Monday May 23, I picked up an edition of The Lantern which included an opinion piece titled “Smoking ban not good news for all” written by a graduate of the 2004 class who had a bone to pick with the city and its people regarding the smoking ban, known on the May ballots as “Issue 2”. At first I was intrigued to learn what intelligent things he had to say regarding the issue coming from a graduate’s point of view. Upon completion of the commentary, I was left with a somewhat bitter taste left in my mouth.
The writer revealed much about himself: an alcoholic, non-voting, out-of-state student/graduate, who is a smoker who would rather move than be temporarily ostracized. He would do this in order to embrace a cancer-inducing chest full of nicotine-laced smoke.
It made me ill reading his drug-fueled sob story about how he went to “‘play pool and was so shaky after a few hours”‘ he had to “‘go out and knock out about half a pack of camels just to finish the game.'”
Am I supposed to feel sorry for you and how you can’t catch a break in your home-state or this one? Because I don’t feel any sympathy for your plight. It’s tantamount to having any sympathy for crack addicts, there is none.
I am, however, not without advice for you to help cope with your troubles. To begin, try quitting. There are many alternatives for smoking such as gums, patches, and inhalers. Believe me, they do work or they wouldn’t still be on the shelves.
To tell the truth, what really bothered me is not the fact that you smoke and have a complaint it’s actually the fact that you don’t vote. In my opinion people who do not vote do not have the justification to complain. Even though you are from out of state you could have called up your friends and asked them to vote down the issue. There are people who gave their lives for your right to vote, and yet you throw it away like junk mail. I, unlike you, did vote to help “Issue 2” pass the first time, but not the second time around. Helping to keep my clothes, and more importantly my lungs, free of smoke.
Robert AldridgeSeniorEntomology
