Ladies And Gentlemen We Have A Winner!

Last night the number of Halloween "trick or treat" kids seemed to decline in my neighborhood again for some reason, despite abnormally warm weather. Our stairs are high, so I usually stand near the bottom of the steps and give out both candy and a toy to the kids. I've always loved toys myself, and giving kids a toy is an important thing for me.

But every year you see some adult who has no business being involved in the joyful, goofy and fun Halloween holiday spirit, meant mainly for the benefit of children. Last night's Halloween "grinch" was an especially trashy looking man who just had to smoke in presense of small children and in front of his wife dressed like an old time prisoner and his young daughter. Here you hve a guy who's such a pathetic nicotine drug addict that he absolutely cannot curb his serious drug addiction for an hour or two while his little girl collects a little candy from the kindness of neighbors.

In the grand scheme of things, anyone who smokes in the presense of small children is a major heal in my book. Instead of his wife wearing a prisoner uniform, maybe this guy deserved this shame as an incentive to show more respect for small children. The only thing worse I've seen recntly are those pushing a baby stroller and smoking which should deserve the concern's of a social worker in my view.

Many smokers are such a pathetic drug addict that they don't display very good sense about subjecting other unwilling persons to their secondhand smoke in very public places. It is little wonder that the Surgeon General finds the growth of childhood asthma a real epidemic in America. My own mother, who never smoked, was killed by the ravages of secondhand smoke from her former workplace this past week. So far, both Philip Morris and Reynolds American have spent over $10 million dollars to defeat a proposal to tax cigarettes in Oregon to help pay for children's health care and fund smoking prevention. Neither Philip Morris or Reynolds have sent me any sympathy card for killing my mother so far. And neither Philips Morris or Reynolds American have done anything to curb the injury and death caused to nonsmokers either.