A Smoker Responds to Letter Writer

To The Editor:

This is in response to Marty Riggs about smokers.

I am a smoker of 39 years now and I take offense to you putting us all in a category.

I am very aware of the dangers of secondhand smoke and the effects of cigarettes in general. But none-the-less I can’t quit. I’ve tried many times. I asked my doctor one time why they don’t have a rehab for smokers. They do for every other kind of addiction. You know what he told me?

If all the smokers quit, the doctors would be out of business. I can’t speak for others but I am very respectful of nonsmokers. I don’t purposely offend others, but if I’m standing in front of a building first and nonsmokers gather around me, they should move, not me and I won’t ask anyone’s permission, period!

And I might need new glasses but I’m sure I see the ashtrays for smokers in front of the doors: for example, courthouse, convenience stores, grocery stores, etc.

All of us have a bad habit of some sort and if you say you don’t then you’re also a liar. Here are some of the things I find offensive and annoying: I don’t drink but I see people stumble out of bars daily getting behind the wheel, I don’t spit and blow snot on public lots where we have to walk, I don’t blow my nose in a public restaurant, I don’t pass gas in public — talk about nasty.

I don’t gamble, but I see lottery tickets and casinos everywhere. I dress decently. I don’t have ... hanging out. I never cuss in public but I hear the F word more than I hear Amen and lastly I don’t think the cops need new $30,000-plus vehicles in today’s economy. Smaller more economical cars would have been just fine. Maybe a trip or two to Weight Watchers wouldn’t hurt for a few.

Don’t judge me until you look in your own closet.

Do you see yourself in here, Mr. Riggs?

Editor’s Note: Name withheld per request.