I hate smokers, I really do (they spoilt my blissful morning)

Woke up to such lovely weather this morning. I have always love weather like this. Gloomy but not entirely thunderstorm lightning kind. Just gloomy with cool breeze and little drizzle every now and then. I love it. Went breakfast at the coffee shop outside with my other half. I still lingered on reading my morning paper while enjoying my 'teh c kosong' absorbing this lovely morning weather long after he left for work. Ahh.... it felt so good to be breathing such fresh air after god knows how many weeks of polluted hazy air that we have been contaminating our lungs with. All were well and blissful until some idiots on the nearby tables start firing up their lighters to light their cigarettes. Sigh... both husband & wife some more... with their little daughter sitting in between them... what were they thinking? There goes my fresh air!

I grew up in a family where majority smokes. Therefore, I was never really bothered with smokers (not until 6 years ago though). My grandparents, parents, uncles & cousins, basically everyone. So I used to be absolutely alright whether I sit in a smoking or non smoking area. Whether the friends I hang out with smoke or not. Or whether the next table is firing up or not. It never bothers me.

Not until about 8 years ago when I started to date my better half (i guess that's the reason why I always refer him to my 'better half'). He, being also a non-smoker, hate it whenever someone on a nearby table started to smoke. He would get so agitated with it and would quickly finished off whatever food he ordered (sometimes not even finishing it) at the same time grumbling & cursing under his breath. He simply hate it. I on the other hand would get even more agitated. Not with the smokers, but with his agitated-ness. I couldn't understand what's the big deal of it. Why is he so rigid? Why can't he adapt? We, as a human being, should be easily adapt to any environment. Why wanna spoil a otherwise lovely dinner/lunch/tea? So most of the time, in such situation, I would just quickly gorged down whatever food I've ordered and just go.

As time goes, I got used to his quirkiness. Adaptive mah... So whenever we goes out, we will pick tables further most from people who looked like potential smokers. Or, we would sit where the fan is so that it will blow away potential smoker's smoke that come our direction. I know you must be thinking, "go to non-smoking tables la..". Well, the thing about Malaysian restaurant is, they are very clever one. So clever until I also don't understand how a 'smoking' and 'non-smoking' area can be set up within a same indoor area. You tell me la... anyway, nevermind la... Malaysia Boleh mah...apa-apa pun boleh!

So, as time goes, other than I gotten used to fresh air, another realisation surfaced. I've used much lesser tissues than I used to before. You see, I've always have this runny nose problem. Sinus? My nose is perpetually runny. Since young, our family doctor have prescribed me high dosage of Vitamin C, still, the problem persists. Then, another doctor gave me some kind of nasal spray. Also no effect. I remembered my mom jokingly said once... "haiz... next time, you better find someone from Scott paper to marry... at least lifetime free supply of tissues"... lols...

Back to my realisation. The 'sinus' that I've been suffering for my entire life was due to cigarettes! Unbelievable. Why didn't I ever thought of it? But then again, I was young then and still not very smart. So I began to pay more attention whenever I start rummaging thru my handbag for that packet of tissue. When I said "began to pay more attention" it was because I've got so used to runny nose that I wont even realised that I am holding on a tissue. You get what I mean? So I began to pay more notice to it.

It was then that I confirmed that cigarette is one of the main thing that triggers off my sinus. Whenever we are in a restaurant, all it take is just one cigarette that is being lighted up 10 tables away and I'll start sneezing away and searching hi & low for a tissue. That's how sensitive my nose is and I couldn't believe it. After all these years... Vitamin C la... nasal spray la... at one point, I even thought of laser-ing it. Anyway, at least now that I know the cause, I can control it a little.

The thing is, why do people still smoke knowing very well that it is bad for health? Not only their own health, but for those around them too, their love ones, their little ones. They would say, "oh... but i dont blow it directly to their face" or "oh... I don't smke in front of them"... the thing is, smoke travels in air and lingers on. Blowing at the face or not, it doesnt make any difference or whether you smoked 100 miles away, the scent still lingers on your hair, your clothes, your kisses, your everything. I, being a fully grown adult with strong antibodies is still vulnerable to it. Can you imagine what it is like for the little ones? Do they have the intelligence to point out what is making them sick?

Most smokers knows very well that smoking is bad for health and that it causes diabetes, heart attack, dry skin, gangrene and etc... still they smoke. Or whenever they are in an air-conditioned enclosure that do not allow smoking, they rather stand outside puffing away enduring the hot weather. And best of all is, the habit is not cheap at all. A packet of cigarette cost how much these days? RM8? Let's say a packet a day, it will be RM 240 a month. Might as well just literally burn the RM240. At least it is better for health and causes less damage to the body. Imagine this, RM240 x 12 months = RM2880 a year. Can go holiday already lor...

Most said that they feel 'cool' and one class higher to be smoking and I can strongly tell you, it doesn't add any value to your image at all. None. It is just little denial thoughts that are conjured up in your little brain. Then, there is this other thing called 'temptations'. I do agree that we are, after all, human beings. We fall into temptations and that goes without saying. But we are also equipped with something called 'will power' & 'determination'. If we are able to allow ourselves to fall into temptations, I also believe we are able to conjure up enough will power & determinations to fight it. All we need is just a little faith in ourselves. And please, never underestimate our capabilities. All we have to do is to just BELIEVE we can, and we can.