Harum-Scarum

Fire exits needn’t be a drag, if you get my drift. To restate comedian Tracy Morgan: This is post-racial Philippines; we have a new President now – and a damn stubborn smoker at that. Which brings us to a more personal bleat: There are not enough smoking areas and cigarette butt receptacles around, especially in government offices. Seriously, we always have to settle at cramped fire exits (which, after careful observation, are not that safe and viable during actual fire emergencies. I should know, I spend quite a lot of time there) to have a fix. It follows then that with the electoral-mandated new Hope (pardon the wordplay) now at the helm, not only policies on spring-cleaning the system of government but also responsible smoking will be campaigned. Or so we shall see in future unfolding of events.

Since his candidacy to his uncontested win and proclamation, many have taken an interest at the President’s smoking. Others even call for him to do an Obama and finally kick the habit. They rallied for him to become a proponent of anti-smoking campaigns. That the President, the most powerful person in the bureaucracy, is a poster boy for change in government might as well reverberate that in his lifestyle.

Did I mention half of them are dreadfully misinformed?

How could anyone ask him, who’s been smoking for years to suddenly break away from the habit just because he’s now President? Here’s news for you: A long-time addict cannot be possibly changed with all the unsolicited nagging and appeal to virtuousness. Quitting takes more time and less hovering. Truth is, no one can impose cessation in an instant, no matter how they think it would kill them breathing the same nicotine-filled air. Taking up the reins of leadership, along with its sometimes debilitating pressures, will most likely beat the President. But a lit cigarette may be his only refuge, despite how others view it as unhurriedly committing suicide.

I’m always bothered how non-smokers easily have the right to lecture us on the evils of smoking. Or that how it greatly affects their health more than the ones with the fag. Do they even realize that the more they open their mouth, the more they become susceptible to actual health risks? I don’t think smokers are any less concerned with the risks health-wise, but smoking is their own choice. As long as they properly dispose cigarette butts and smoke at designated smoking areas, I’m with them. But what about the people around smokers, you say. Don’t they have the same choice? Yes, they do. They can always leave the room. Without inherent practice of choice, there is nothing to live for.

Whether you're for, against, or indifferent to smoking, I think we can all agree that a person who is a smoker doesn't automatically become a bad person because they smoke. We all have to live, work, and have relationships with people whom we may have varying opinions on the way they live their life, and we have to contend with them at some point. To have someone like the President, who’s unapologetic about his smoking habit, reminds us all that everyone has his own character regardless of how other people would attempt to paint a picture of who should they be or not.