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I guess I’m
becoming spoiled. Why? Well, just last week, Dave and I went to MAL
weekend in Washington, D.C. MAL stands for Mid-Atlantic Leather. Thousands
of leather guys and gals showed up for the festivities. The whole shebang
is put on by the Centaur MC of Washington. They do a fabulous job of
keeping everyone entertained.
The real action seems to be at the huge
lobby of the Washington Plaza Hotel. Jammed full of hunky, hot, handsome
leather guys, it’s is a real turn-on. OK, Ricky, now get to the point,
you say. Well, the lobby is super-packed and it’s a great place to meet
new friends, but my biggest gripe was the amount of smoking of cigarettes
and cigars. D.C. doesn’t have a smoking ban like the one that Delaware
recently enacted, as of November 28, 2002. That’s a shame, because
that’s the only thing I could complain about for the four days we
attended.
It made me proud to tell some of the
attendees that our governor had the guts to sign into law the legislation
enacting a smoking ban in any public indoor space. A little state like
Delaware can be compared to a big state, like California, which also
enacted a smoking ban several years ago.
In fact, now when we go out to restaurants
and bars in Sussex County, it’s a great feeling not having to deal with
that stinking smoke that gets on our clothes and in our hair. Thick
cigarette smoke actually burns my eyes when I’m exposed to it for too
long.
Many smokers complain that it’s a rights
issue, but I beg to differ. We non-smokers deserve clean, un-compromised
air to breathe. It’s a health issue. Smokers still have the right to
smoke. That’s not taken away—just the locations where they can smoke.
As a health issue, smoking hits close to
home. Both my parents smoked two packs of cigarettes every day for as long
as I can remember. The fact is, my dad died of lung cancer due to smoking.
He was so hooked that he died with a cigarette in his mouth. Even more
tragic was my mother who continued smoking up until her second heart
attack, when she had a quadruple bypass. She finally quit at age 79, after
her doctor said that if she didn’t, she’d have less than a year to
live.
But the damage had already been done. High
blood pressure restricted blood flow in her lungs, and a final heart
attack did her in at age 81. Her doctor attributed all her health issues
to excessive, prolonged cigarette smoking.
Many of us have childhood memories of
driving in our parents’ car—both of them smoking away and with all the
windows rolled up tight. If I tried to roll a window down for some fresh
air, I was yelled at to immediately close that window. Dave says he
remembers that happening to him, also. Yes, both of his parents smoked,
but they both quit some time ago. And it’s great to see that they both
really take care of themselves now. They exercise regularly and eat very
healthy foods.
It may be too late for my parents, but
Dave’s are doing great by staying away from smoking.
But there seems to be trouble on the
horizon for us Delawareans. Last week, our local paper had an article
about legislation that was introduced to weaken the state’s smoking ban.
It seems our right to breathe clean air is in jeopardy. A hearing was
scheduled for this week, but because of the lawmakers’ 6-week break,
it’s not likely that the issue will be debated until late March, when
they return to Dover. Some people want to restore smoking to tap rooms,
taverns, horse tracks, sections of the slot machine venues, and non-profit
organizations that may hold events for anyone over the age of 21.
There are two representatives, one from
Hartley and the other from Harrington, who are the primary sponsors of the
HB15 bill. They say that it is a freedom issue and very much a fiscal
issue. They say that the ban is hurting a lot of businesses, and that they
have to fix it.
Now I ask you, don’t the non-smokers
deserve the freedom from cigarette smoke? And now that places are
smoke-free, don’t you think that non-smokers are more willing to go out
to the bars, restaurants, and the track where they don’t have to deal
with that stinking smoke? And again I say, if it worked in California, and
has for years, then why can’t Delaware at least give it a chance?
These two legislators plan to have a rally
to mobilize support for their bill. I, for one, do not support it at all.
In fact, I’ll complain to our great governor, Ruth Ann Minner.
Hopefully, so will you. I repeat, this is not a freedom issue—it is a
health and quality-of-life issue.
As I was writing this article, we got the
latest copy of The Wall Street Journal. (I keep up with what the
“right” is writing about.) And I noticed that Philip Morris USA has
changed its name to “Altria.” That’s a pretty inoffensive name! I
suggested to Dave that maybe they should have changed their name to
“Happy Nutritional Big Conglomerate Group.” You sure won’t think of
cigarettes when you hear “Altria.” The old name was too closely
associated with tobacco. It’s a cunning move, if I do say so myself.
Rick
Moore is a personal trainer certified by the American Fitness
Professionals & Associates. Visit him at www.ricksfitness.net,
or call 302-684-0316.
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