‘n Voormalige swaargewig boks kampioen is doodgeskiet toe hy ‘n paar mense in ‘n nagklub gevra het om op te hou rook.

Dit is natuurlik ‘n onnodige en hartseer voorval. Ek het net so paar gedagtes. Wie vra vir iemand in ‘n nagklub om op te hou rook? Ek was redelik lanklaas in ‘n nagklub maar is hulle nie gewoonlik so blou gerook soos ‘n ou Dracula movie nie? Het dinge in nagklubs soveel verander dat vier ouens wat rook ‘n verskil aan die lug kwaliteit kan maak?

Ek dink die eintlike sondebokke hier is die anti-rook brigade wat mense nou al so kak bang vir tweedehandse rook gemaak het dat hulle glo hulle waag hulle lewens as hulle nie iets sê nie.

Dit is ‘n feit dat die gevare van rook, en veral tweedehandse rook ernstig oordryf word.

A 39 year study involving 118,094 adults, with focus on 35,561 who had never smoked and had a spouse in the study who did, came to the conclusion that there is no causal relation between ETS and tobacco related mortality. When this was published in 2003 people went absolutely out of their brains. Several other studies come up with similar results, the New England Journal of medicine in 1975 (yeah, this was a while ago so treat with caution) found that in a bar with heavy smoke, you would inhale approximately 0.004 cigarettes per hour. In other words if you were in there for ten days straight without leaving, you’d have pretty much had one smoke.

Rook stink fokken verskriklik, so om in ‘n ongeventileerde plek te rook is, soos baie mense opmerk, soos om in ander mense se gesigte te poep. En as jy in my gesig poep gaan ek jou bliksem. Dit kom vir my meer op goeie maniere neer as ‘n kwessie van gesondheid.

Dit laat my dink aan die poephol wat by ‘n tafel langs my in ‘n restaurant sit en kliphard op sy selfoon vir die ander ou vertel van sy besigheid. Dan gil hy al die woorde wat hy wil hê die ander mense moet hoor: “Ja, so I told him, I’ll FIRE you. I haven’t BUILT MY COMPANY UP FROM NOTHING, to let you steal from me. So next time I GO ON VACATION IN EUROPE, I’ll get a security company to check up on you.”

Ek kan nie op my koerant konsentreer nie, en hy maak my hele eet ervaring kakkerig. Hy kon net sowel gerook het, dit sou makliker wees om hom te vra om op te hou. As ek hom vra om op te hou om ‘n doos te wees sal ek soos die doos lyk.