Heads up for you smokers out there

Just a quickie heads up for you smokers out there:

You stink.

Your hair stinks.

Your clothing stinks.

Your returned library books stink.

Your papers and magazines and bills stink.

Your car stinks.

Your house stinks.

You cannot hide the smell with air fresheners (which, in addition to your smoke, are poisoning your lungs and those around you), or fragrances, or mouthwash.

I was raised to be a courteous smoker. My mother was just short of a chain-smoker. My dad had been a smoker in his younger days, but quit on a bet in his early 20s. So, we always had windows and doors open to air out the house and car, and so I did the same in my own home.

When I got married to a smoker, the door and window thing wasn't a problem for him, since we also had big dogs who were too large to have a dog door, so we just left a door open for them when we were home.

In the office, when I had a private office, I had an air cleaner running all the time, figuring that would keep my smoke from flowing out of my office and into the offices on either side of me which housed nonsmokers.

One of my swing shift supervisors was a complainer, always waving her hand in front of her face when she came to meetings in my office or department meeting it the conference room. When she told me she was allergic to tobacco smoke, I tried not smoking around her, while inwardly muttering "Allergic! She's just annoyed with it - no one's allergic to it!" or "It's just a control thing."

Ercille, if you're by some chance reading this: I am truly sorry for being such an ass. I really had no idea just how horrendous even a "courteous" smoker can be to those who really do get sick from exposure to tobacco smoke.

PS to those recreating with marijuana: you stink, too.

"Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of smokers are not concerned about developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), America’s fourth ranking cause of death even though more than half of them (55 percent) experience at least one of the symptoms of COPD a minimum of once a week." COPD: Hungry For Air. American Lung Association.

"Smoking marijuana is associated with increased risk of many of the same symptoms as smoking cigarettes -- chronic bronchitis, coughing on most days, phlegm production, shortness of breath, and wheezing, according to a Yale study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

"In addition, marijuana smoking may increase risk of respiratory exposure by infectious organisms, such as fungi and molds, since cannabis plants are contaminated with a range of fungal spores, said Brent Moore, assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and lead author of the study." Marijuana Associated With Same Respiratory Symptoms as Tobacco