Smoking
So I'm still trying to quit smoking . . . the psychological way of course, I'm trying to find a way to think about smoking, and also to not think about it so that I can stop in a way that is sustainable for me and doesn't result in my feeling like trash for not being able to.
Meanwhile though, let me just tell you about a situation I was in about a month ago. Not sure if I blogged it already, so forgive me if I repeat.
I was standing outside of a restaurant, smoking, when a man walked by me with his baby in a stroller. He didn't make eye contact with me, and his face was expressionless, not angry or judgmental, and all he said as he approached and passed by was "Hold your breath baby" in the tone people use when they're talking to babies.
In this way, he politely alerted me to the fact that there was a baby coming up and I had an opportunity to minimize the baby's contact with my cigarette smoke, if I felt like it. I thought he did this in such a clever and polite way, that I actually did hold my breath as they passed by rather than exhaling a cloud of smoke on them, like I might have done if I hadn't noticed them there.
So parents of babies . . . you might want to try this tactic. It's polite, non-confrontational and it will be effective on a certain segment of the population of smokers. Some people are just assholes or will misunderstand the intention, but possibly, some, like me may make an effort to minimize contact between your infant and their smoke.
What was the key here, I think was that it was cute, funny and there was no attachment on his part to my individual response, he didn't make eye contact, or look back. Although a smile and a wink would have been fine also. Night darlinks. Off to shower
Meanwhile though, let me just tell you about a situation I was in about a month ago. Not sure if I blogged it already, so forgive me if I repeat.
I was standing outside of a restaurant, smoking, when a man walked by me with his baby in a stroller. He didn't make eye contact with me, and his face was expressionless, not angry or judgmental, and all he said as he approached and passed by was "Hold your breath baby" in the tone people use when they're talking to babies.
In this way, he politely alerted me to the fact that there was a baby coming up and I had an opportunity to minimize the baby's contact with my cigarette smoke, if I felt like it. I thought he did this in such a clever and polite way, that I actually did hold my breath as they passed by rather than exhaling a cloud of smoke on them, like I might have done if I hadn't noticed them there.
So parents of babies . . . you might want to try this tactic. It's polite, non-confrontational and it will be effective on a certain segment of the population of smokers. Some people are just assholes or will misunderstand the intention, but possibly, some, like me may make an effort to minimize contact between your infant and their smoke.
What was the key here, I think was that it was cute, funny and there was no attachment on his part to my individual response, he didn't make eye contact, or look back. Although a smile and a wink would have been fine also. Night darlinks. Off to shower