First things first. I can no longer smoke in front of my parents because they’re dead. However, I began smoking in front of them when I was 14 years old. The fact that they were both smokers themselves made this much easier. Moreover, I should point out that it was 1974. Just as today, it was technically illegal for minors under the age of 18 to smoke, but back then, it wasn’t enforced. While many of my friends were forced to sneak their nicotine fixes, my parents had the attitude that if I was going to smoke, I should just go ahead and do so openly.

Now I shall proceed to explain why I voted to the “No” side of this issue. Many people; particularly those who have not yet reached their 40th birthday, are too young to remember how differently smoking was viewed prior to around 1990 or so. The fact of the matter is that 999 of 1000 non-smokers had no problems whatsoever with someone lighting up near them. Whether tobacco was your thing or not, smokers and non-smokers alike coexisted in peaceful harmony. At one time, there were no segregated smoking and non-smoking sections in public places. Ashtrays were everywhere. Smokers used them and non-smokers didn’t. It was even common practice for non-smokers to have an ashtray or two tucked away in some cupboard just in case a smoker paid them a visit. If there were no ashtrays, then an empty beer can sufficed. The point is this: Accomodating those who smoked was a display of etiquette, a gesture of hospitality.

Yes, before the ridiculously orchestrated campaign of “secondhand smoke” was created, this is how it was. The reason most parents didn’t permit their children to smoke in front of them was because many felt that kids were too young . The health risks that have been shoved down our collective throats were known even back then as well, so many parents; even if they were smokers themselves, didn’t wish for their kids to follow in their footsteps.

As a smoker who grew up in a time when smokers and non-smokers were treated as equals, I am unrelenting in my old school stance. I don’t believe smoking in front of one’s parents; or anyone else, for that matter, is or should ever be considered disrespectful. In another related article, I stated that the only reason 99% of current non-smokers are offended by smoking is because our government and media have programmed them to react in this fashion with their ill-conceived, shoddy, junk science-derived “secondhand smoke” hype. Oftentimes, non-smokers today will claim that smoke “always” bothered them, but provided they are old enough, they have simply forgotten how things once were.

It’s a shame we couldn’t turn the clock back to around 1985; even if only for a few hours. Then non-smokers could see for themselves how gullible and hysterical they have become.