidly)
  
• people getting their phones out of their pocket
  
• people getting anything out of their pocket
  
• people using their phones while walking
  
• people gesturing while talking to friends
  
• people walking abreast across a pavement
  
• et fucking cetera

If you smoke near building entrances, you're the reason I can't safely walk down the street or get into work. If you smoke near bus stops or stations, you're the reason I can't safely use public transport. If you smoke in public parks or while walking between destinations, you are the reason I can't safely use or occupy those spaces. If you smoke in public but only when you're not around me you are still the goddamn problem, and I shouldn't have to spell out why for you. If you smoke in public, you are the fucking reason I can't leave the house or even open windows safely, and I hope you feel fucking awful about it.

Comments

[silverhare]

I would suggest you send this excellent angry missive to that guy who was being a "But what about the me! How dare you be angry at me for impacting your right to breathe?" on your recent FB post on the matter. But I don't think he would realise, so.

*offers love*

[starlady]

It's legal to smoke near building entrances in the UK?

[ghoti]

this /sucks/. I'm sorry you have to deal with this.

[korafox]

THIS, A THOUSAND TIMES THIS.

My sensitivity isn't even anywhere near yours, though I've lost any resistance I had to cigarette smoke since my state (US person here) went smoke "free" a decade or so ago. But I can still tell the moment someone lights up outside at work, while I'm sitting in a second story room with the windows closed. I would prefer not having to fight against coughing a lung up while I'm on the clock, thanks.

And I don't even want to get started on the people who smoke inside my apartment building. Yeah, I know it's the frozen depths of winter outside, but the landlord has rules against this for a reason. If I knew who it was, I would report them, but there's no way to tell.

[alexseanchai]

Gyaaaaaah.

[mirrorshard]

So incredibly much this.

[(Anonymous)]

I recommend photographing them, very obviously, from a safe distance. (Sidheag)

[syntaxofthings]

if you smell like smoke and sit next to me on the bus, you can bet your ass I hate you right now. *sigh* and I'm the one considered "rude" for covering my face up when you're near.

[highlyeccentric]

You'd like my old uni. They have a fairly discrete campus (as in, there's a wedge of land with nothing but uni buildings / parks / facilities on it) and in 2010 put in a rule that instead of having designated no-smoking zones there would be a handful of designated *smoking* zones and the rest of the uni is smoke-free. Actual obedience to this rule varies - people smoke on lawns that are not the official smoking lawn - but generally paths and forecourts are safe.

[silveradept]

Ugh. Would that someone could simply sound a klaxon and have a citation print automatically or be mailed to their space. There are certainly enough cameras to capture the evidence.

[tree]

co-signed.

i was so, so delighted when our local council passed a motion to make smoking at bus stops/shelters and outdoor dining areas illegal. not that it has eliminated every public smoker by a long shot, but there has been a huge decrease in choking and coughing for me, and i no longer have to hold my breath when walking past restaurants.

the downside is that it's that much more noticeable that when i leave the confines of our council area i am constantly unable to breathe.

[barakta]

Oh so very this! Work at a university, walking into work in the morning is often in a crowd (a whole challenge to stay upright in itself) and if some git is smoking in that crowd and I can't see them I can't breathe and am clogging up but CAN'T escape... I have long term ENT issues which Do Not Need Triggering kthx. I'd happily make all of campus bar some smoking huts non smoking! I wish the whole world was "smoking only in the designated smoker pits"...

And grr yes to the non enforcement of smoking near buildings, drives me potty that no one cares...

I would be less harmed by someone slapping me in the face...

[untonuggan]

Yes.