Return to Sender: Cough!

Dear smokers:

It is called a ban. Not a friendly reminder, a polite suggestion, or a mild request. This is purely semantic. A smoking ban.

That means that those of you who were smoking in Copa, Too last night, were actually breaking the law.

Yeah, yeah. I know. The smoking ban infringes on your rights. Specifically, your right to slowly kill yourselves. And those around you. Sure, there was that one study that indicated that secondhand smoke is harmless. Tell that to my lungs. I couldn't stop coughing last night. In fact, I'm still coughing now. Even if secondhand smoke isn't directly harmful, it's certainly no more pleasant for breathing conditions than standing behind a semi is.

I'm not trying to get on my high horse or anything. I don't think that cigarettes should be outright banned, like some people do. I think that would be bad for the economy. I don't think that anyone should tell you that you can't smoke in your car or in your home. I think that would violate your privacy rights, and things could go 1984 pretty quickly. But when you're in a public space, and the law says you shouldn't be smoking, well, then you shouldn't be smoking. Beyond the law, it's courtesy.

I thank you, my lungs thank you, and my hair (which I had to shampoo twice to get the smoky smell out) thanks you.

Image: edinburghsucks.com.