A Note to Smokers

I'm not going to sit here and lie to you. Yes, I have smoked cigarettes socially in the past. Could I dream of doing that now? No way. The nature of my disease progression has been into asthma and autoimmune lung problems, so smoking would not only be a bad idea, but a costly one to me in terms of overall well-being almost instantly.

That being said, I have friends who are smokers. Sometimes they complain about the lack of places for them to smoke or about people who ask them to not smoke in a certain area. I've been known to speak up to someone who is smoking where they lack rights to, because it actually matters to me. Most of the time, I suck it up and walk through or behind or whatever, but when someone is smoking in a nonsmoking area, it really bugs me. You make a personal choice to smoke. I didn't make the choice to have CVID and some sort of amorphous autoimmune issue. When you smoke in inappropriate places, places where my lungs should be getting a break, it causes me physical pain.

What do I mean by physical pain? I feel as though that cigarette has morphed into a torch, which has been inconveniently shoved into my lungs. It costs me enormous piles of spoons that I would much rather spend elsewhere.

I would like to make a request of my smoking friends. Please be polite about smoking and don't smoke where you aren't supposed to. It really can become a matter of life or death on a bad asthma day. I may look great, sound great, seem fine, but I could have had an asthma attack a couple hours prior. I'm not asking that you quit smoking or not smoke in public. On the contrary, I'm asking you to abide by the social covenant and laws set out by various jurisdictions. Don't smoke where you aren't supposed to. Is that so difficult?