News Gripes: Saying No To Smoking, "Sexy" Girls, and Racism

The recent adjustment to the smoking ban is just another of the many reasons people can cite for why they love New York. In addition to being prohibited indoors, smoking is now also prohibited in pedestrian areas, parks, and public beaches and I can’t help but rejoice. As a non-smoker, there is nothing I hate more than having to walk through a cloud of smoke or the blowback from a smoker walking in front of me. I chose to say ‘No’ to cigarettes so there is no reason why I should have to inhale someone else’s poison. New York has been making strides with its battle against cigarettes for years and I distinctly remember a time, about a decade ago, when I was unable to leave an establishment without the stench of smoke clinging to my hair and permeating my clothing. Sweet relief was the result the first time I entered a nightclub and noticed the absence of smoke and I have since come to base my enjoyment of places on whether or not they allow smoking indoors. Now, with the new ban, I no longer have to fear the press of smoke clogging up my lungs while I picnic in the park, take in an outdoor concert or take advantage of the myriad of activities that the city sponsors year after year. So, bravo New York! My lungs thank you.

Here are a couple other interesting articles I came across recently but haven’t had time to share:

1.) While listening to The Breakfast Club this morning, I heard this story about a Canadian man who filed a false report claiming that two men, one Black and one Hispanic, robbed him of his tickets to Oprah’s farewell show. Apparently, he did not want to disappoint his wife but felt comfortable with the old standby of using "minorities" as scapegoats (remember this woman’s acid hoax?). It’s obvious that we still have a long way to go with race relations.

2.) Someone sent this opinion piece by CNN’s LZ Granderson to me over a month ago and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since. Fact is, as disturbing as it was to hear him describing an eight-year-old girl in such a manner, I don’t find fault with Granderson's opinion that some of the clothes made for young girls are way too provocative or that parents bear some of the responsibility in the way that they choose to spend their dollars. I have young girls in my family and have often wondered why certain skintight, midriff-baring, cut-outs outfits were designed for children. Cute as it may look on a grown woman, the last thing I want to do is send out the young girls in my family in anything that would attract unsavory attention. In the world that we live in, a healthy dose of paranoia is often necessary.