funny is not the right word, but i find it odd when i see young(er) people smoking. it, like racism and sexism, and conservativism, and fervent hold to religion, and denial of various scientific theories that are fairly basic at this point, smacks of something that is acceptable in old people much like it is acceptable for them to be cold and cranky and upset about everything. they could easily be none of those things but they are allowed to be, socially, and they seem to take advantage of that. but to see young people smoking just feels backwards.
at that concert i went to last month some girls next to me, maybe 16 (maybe?), smoked a few cigarettes during the course of the evening. not the coolest thing ever as we were indoors and this was not 20 years ago when that was the norm, but it was clear that they had taken up this habit as a way to rebel or be cool or look older. except of course they were none of those things; though i'll grant you that someone like me was not their intended audience. it just seems antiquated, is my point. they might as well have complained about maths being difficult and the perils of maintaining indentured servants.
i recall all too well when the only difference between the smoking and non-smoking sections of every building (if there even was a non-smoking section) was at most a heavily perforated partition. which is to say, that there was no non-smoking section. and so, sometimes when i think everything in the eco-socio-political realm is headed backwards, i wonder if the exile of smokers to the hinterlands of public space will be the last big progressive development i'll ever see.
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