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'CALL FOR PHILIP MORRIS'

Outdoor smoking in nearby New Jersey prompts a special shelter for puffers.

 

Once, the smoking lamp was lit throughout most of the world. Now, how about a 5-foot by 10-foot cubicle? In what may be the biggest come-down since a millionaire lost his pants in the ’29 Crash, smokers in or about the local supermarket here are herded into a small corral, an outdoor, glass-walled bus-type shelter. There they may smoke, and presumably get 10 re-puffs to the puff since all the occupants re-breathe each other’s smoke.

It seems cruel to sentence these smokers to solitary confinement, or at least confinement of 10 people. A decade back, you could smoke in the supermarket, or two decades back in the doctor’s office. John Wayne took his on-screen last puffs as a wounded soldier. Physicians endorsed cigarette brands. So did athletes. So did cowboys. So did the movies. What would “Now, Voyager” be without that shipboard cigarette scene between Bette Davis and Paul Heinreid?

Two years ago, you could have smoked in the supermarket lot, and now it is frowned upon -- someone downwind, frozen in space obviously, might take in a puff. Today, you head for the smoking “shelter.” 

Now, I am not a smoker. Tried in in my wayward youth, as most of us did, but it hurt my teeth in the fourth grade.  I never got hooked (of course, no one told me that I had to inhale the smoke -- I just took it into my mouth and let it go, along with a coughing fit). I come from a family of smokers, and my brother Craig remains a major financial supporter of the Camels manufacturer. I worked as a newspaperman and could hardly see the copy for the smoke in the city room.  Just after high school, I dated a girl who dragged on Parliament, and she let the ashes defy gravity on a long kiss. Then it was back to the cigarette. The addictive effect obviously was not my doing.

So, I respect smokers, in the past and today, though I’d rather they had never lit up and never will. Smoking is demonstrably bad for your health, others too, costly, smelly and not cool.

But up in smoke should go overreactive regulation that sends outdoor smokers to a small corral. Maybe the Big Kahuna also wants that they should  wear placards with the letter “S” in 72-point type. 

Hey, I can move away if I’m in the wind.

