This is completely off topic of our little farm, however, I need to express my disgust for people's ignorance.....
Last night we attended The Big Ex. We had a great time. My son is now old enough to have an interest in what we see and what rides to go on. Which brings me to the reason I am writing today........
I can't remember, but I am sure when I was a child there were dozens of people smoking everywhere at the EX. Smoking in public wasn't as unacceptable as it is today. But it has always been something that has bugged me as an adult since I have always been a non smoker. And, for some reason, I always manage to find a seat on the "grand stands" near someone who feels the need to "light up a smoke". Now that I have a child I am extremely angry at these rude, insensitive, ignorant people who don't take into account the others who are around them, including young children.
Last night, as we stood in the line up for the CAROUSEL, clearly a ride for young children, I noticed the couple in front of us with a teeny tiny little baby in a snuggly trying to avoid cigarette smoke. Some awesome individual (being sarcastic of course) decided to light up a cigarette in the line up for the carousel while he waited with his children who were probably around 5 to get on the ride. How ignorant, stupid and inconsiderate are these people! Well, it appeared to be a learned ignorance, since, even though we stepped back from him we were still in a cloud of cigarette smoke. Oh, yes, of course, here comes Gramma with a nice long, freshly lit smoke. There's laws against smoking too close to buildings, smoking in the car with your children but you think it's okay to smoke in the line up for a carousel?!! And they weren't the only idiots there, there were several. Later my husband and son went on the Bumble Bee ride, I got to watch my son's excitement from the fence. I was talking to a pregnant lady who was doing the same. Another "awesome" MOM came over, dug her pack of cigarettes out of her child's "Car's" back pack and lit one up, right beside the pregnant Mom. So, we had to find another place to stand, away from the poison she decided to share with us. Sadly finding another place to stand where someone wasn't smoking was difficult as this ride was a bit closer to the adult rides and the games. And, not to sound like a broken record, but when we went to the Carousel line up a second time, there was another MOM smoking by the fence, sharing the poison with us.....and every time my son and I came around on the Carousel, there she was and there was her cigarette smoke wafting towards all the little ones going around on the ride!
It is funny how it created a bond between us and the parents with the tiny little baby who were waiting for the carousel with us. She figured they should have enough sense not to smoke around her little one. I pointed out that they obviously don't care or they wouldn't smoke around their own little ones. If they didn't care about their own flesh and blood they are not going to put out that smoke for someone else's child. I don't know their names, they don't know ours but we chatted in every ride line up we were together in. And we didn't chat about the smokers, they didn't have that much control over us. :)
As we left the EX, I was concerned for the elderly gentleman they had watching the gate all by himself. It made me reflect on the evening and the choices I had made and why.......I dressed my son in a bright orange shirt so it would stand out if he got lost or someone grabbed him. If we weren't constantly telling our son to hold our hands I was walking next to him with my arm out around him like a Momma Hen, keeping him close. As if to say "he's mine, touch him, you get it". I was a bit neurotic when we got off the rides, keeping him close to me and steering him towards the exit gate. So, maybe to someone I looked like a bad Mom. But the numerous times my son told me he loved me during the night told me I was doing okay. We were having a great time. He didn't notice the cigarette smoke, he wasn't aware that someone may scoop him up and try to take him away. But these are the things I had to be aware of, all the time, while making sure he had a great time. Mission accomplished!
'til next time, Thanks for Listening!!!!
