Post by Radrook Admin on Jul 6, 2024 9:59:21 GMT -5
My experience with cigarette smoke
It is truly amazing how humans can feel that it is their right to force other humans to breathe whatever they are choosing to breathe, isn't it? I was once the same. As a teenager I used to smoke like a chimney because I thought it was cool and gave absolutely no thought about how anyone nearby felt about it. Yes, I had immediately noticed that my stamina as a bodybuilder was being reduced, however, I thought it was a merely a temporary effect. So I didn't feel that I the second-hand smoke was harming anyone. This smoking continued until approx. the age of 19 when I stopped due to becoming a Christian.
But a few years later, when my religious fervor had finally worn off, and I attempted to resume, I suddenly developed a severe intolerance to the smoke which provoked a constant coughing. Of course, that made me want to avoid it at all costs. But unfortunately, at that time, smoking was allowed everywhere, such as in airplanes, elevators, classrooms, and even worse, at places of employment. So that severely limited where I could work.
However, since I needed the money, as a telemarketer, I stubbornly tried forcing myself to tolerate the smoke. Constantly coughing and gasping for air, I persisted until my vocal chords swelled and I lost my voice. Yes, I had repeatedly requested a separate smoke-free room where I could work as a telemarketer in peace, but was callously denied. The manager considered me a finicky troublemaker, and I was finally forced to leave.
However, it wasn't merely a job I had lost. You see, my voice had been permanently ruined by that foolishly stubborn effort, severely limiting notes my singing range. I found that I had developed asthma from all the damage that the smoke had gradually inflicted on what had once been my perfectly normal lungs.
I suddenly found that out during Kung Fu classes, when I found myself constantly out of breath during the entire two and a half hours of rigorous Kung Fu training, while everyone else there, including some senior citizens, were easily fully recovering from the effort.
Well, fortunately, now at least there are laws that restrict where people can smoke and exposure to it can be far more easily avoided. .