I am one of the non-smokers. But every time when I go out on the streets, I meet lots of smokers, and I truly hate this experience because my health is being negatively influenced.
People smoking cigarettes seem to be everywhere: on the sidewalks, waiting at the bus stops, in front of the subway stations, beside the entrance to office buildings, behind the steering wheels driving their stinky cars. As a result, in certain places, there are more people who smoke cigarettes than who do not smoke. Obviously, this kind of situation not only happens where I currently live, but also in other places around the world with easy access to tobacco. And, lives of people who mindfully adopt a healthy lifestyle are at risk.
I need to confess that I was exactly like those smokers whom I meet nowadays on the streets. I used to smoke cigarettes when I was in my early twenties. I was irresponsible of not considering non-smokers even for a second. I am guilty because I was not only killing myself, but I was also harming my wife (we were dating at that time), my parents who were second-hand smokers every time they stood by my side, and strangers who were in the same room with me inhaling deadly smoke.
But, one day, when I finally realized that too many people suffer badly because of my smoking habit, I decided to quit smoking. It just was not fair for them to be prisoners of my addiction. I am very proud of myself that I was able to quit smoking because only about 4% to 7% of people around the world are able to give up smoking on any given attempt without medication or other help, according to www.cancer.org.
Looking at the situation from both perspectives, one of the problems of the world today is that many non-smokers find themselves in a weaker position than smokers. Instead of taking actions, for example, firmly telling the smoker to leave the room, non-smokers feel intimidated to speak out how angry they are. Smokers seem to hold more power over non-smokers despite the fact that they have stronger willpower.
I truly hate smokers, not only because they are killing themselves slowly harming both their bodies and brain cells, but because non-smokers have to suffer from other people’s deadly addiction. In short, non-smokers seem to politely agree to get killed, unless they take certain strong actions.
Let me tell you that I am not going to suffer in public because of addicted people. That is why, every time I go out and see other people smoking next to me, I do everything to protect my health.
Once I approach a smoker in public, I cough very loudly catching his or her attention. Then, I cover my mouth and nose with my hand and stare at the smoker for minutes with my hand covering half of my face. I also ostentatiously show that I am stepping away. Then, I stay a couple of meters away staring at the cigarette. Well, it works most of the time.
I am not sure, if this method will help every time you encounter a smoker, but it may be worth checking this out once you meet one.
