Walking Backwards

Don't you hate it when you run into something in your daily life that makes you think, "Wow, I'm a hypocrite". It doesn't happen to me as often anymore, because I have taken the safe position of being apathetic about generally everything right now, but today it did. I was driving across town to pick up soup from one of our local food delivery people (they don't drive out into the suburbs where I live) and a commercial for a local pool hall came on the radio. At the end of the commercial they gave a little speech about their position on an upcoming election. One of the propositions on the ballot next month is a regulation that would call for smoke-free workplaces. Essentially, anywhere anyone works would have to be smoke-free. Now, I don't really smoke anymore, I have a small child, and I have asthma. I don't like it when people smoke near the playscape when I take my son to the park and I can't even be around smoke when I'm eating. I am the worst ex-smoker because I can't stand to be around it most of the time. That being said, I think that this proposition is a load of crap. Smoking regulations have gotten crazy around here. I agree that it is a good idea to ban smoking in most places, but bars and pool halls, seriously? There are a great number of places people can go to drink that don't involve smoking here, all restaurants and several clubs don't allow it. If this passes, where am I going to go to light one of my Nat Shermans (hidden far enough away from my husband so that he will NEVER know) and pretend I'm in some film-noir movie where the heroine clad in some chic and slinky dress gets to listen to jazz music and make eyes at all the too-cool-for-words musicians all while trying not to cough up her lungs? Going out into the backyard for one of my maybe two cigarettes a year just doesn't seem dramatic enough.