As a freshman in college, the self-expression that is shown throughout campus is exciting. And so, I decided to buy an oversized dry erase board with various markers and hung the board in my window which is clearly visible to many passing students. At first, I began by writing deep-thinking quotes, but I have changed my direction slightly. It is our campus rule that if you are going to smoke, you do so 50 ft from the building. You would think this is an easy short distance to go, but apparently it is not.
Many smokers sit on the steps of the main entrance and smoke. The smoke floats up into the residents' windows and thus infiltrating the air we breathe! Why is it that these smokers have no courtesy to the fact that as non-smokers, we do not wish to "smoke" as they do! Of course, an easy way to keep the smoke getting into the building is to shut our windows. But this gets very tedious and annoying as the heat is constantly on, so fresh air would be nice! Our campus even has benches to sit at while smoking, which are clearly 50 ft from the building.
Is the 50 ft rule too much to ask? With all of the knowledge of cigarettes today, you would think smoking would be rare. Yet, it is not, and I am still breathing air thick with smoke. I would also like to add that as an athlete, breathing in this air is even more detrimental as we depend on our lung capacity to keep up with the demands we put on our bodies.
Back to my dry erase board. I wrote in big red letters "SECOND-HAND KILLS!" and underneathe it says "50 feet from the building!"
I have gotten many compliments on it, which I actually didn't expect. I was waiting to be met with hostility and defensive attitudes. Of course, the compliments came from non-smokers, but that's encouraging because I was beginning to think I was the only person here who was infuriated with this lack of adherence to the rules! I also get the defiant smokers who smoke right under my window while staring straight at my sign. But this is a small price to pay if I indeed have gotten the message out to others and encouraged an activist attitude on campus.
So I'm mostly interested on your views on smokers and their knowledge of where their smoke actually goes. But of course, any and all comments are welcome :)
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