Smoking for Shakespeare

So I heard on NPR today that a bill is currently under consideration in Ohio to raise the tax on cigarettes to help fund the arts. Personally, I think it’s a great idea. My only concern is that perhaps since smokers are helping fund the cultural events, will they demand that they be allowed to smoke at all artistic venues? Will I have to tolerate second-hand smoke when I go see a play, or visit an art gallery, or even go to a museum? Sure, we could argue that the smoke is not good for the artwork, but then, is it really fair to make smokers pay more to support something they can’t enjoy?

For that matter, will passing this bill stop any momentum that may be building on making Ohio smoke-free? I know several restaurants in my town don’t allow smoking. And I would like to get involved to make the whole city smoke free (but darn my apathy and inherent laziness). But will that lead to mixed feelings on my part? Sure, I detest cigarettes, and hold my breath when I have to walk through a doorway where people are on a cigarette break. My elder son has been learning well from me, asking me whenever he sees a smoker to hear my smoking story, usually by asking why this person started smoking. He’s an interesting kid, liking to hear stories that aren’t really stories, including this one where I tell him about how when the smoker was younger, he probably knew someone who he thought was cool because of how he acted, or how he dressed. Well, this cool person smoked and so this person decided to try smoking. (And here my story changes to how the main character decides why not to smoke). But then our hero thinks about how his breath will stink, and his lungs will turn black, and he won’t be able to run far without having trouble breathing, and how he could get cancer or emphysema etc. etc. (Yes, mine is probably the only children’s story that mentions cancer and emphysema). I even go into the financial repercussions of deciding to smoke, and how later, when he decides to quit, he won’t be able to because the cigarettes will control him. And then our hero decides that no, he doesn’t want to smoke.

I once tried rewriting this better, into a more story-like and less pedantic format, but my son didn’t like the rewrite. So this is my smoking story.

So anyhow, I’ve probably offended someone out there, and well, no I guess I’m not sorry. My only fear is that if smokers hadn’t already considered demanding smoking rights in cultural venues, that I just gave them the idea.