Reasons for smoking are stupid

Charles Madden
Daily Egyptian

For those of you don't live on this planet, SIU is finally enacting a smoking policy, which means that people won't be able to smoke in the dorms and people will have to walk 25 feet away from entrances and exits to slowly kill themselves.

It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant people really are when the topic of smoking comes up. I had the pleasure of debating it in my English class today, and let me tell you, I was both enlightened and stimulated all at the same time.

First, let me say, I used to smoke. Unfortunately, I smoked for about eight years, but thank God I quit and was able to stay clean. So, before all you nicotine junkies out there get into a chain smoking frenzy, thinking I don't know what I'm talking about, I can assure you that I'm no stranger to the completely ridiculous line of reasoning that smokers posses.

Moving right along, let me inform all those unaware of the extremely intelligent arguments brought to the table by some of the my fellow classmates. In terms of the dorm restrictions, one person said something like,

"Well then, like the R.A.'s will have to, like, work harder." Yeah, I was speechless too! Then, one person said, "For people that live on the second floor, going outside might not be that big of a deal, but for people that live on the 15th floor..."

Again, I was in complete awe of the sheer stupidity. And still, believe it or not, the smokers had more intelligence to spread to the audience with the last kid saying, "I mean, dude, that would be, like, a total violation of our rights." And at that point, I could take it no more.

Why do people who smoke think they have more rights than people who don't? When did it become that way? How the hell did our backward society allow it to come to that?

And don't we, the non-smokers, have the right just as much, if not more, to breathe clean air as opposed to breathing in someone's second-hand smoke? Why should we cater to your needs?

We aren't trying to say you can't do it. God knows the chaos that would ensue from that. But rather, we≠re asking simply not to have smoke blown in our faces. I know, I know, we ask too much of you feeble-minded people.

Now, let me tell you of some of the reasons against smoking. First, let's face it, I did and you should too, we all started in the first place because we thought we'd look cool doing it.

Secondly, although there are probably a couple hundred ashtrays and 50-gallon garbage cans spread out around school, you morons can't even throw away your garbage. The worst part about that is it's a tiny piece of paper, but yet it probably accounts for the majority of litter on campus. And yet you wonder how your rights are being stricken from you. Thirdly, people shouldn't have to breathe it in if they don't want to.

Someone else's decision to smoke shouldn't come before another's to not smoke, but it does.

Lastly, if a person or group of people can't handle the responsibility of their actions, like cleaning up after themselves or being considerate of their neighbor for example, then they should not be allowed to have responsibility in the first place.

But so long as you chose to act like irresponsible children, then we will have to go out of our way, which we don't want to in the first place, to treat you like the irresponsible children that you all are. So next year, if you are planning on living in the dorms, get used to hearing this ˘ "Sorry Charlie."

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