America's Obsession With Others' Habits

Phillly.com March 15, 2014-- "State wants landlords to ban smoking""Twenty-one percent of Pennsylvania's adults smoke cigarettes. And if Michael Wolf has his way, none should be able to light up if they live in apartment or condominium complexes. Wolf, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, delivered that message to landlords.."Phillly.com March 14, 2014-- "Committee approves adding e-cigs to public ban on smoking""A CITY COUNCIL committee yesterday agreed to treat e-cigarettes the same as the traditional kind..."This fixation on other people smoking has gotten so far out of hand it's become absurd when even e-cigarettes are taboo. There's no way in hell second hand smoke can be a justification for what has become a 'obsessive compulsive disorder' in calling for a ban on them in outdoor public spaces. While one could argue against second hand smoke, this in no way applies to e-cigarettes either in one's own dwelling or outdoors. It's nothing more then fixation for some telling others what they can or can not do.

Why Should NIMBY's Stop There?
* Why not ban booze too? I have a bunch of college kids next door who drag home two kegs of beer almost weekly for 'Thirsty Thursdays'. They invite 30 or more of their closest friends for 'beer pong' while the booming bass from their stereo rocks my house next door till after midnight. I'm sure there are lots of other folks who live alongside or next door to drinkers. Drinkers who could pass out leaving food cooking on the stove, ignore their crying babies or raise all kinds of hell after they've been drinking. No thanks, I'll take a low keyed quiet hookah party any day

* Why not ban stereos over 20 watts? Lord knows how much sleep I've lost or while out on my deck listening to the loud thumping of bass music coming up the street a block away. How about too those loud motorcycles with their radios turned up louder then their resonating mufflers. Shouldn't we be protecting people from themselves when it comes to hearing loss too?

* How about banning crying babies from airplanes, trains and busses too while we're at it? This can cause sleep deprivation and mental duress for other commuters affecting their health.

* There are lots of people who's health is affected by exhaust fumes coming from inefficient fuel smoking lawn mowers (not to mention the God awful noise). Same goes for the leaf blower a guy across the street uses every single day seven months out of the year. Not to mention these noisy smelly two stroke weed whackers. Should we ban them too and require only electric lawn tools be used?

* Throughout the summer I'm forced to inhale the horrible chemical fumes emanating from next door with her overuse of fabric softener towelettes she puts in her dryer. I don't use them. Why do I have to put up with hers? From now on let's ban them too!

* Cursed be those damn noisy jets spewing out thousands of lbs of spent jet fuel into the air as they go over my house several times a day too!

All of these could conceivably make more sense then banning e-cigarettes. The reason we don't is people like to do what they do even though each carry a certain element of risk. When we begin imposing our will with personal annoyances on others we risk having something we enjoy being taken away. While I can fully appreciate the intentions behind trying to get people to refrain from tobacco use, the over zealousness about e-cigarette use has little (or nothing) to do with that.

At some point things become fanatical. We've seen this over guns. If a kid points his fingers or draws one in school they have been suspended in some schools. One kid even got suspended for pointing a banana at another student in the school cafeteria in a threatening way. This crazy crap now going on regarding e-cigarettes is another step in that same direction.

We can't keep forcing our annoyances on other people and not expect to one day endure the same. There's some truth in the old saying... "What goes around, comes around."