Smokin' hot topic

2008-08-28 13:25

Georgina Guedes

As a writer, journalist or magazine editor, I am often exposed to a portion of the public with whom I would otherwise have very little contact. In many ways, this can be an enlightening experience. Most people move in circles of people with whom they have much in common, so hearing opinions and viewpoints from other segments of the population can be interesting and, at times, infuriating.

When I write a column, I can be pretty much guaranteed of hearing it all. Just about anything that I have to say will be vehemently agreed with by almost exactly 50% of the population (or at least the population who write back to me), and violently opposed by the other 50%. So, last week, when I wrote a column expressing how I felt about smoking in public, I knew I was in for a bit of a flaming.

The people who say things like "people like you are alive only because it is illegal to kil [sic] you" get dismissed right off the bat. If they're defending their right to smoke by making (not quite) death threats, they're clearly not rational human beings, and shouldn't be allowed to participate in any intelligent debate.

Smoking better than crime - duh!

What I did find interesting is the batch of responses I received this time around that pointed out that I have better things to be worrying about, like crime, oh, and crime, and when I'm done with that, I should worry about crime.

It seems that the defence of every self-righteous smoker in South Africa is that while people are being robbed, murdered or raped, it's okay for them to carry on smoking, because they're not doing half has much harm. And, I should keep my mouth shut about what they're doing, because there are more important issues to worry about.

First of all, I have a weekly column. If I wrote about crime every week, can you imagine the flaming I'd get from the "good news brigade", as well as the people who complain about the valuable column space I waste talking about the same issues all the time.

Secondly, just because something is worse than what you're doing every day, smoker, doesn't mean that what you're doing isn't awful. That's like saying "yes I beat my wife, but I've never laid a hand on my children, so until someone does something about the child molesters, leave me alone."

And no, I'm not comparing smoking to wife beating or child molesting, I'm just pointing out that because one thing is worse than another thing, it doesn't make the other thing any less of a problem.

Alcohol abuse far worse

Another batch of responses dealt with alcohol abuse. They pointed out the number of people that die on the road each year from alcohol-related collisions, the number of instances of domestic violence that occur because of alcohol use and the number of instances of air rage that occur on airplanes after free alcohol is dolled out.

Alcohol is a huge problem, I agree. South Africa should have decent public transport, but even so, that doesn't excuse the huge number of people who drive drunk every weekend. I have a large crowd of friends who have managed to get drunk and disorderly without beating each other or their girlfriends up, but I do see that in those with a predisposition to violence, the problem is exacerbated by booze.

Having said all of that, last week's column was not about alcohol, it was about smoking, and I say again that just because alcohol is also a problem, doesn't make smoking any less so.

Hypocrites complain then drive cars

And then there was the final bunch who pointed out that I drive a car to get around, and specifically to go out jolling, and that I am contributing to the general fug of air pollution that surrounds Johannesburg and it's therefore hypocritical of me to complain about smokers polluting the air that I breathe.

Unfortunately, public transport by electric train and getting around by bicycle isn't really an option in Johannesburg, or in most parts of South Africa. Driving is not a filthy, disgusting addiction - it's an unavoidable way of life. Even so, the air pollution caused by car exhausts doesn't come close to causing the number of deaths that smoking does. Cancer Research UK says that smoking causes 30 times more lung cancers than general air pollution.

In light of this, I say again to smokers, I should be able to move around in public without having my health compromised by your addiction.

Finally, to the vegetarian who wrote to me and said that she is perpetually offended by the stench of braaing wafting over the walls in South Africa, I sympathise with your plight, I really do, but I disagree that by comparison smoking falls to the bottom of the pile.

While other people eating braai meat may be offensive to you, they are not posing a direct risk to your health. And to the person who has an issue with the stench of perfume on some people out in public, I'm also not wild about it, but I'd still rather sit next to them than a smoker.

Georgina Guedes is a freelance journalist. She's proud to be lumped with the "new greenies" by her critics.

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