William Demarest (Editor) July 24, 2012 at 09:18 pm
I remember when I was the only person in the newsroom who did not smoke!
theseawasveryangrythatdaymyfriends July 24, 2012 at 09:36 pm
I remember when there was an actual newsroom where actual journalism was practiced!
Aidan July 25, 2012 at 12:36 am
Remember when you could leave your glove, bike and bat on the front lawn ... and go away on vacation? And it was all there when you circled back. And who really had house keys?
art gunther III July 25, 2012 at 10:25 am
Bill D. and I worked together in that same smoky, wonderful newsroom. Perhaps there is an analogy to those always-smoking newspeople and the ancient city room. Decades ago, maternity waiting areas in hospitals were filled with smoke, too, as nervous, pacing fathers awaited births. Each day, our old paper gave birth, too, as yet another edition came forth.
john davidson July 30, 2012 at 11:15 am
There are many that just don’t get it still. The current
antismoking crusade is much like previous crusades. It is a social-engineering, eradication crusade decided upon in the 1970s by a small, self-installed clique operating under the auspices of the World Health Organization. This little, unelected group decided for everyone that tobacco-use should be eradicated from the world. Secondhand smoke “danger” is a concoction to advance the agenda. The bulk of what comes out of the Tobacco Control Industry is lies. For those who still think this is about pubs and just having to step outside for a cigarette, the current phase of propaganda/denormalization is to introduce bans outdoors as well. In a number of countries there are already bans on entire hospital grounds and university campuses, on beaches, and in parks that have nothing to do with protecting nonsmokers from SHS “danger”. Those who smoke are also being denied employment, housing, and medical treatment. See the Godber Blueprint http://www.rampant-antismoking...
Aidan July 30, 2012 at 11:44 am
And what few dare mention is the "creep" that is taking place by the nanny-staters. Now they're after soda and salt. The beef industry had to fight for its life awhile back. Same with fast-food businesses in parts of the nation.
It's a more than slippery slope about what we put in our bodies. It's a slow eradication of personal choice. And it exhibits a low expectation of all of us. Providing the facts is no longer enough. Now we must must have crusades ... and this brings out asinine warriors of all sorts who insist that everyone flap their wings according to their directives. So much for the "home of the free".
Sharon July 30, 2012 at 12:00 pm
I'm an ex smoker, but I think I was always conscious of other people's comfort when I smoked. So many people now are not. I stopped after both my friend's parents died of lung cancer...and my GF begged me. Was the hardest and best thing I ever did, stopping. Can't stand the smell now, or the smoke and my husband is allergic, so yesterday, I was walking near the stop and shop in larchmont and this very "thoughtful" woman, made sure she blew her smoke right in my face as she walked by me...and then I had to walk though a cloud of her leavings. We might as well legalize cyanide, it would help preserve your personal rights...Give it up, it's just the tobacco lobbyists that keep this poison alive.
Walden Macnair July 30, 2012 at 01:47 pm
Art, First let me say that you totally missed the point of the smoking shelter. They were never put up to confine the smokers in an outdoor area. They were put up so that smokers would be protected from the rain while they smoked.
Second, this isn't a war on smokers but rather a war on smoke. I can now enjoy dinner at a restaurant, a beer at the bar or a ride on a train without having to choke. Do you have a right to smoke? Sure you do, but don't non-smokers have a right to not breath your smoke? I think so.
JM July 30, 2012 at 03:16 pm
I understand that if a pack was 50 cents again.... the smoking rate would increase dramatically. Which, in my view, says nothing about the actual health affects, but that we little people do desire somewhat of an escape from the stress of life... whether that is a quick smoke break; eating a 24oz. prime rib (every day) topped off with a two pound slice of chocolate cake; drinking booze; checking facebook updates; fantasizing online for an hour if one is single (or not) if you get my drift.
I side with what is reasonable. I agree that smoking where the majority don't like or want it shouldn't be permitted. I don't agree the govt. should regulate whether there can be a bar / dance club that permits smoking indoors. As someone who lights up privately, I disagree the majority of smokers aren't polite about the habit; however, I do wonder (especially in the city) if many have simply taken up the attitude that ''since you ban me from smoking everywhere, I'm gonna blow it in your face here on a public street.) I think we all need a slightly better attitude and understanding about each others little escapisms...
Aidan July 30, 2012 at 03:25 pm
"I think we all need a slightly better attitude and understanding about each others little escapisms..." A great line. And a great truth.
art gunther III July 30, 2012 at 04:49 pm
Yes, a fine and memorable and truthful line from JM, " I think we all need a slightly better attitude and understanding about each others little escapisms... ."
To Walden, Yes, I understand that the shelter was provided for the outdoor smokers, but it is a poor idea since they re-breathe each others' smoke, and shoppers seem to glance at smokers not smoking in the shelter, so it is a left-hand way of herding smokers to the place. And, certainly, non-smokers like myself have a right to not breathe in smoke. I just move away. In the old restaurants, I would relocate to an area where there was less smoke. If common sense and mutual courtesy were the rule, and if we accepted our "escapisms," then perhaps we could have less invasive and expensive government involvement.
Kay-Tee of PC July 31, 2012 at 03:26 am
I have been a smoker since I was 14 yrs old. I always tried to be a considerate smoker. I didn't smoke around people who didn't smoke, had breathing problems, or around children.
Then you couldn't smoke inside at work. Then you couldn't smoke in restaurants. Then you couldn't smoke in bars. Now you can't smoke on the platform waiting for the train. When I commuted to Grand Central everyday, I always stood well away from others, preferably downwind. This is getting totally ridiculous. I'm reminded of what my sister said to me one day. She said that if she was locked in a garage with a carton of cigarettes for a day and smoked the whole carton, she'd come out alive. If she was locked in that same garage with a car running, she'd be dead in minutes. So how come cars aren't banned as life threatening? Or are we to believe that the smog in Los Angeles is caused by smokers? Also, for those who think more taxes are in order, when everyone finally does quit smoking, do you really think the government is going to say - 'Great everyone stopped smoking, no problem, we can do without that tax revenue'. Think again. They'll find something that affects another group of people. Maybe something YOU do, or drink or eat that will be deemed unacceptable. Be careful what you wish for, it might impact you in ways you hadn't planned.
Kay-Tee of PC July 31, 2012 at 04:00 am
That is all very true. Plus, you forgot to mention third hand smoke. What's next - fourth, fifth and sixth hand smoke?!
A major medical center in the area is now totally smoke free. If you want to smoke you have to go stand in the road. I hope not to be taken there if I get sick as when I'm released, I might get arrested for smoking in the car as I'm leaving the parking lot on their property.
Yorktown Tattler July 31, 2012 at 04:06 am
it upsets me alot to see young people smoking. I always want to ask them, why do you want to shorten your life?
BirdFluJumped July 31, 2012 at 05:39 am
BIRD FLU JUST JUMPED TO NEW ENGLAND SEALS! 50 MILLION DIED IN LAST EPIDEMIC. GET ON THE BALL PATCH THIS IS GOING TO AFFECT US ALL.

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