During the last couple of days, I have started reacting very badly to tobacco smoke. It makes my nose run, my eyes water and turn bloodshot, and my face burn and itch. It is just like the allergic reaction I sometimes get in the presence of lots of dust. This is especially bad because everything here - from the ferries to cafes to bars to palace courtyards - is saturated with smokers and toxic fumes.
That humanity has embraced such a disgusting and anti-social practice so broadly is a fairly strong indictment of our good sense and compassion. The smoking of tobacco surely ranks among the worst of all human discoveries, along with biological warfare and ethnic nationalism.
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I agree with you. The one thing someone can do to render themselves immediately and irrevocably unattractive to me is to light up a cigarette. Some smokers do try to be polite about their habit, but they are few and far between. Most light up at the bus stop, or just outside the door of a building, and all (but one) that I’ve seen drop their smouldering butts on the sidewalks and streets. I try to have sympathy - I know it is a horribly addictive drug - but it is hard.
Public smoking bans are an excellent thing. Let people destroy their lungs and induce cancer in the privacy of their increasingly carcinogenic homes.