All of my life I have been quite outspoken about one subject in particular: smoking. I've written numerous papers and persuasive speeches on the subject, and was always morbidly fascinated with my findings because I'm still unable to figure out the allure (except how daggone amazing it makes you look). Take a gander at my girl, Britney Spears. What a class act! If only I had a handful of snapshots (and killer fashion sense!) of my pregnant self like this to show Olive...
Having a daughter has only amplified my intolerance for it, as it is now my duty to protect no only myself but her. I recently offended an acquaintance with a rant directed at no one in particular; this was spurred by a walk that Olive and I took today where I witnessed countless people out enjoying the terrifically balmy weather in the upper 60s smoking cigarettes (which did sully my experience a little bit), many of whom were mothers with their tots in tow. Sure, people in this country are free to smoke in most outdoor spaces. People are free to smoke around their kids all they want, with the exception of their cars in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, California, and - get this - Maine, with varying age limits. I'm looking forward to the day that this law is passed nationwide, but folks be gripin' that the state is interfering too much with their right to smoke in the privacy of their vehicles. Fortunately, the government feels like children's rights override this privilege. Crazy, huh?
So yes, I realize that I have a beyond-zero-tolerance policy when it comes to tobacco (and other similar substances, but back to the topic at hand), but I can't apologize for it. Perhaps I need to be briefed again on the benefits of smoking? I do not believe in being narrow-minded and intolerant of others for political or religious choices, or things that cannot be helped like race, background, or physical or mental afflictions, but smoking is a choice that people make. People choose to smoke around their children, just as former smokers make the choice to quit smoking because they are pregnant or have a child. It's the folks that opt to ignore the scientific facts that smoking is deadly. Smoking does have a very negative effect on children, and when smokers turn a deaf ear to the statistics in favor of nursing their additions, it totally gets my goat in the worst way. Cigarette smoke, believe it or not, is chock full o' toxic chemicals that envelop the smoker like the dust around Pig Pen from Peanuts. They continue to exhale these foul compounds minutes after the cigarette is crushed out on the sidewalk (I'm not going to get started on this major indiscretion), and the stuff clings to their hair and clothing fibers for who-knows-how-long. I've got serious beef with smoking 'round the wee ones for lots of reasons, but hear this one: newborns intake breath on an average of 60 times per minute (14-18 for adults), and the number of breaths gradually slow around five years of age, so our babes are getting a much higher concentration of this vile stuff in their still developing lungs! Double-whammy. So forgive me for wanting to give every new mother with a cigarette a severe talking-to (if not a good throttling). The little ones don't have a choice in the matter, and they're the ones who end up suffering. I'm sure most mothers would strongly object to allowing their kiddos to splash about in a bathtub filled with mercury or snack on lead paint chips. Of course - they're poisonous substances? So why on earth do they not take the same stance where smoking is concerned? Maybe if there were more mercury and lead addicts out there I'd have a good argument.
I thank the Lord that I didn't wind up a tobacco fiend, and maybe I should just leave it at that, but I can't help but wish that other mothers would clap it up and do something for the good of their kids and kick the habit. With children come some compromises, but I guess not everyone sees it that way or is willing to make them. Call me an overly-protective mother, (and this is easy for me to say) but my Goon is important enough to me to not gamble with her health if I can help it.
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