Stub Out The Smokers' Selfishness

The time is 2 pm and I have a flight to catch from Aberdeen airport to London. I have been visiting Aberdeen, the granite city of Scotland. In quintessential Scottish fashion, it suddenly started raining cats, dogs, and their children. The bus stop shelter was my only hope so I ran across Union Street and took refuge at the bus stop. I had no umbrella. I had forgotten the golden rule in Scotland: The weather is not wrong; you are dressed wrong for the weather.

As I watched the raindrops form rivulets on the street, several commuters joined me in the shelter. We were all waiting for the bus which would take us to the airport. We exchanged pleasantries about the weather. The weather is always a good small talk topic. Cliché, redundant, mundane, but necessary. ?Out of the blues, one of them decided it was a great time to light up a cigarette if only to kill the boredom of waiting for fifteen minutes.

Without a care in the world, and not ready to step away from the bus stop shelter lest his beloved cig gets soaked up in the rain, this fella decided to smoke right there at the bus stop. I had to leave the bus stop, walk to the nearby retail outlet, and wait for my bus there while getting drenched in the now-sputtering rain. This scene is not isolated. It speaks of the utter selfishness exhibited by smokers in the United Kingdom. Most of them assume that everyone either smokes or is okay with smoking. We are not. We hate that you think we are.

I know the side effects of smoking but so do you. However, the issue with smoking is that you do not just affect your lungs but the airways of those around you. Secondhand smoke has been shown to cause birth defects, miscarriages, cancer, cancer recurrence, exacerbation of asthma, and other respiratory diseases. I will not even go into the details of how secondhand smoking irritates the oral mucosa of those around you. It is safe therefore to strongly conclude that when you smoke, you affect those around you more than you intended to.

The Labour government yesterday proposed potential plans to ban smoking in outdoor public spaces and the tabloids in response have chewed the government alive and spat it out to the sharks. I know we have no sharks in the United Kingdom but I have been dying to use that expression! I wonder whether the government has been listening to my cries for help.

Read more on the smoking ban here

Britain’s smoking etiquette needs to undergo mandatory and statutory training before it can be let out to the world. It makes no sense to have spectacular beer gardens then not be able to enjoy them because smokers use them without consideration for non-smokers. I cannot stand the stench of cigarette smoke, vaping, or whatever you use to set your airways ablaze. That rancid fume from your nostrils clogs my airways and arrests my breathing and let’s be frank, it attaches itself to your clothes like your browsing history.

Some of the dangers of secondhand smoke

It is devastating to see people stub out cigarettes one second before boarding a bus. You fail to realize that though the embers of your cig have died, the stale, acrid fumes linger on like a vengeful ghost. I have lost count of the number of times I have had to alight from a bus after a commuter sat near me reeking of cigarette smoke. It is not enough to just stub the cigarette out. We need dedicated smoking zones and a supply of common decency when interacting with the public immediately after a smoke.

Countries like Kenya have successfully implemented Smoking zones. What prevents the United Kingdom from doing the same? Smoking Zones are specified areas where people go to smoke before joining the public. In Nairobi, you cannot catch a smoker on the street. If you try smoking in the streets, the citizens will stop you and kindly show you the nearest smoking zone. In the streets of London, I have to run ahead of someone smoking or even change my route depending on the direction of the wind. Sometimes it feels like a game of chance. I want to protect my health. I want to do what is right for me and the future me but this is impossible given the careless smoking culture we are forced to witness in the UK.

Smoke-free environments remain the most effective methods for reducing exposure -Michael Leavitt, former United States of America Secretary of Health and Human Services

The argument is that smokers will stop patronizing pubs hence revenue will be lost but I call that a mere excuse to continue with a toxic trait. If we come up with designated smoking zones, smokers will have their fun and the pubs, restaurants, hotels, and entrances to halls will have some semblance of real oxygen in the air.? Smoking is an addiction. Banning smoking in outdoor spaces will not cure it. It however will protect the large swathe of the population whose voices are always drowned in the cacophony of smokers and their rights.

?As I conclude this article which feels like my heart on a sleeve, I acknowledge that the majority always have their way, even in a monarchial democracy. However, even then, the minority are allowed their say. I may not be keen on several political topics in the United Kingdom but for the sake of this one potentially revolutionary policy, sign me up. This is my say.