Smoking prejudice

We stand on a precipice and look across. Over there, on the other side, is a black President, the culmination of decades and centuries of battling and overcoming prejudice. Many feel if we cross and elect a President who is black, it will finally eradicate hundreds of years of prejudice.

Prejudices are universal and many. We carry them overtly or hide them behind closed doors, whether we can admit it or not. You may feel that Hispanics are taking advantage of us, or that Muslims are all terrorists, every Southerner is country, women should be home, or maybe smokers should be shunned.

For better or worse, I am a smoker and have been for years. I’ve had to endure lectures, insults in public, dirty looks and ostracism. I am sure that I have offended people by the smoky smell of my clothes in meetings, restaurants or public places. Although I am addicted to a bad habit, I was not born this way. I took up smoking on my own volition and today pay the price for it.

Smoking has been proven to be harmful, yet I still enjoy my cigarettes. When I write, I feel looser with my thoughts. During my drives, I am more relaxed and it may even help me avoid road rage (now wouldn’t that be a great study?!). If I have a glass of wine or two I’ll smoke. They make a perfect complement to a cup of coffee in the morning.

For work I travel a lot in airplanes. It is interesting how one can easily pick out who the smokers were on a flight after landing. They are the ones dodging people and suitcases, not holding doors for others and walking faster than those on the moving walkways. How do you differentiate a smoker that just got off a plane from a late passenger running to the gate? The direction.

When I came back from Mexico City last week, I was one of those running toward the first exit. But the Miami International airport is very strict – they do not allow smokers on the terminal side of the street. Smokers have go across three lanes of traffic to special areas about 200 feet from the doors. Talk about being singled out.

As is common in Miami, many people try to skirt the rules. They’ll look around to see if the non-smoking enforcers (skycaps) are busy. Then they’ll light up. So, as I wiggled and jiggled expeditiously to the street, I figured I would do the same. I reached the door, looked left and looked right. No problem, I saw another guy smoking. I grabbed a cigarette, took a drag and moved up next to him. I learned that watching National Geographic: the strength in numbers strategy.

A few puffs later, I noticed the skycap moving toward us. Little did I know that the bubble I had lived in for so long was about to be burst. I looked at the guy next to me and we both kind exchanged these looks of, “Damn! We’re about to get booted!”

Then the white skycap was right in front of us, dressed in a typical skycap outfit. He pointed to the black gentleman standing next to me and asked him to go across the street to smoke. Just like that, he turned and walked away to look for his next tip. I was left alone to smoke my cigarette in front of the door. I felt lucky to not have been singled out. Then I slowly walked back inside for my luggage, thinking that a black President would not have changed that skycap's behavior.