Considerate Smokers

I was first going to write about another topic from my Sociology class, but something happened this morning. So I have decided to blog about that instead.

I was waiting for the bus this morning, and once again it was late. This time by fifteen minutes. I just don’t understand why it is always late. It is meant to be an express bus, getting me to my destination sooner than the rest. But it ends up being about the same time because it is so late. That’s a different story.

Here’s some background information about my views on smoking cigarettes before we move on:

I am a smoker. I love cigarettes. But, I am very considerate of where I smoke and who I am smoking around. I don’t smoke around people when they are trying to eat, unless they are a smoker as well. Or I will politely ask if it is okay if I have one. I do not smoke around children and the elderly. I feel that they should be held on the highest ranks of who to not smoke around because I just want them to have the healthiest well being out of all. I will, on occasion, if I am sitting in a smoking area follow a person who walks by me and who detests cigarettes because they are walking through a place where I am suppose to be smoking. What will happen is that they will make some comment or do that loud “I’m hacking because you are smoking” kind of cough which just upsets me. So I will walk behind you while I am enjoying my cigarette. Come on folks, let’s be intelligent here. So I do not condemn smokers, but I do not try to enhance the addiction either. I feel that a lot of people who smoke have a “bad reputation” because they are not being considerate of someone else’s air. It’s a simple concept, so why do so many people not understand it?

There was an elderly lady waiting for the bus reading the paper. She was sitting next to me. I didn’t catch her name because we didn’t make any conversation. She seemed to be enjoying her paper, so I let her go on with that. She must have been about 70 years old and was hunched over probably due to the fact that her breasts were so saggy they were weighing her down. She wore this bucket/bonnet type hat and had what looked like a life vest on. She looked like a sweet old grandmother. The type who will bake you cookies when you come to visit and stroke your hair while you munch on those delectable delights.

A young couple came up and sat a few yards away from us. I would assume that they were of the ripe old age of 17 or 18. Over all, they looked like white trash. The boy was a pasty white and was wearing black jeans and a black shirt with some sort a white logo and it had a few holes in it. He had many freckles on his face and had a drunken glaze over his eyes. I wasn’t sure if he was drunk, I wasn’t sure if he had just shot up some heroin, but he looked like he definitely had some sort of mental issues. Probably a horrible temper. His lady was small busted wearing a black tank top and some sort of black stretchy pants. She had on lavender kitten heels and was platinum blond. She had quite a bit of acne scars. They were keeping to themselves so I paid as much attention to them as I did the elderly lady next to me.

I got up to enjoy myself a cigarette. I walked away from the elderly lady and walked down by a few more feet away from the young couple. The young girl glared at me giving me that look, “I would come up with some sort of excuse to try and kick your ass right now” type of look. I focused on my cup of coffee and my lovely cigarette. The couple got up to allow themselves in my seat. I didn’t fault them for that. I mean, I did get up, and none of those seats are there for claiming anyways. They sat next to the elderly lady who was still reading her paper but eyeing the children next to her.

I knew something was going to happen. You could feel it in the air. That cold shiver flew up my spine and I knew at some point I would intervene during a fight to try and calm both sides down.

I was right.

The young girl then lit up a cigarette not caring about the elderly lady. Her boyfriend did the same. By then I had gotten myself another seat waiting for the bus just a few feet away. I hear some rustling and turned to see the elderly lady sitting next to me grumbling about something saying terms like “hope they die of lung cancer, that would serve her right.” and “bitch” I asked her if everything was okay.

“That girl over there started smoking a cigarette and I hate the way they smell,” she replied.

“I’m sorry about that,” were all the words that I could find in efforts to comfort her.

The younger man decided to get up and take some action against the elderly lady. He stood just inches away from her from the back of the seat and began to blow smoke in her vicinity. She whipped around and said, “You think you are so funny don’t you? Well you won’t be so funny when you die of lung cancer!!” The boy replied, “I do think I am funny. And you’re nothing more than some old bitch. So why should I care about you?”

I do not accept the way the elderly lady handled the situation, but I was very displeased with the younger boy. You should always treat the elderly with respect. So the term “bitch” threw me off my edge.

I turned around and I told him to go back and sit down where he was and stop disrupting this lady from her morning paper. He told me to go fuck myself. I replied, “I already did that this morning, thanks. But seriously, you are being very rude and it would probably make everyones’ morning run a little more smoothly if you just went back and kept to yourself.” He stalked off back to his sitting area and people were staring at all of us by that point. Him and his girlfriend were talking about something, I was hearing derogatory slander and I chose to ignore it. She stomped up to me and stammered on about me going back to my own country and that the clothing I chose to wear was hideous. But to me, they are just words. I tuned most of what she was saying out and read the paper that I had found. I looked up at her for the first time and there was anger in her face. I smiled at her. She asked me if I spoke English or (improvise with ping pang clang kind of noises). I looked at her puzzled and I told her, “Why, yes I do speak English. Why do you ask?” She turned red realizing that her slander wasn’t getting to me. I went back to reading the paper I had found. She knocked my cup of coffee out of my hands and it splashed all over her shoes. I looked down and shrugged. “I was almost finished with it anyways. And you just spilled it all over her shoes. You’ve made quite a mess.” She looked like she was about to hit me then I just smiled at her. “Instead of ME going back to my country, why don’t you go back to yours. I am assuming that you are making nothing of your life and can offer America nothing more than just coffee on your shoes. So why don’t you be a doll and go back and sit down so we can all finally have some peace.” She made some more Asian noises as she walked back. I grinned. The lady next to me started to talk to me about how inconsiderate teenagers are now these days and how people would never act that way when she was younger.

We ended up having this long discussion about how different people are and how they are always changing from generation to generation. She thanked me kindly as the bus rolled up. I tipped my head down and wished her the best of luck with her day. I hope things got easier for her, but I have a feeling that is just a first of many problems she will encounter today. And I am beginning to ask myself why.

Hey Jerks

Hey other authors: what is so important that you can’t post?  Some of us are moving, and that’s a valid excuse, but the rest of you are just being lazy!

Sorry I had to put this here, but I don’t know how I would even contact half of you!