This morning when I read a newspaper article about a smoking point initiative. I’m glad that our government is taking action on a not-urgent-but-health issue.
This issue affect me and my family. As a non-smoker I am sensitive to the smell of a cigarette. Unfortunately my neighbour who lives a level below me is a heavy smoker. What worse is that both husband and wife are heavy smokers. So double the effect!
I know it is ridiculous to ask someone to stop smoking in their own home so I did what a good neighbour would. Close my laundry door to stop the smoke from entering our home. But that also meant to stop our only source of gentle wind. We did that anyway because we don’t want our home to smell like smoking den especially we have a kid at home.
However the issue does not stop there. Occasionally the cigarette smell will find its way from the window of our living room. I guess that depends on the season as wind direction changes.
Now you know why I’m brighten up when I know of this initiative. Yeah!
But my guess is it will not work. Why?
I try to put myself in a smoker's shoe. Since I’m a non-smoker, I will imagine smoking is like browsing social media content on my phone. Every now and then I would pick up my phone and check for new content (btw I've reduced my social media consumption). It is a form of addiction.
Now imagine after a day's work and finish my hot shower. I'm wearing my boxer relaxing in the sofa. Turning on the TV and picking up my phone to check on social media. At this state, there is absolutely no motivation for me to put on my clothes and walk all the way to this container to use my phone. I won't even step out of the door!
No matter how comfortable the smoking cabin was designed to be, you can never beat the level of comfort and convenience at home.
On top of that, the prominent cabin can act as a reminder for smoker to smoke.
It doesn't matter if we didn't get it right the first time. It does matter that our government is aware of this issue and is acting on it. Jia you!