Blowing smoke

Sunday was Jayne's family gathering. We all meet up a park, have lunch, socialize and leave.

This year's gathering was a Grose Park (bad name, good park) in Ottawa County. I had Jayne's mom drop me off in Muskegon at the terminus of the Musketawa Trail so I could take the bike trail to the park. Jayne's mom, Jayne and the kids went ahead to the park while I enjoyed a fantastic ride through rural western Michigan.

The trail is well maintained and even has a stop with vending machines. It was an old railroad line dating back to the 1890s and you can tell when you get around Ravenna. Stones still line the trail.

At the park

I arrived at the reunion just before lunch after about an hour and a half of riding (I'm slow, took pictures and looked over the wetlands). I ate quite a lot at the lunch (I was hungry) -- a rarity for me. I usually can't eat at these gathering because of cigarette smoke.

I grew up in a house of smokers and didn't realize how much tobacco smoke bothered me until I was out of college. Now, as soon as I catch a hint of the stink, my throat gets dry and a headache emerges fast and furious. It won't go away until I'm in clear air.

Well, at the reunion Sunday, the legion of smokers lit up right after the meal. I hurried through my food so I could go with the kids to the lake at the park where I assumed I'd have fresh air.

Above is a bad photo of the kids in Crockery Lake. It's Alyssa, her friend Oscar, Jayne's nephew Geoffrey and, far right, Elspeth.

Unfortunately, many people at the lake were smoking. I felt like I was walking into a bar it stank so bad. And these weren't old farts smoking. These were young people (20s and 30s) who should know better.

My head was killing me by the time I got out of the water. I found no respite at the pavillion where the smokers were clouding the air. So, I told the kids it was time to leave because I just couldn't take the smoke anymore.

Soap box

If I had my way, I'd ban smoking immediately. It's not that smoking is bad for you (your choice, not mine). It's that it harms other people by its very use.

You see, I don't care if you drink alcohol until your liver shrivels. I don't care if you inject heroin until your veins collapse. And I don't care if you take speed or acid until the walls bleed red, just as long as you don't hurt anyone else in the act itself. I know you hurt others after you take the drug -- the results of your irresponsibility you and all around you will have to deal with -- but those acts don't harm an innocent bystander while you're doing it.

A fine line, I know. I believe people have the right to abuse themselves, but not others. If you smack yourself in the head with a hammer, you ain't too bright and need mental help. If you smack someone else in the head with a hammer, you're going to jail.

Thought: I don't understand why people smoke. If you're over 50, I'll accept that the lifestyles of the past may have helped you make an unhealthy choice. But if you're my age or younger, I have no sympathy for you. Are you stupid?