You know what’s a fun game sometimes? Point/counterpoint! But because nobody likes to talk to me, I never have anyone to argue with. So today, point/counterpoint will be performed with Patrick McNally, who wrote a nice little commentary piece entitled, “Thank you for not smoking” on Philly.com yesterday. The only catch is, Patrick has no idea he’s involved. In blockquotes are Patrick’s words from his article, afterward is my rebuttal.
Citizens Bank Park is a great place to watch a ballgame. With its terrific sightlines and outstanding amenities, the ballpark and its employees try to please everyone.
Hell yeah! I totally agree!
Well, almost everyone. During my most recent visit to the park, buoyed by an eight-run Phillies lead and the understanding that no beer would be served after the seventh inning, my companions decided to leave their seats to take advantage of last call and smoke a cigarette. Not wanting to sit alone, I followed along. Having once been a smoker, I sympathize with the urge to light up, even though I know it’s a dangerous habit.
It certainly is a dangerous habit, Patrick. Part of me wishes I never started when I was still an ignorant young’n unwise to the harmfuls ways of cigarette smoke. BUT, on the other hand, when you need a 5 minute break from work, or want to unwind after a nice meal, or need the perfect compliment to a beer in your left hand, I say there is nothing better than a nice fresh menthol cigarette. Jesus, I’m starting to cough just thinking about it.
Now what were you saying again?
Smoking inside public buildings is now illegal, even in an open-air structure such as “The Bank.” So we all walked down to the smoking corral. I call it a corral because it sounds nicer than prison yard, which is about as accurate.
The people held within the area’s makeshift fencing mill about aimlessly, watching the cloud of smoke rise above them and the world revolve around them. The segregated little section is just beyond the entrance to Harry the K’s restaurant, which seemed noteworthy given the late Mr. Kalas’ fondness for cigarettes and cigars. Patrons hustling for the exits barely noticed the group of about 50 puffing away.
What the fuck Patrick, you make us sound like zombies. True, there are a lot of people in the smoking areas, but we just want a quick nicotine fix in-between innings.
We don’t just stand there watching clouds of smoke, you asshole!
And they put us in these little “prison yards” because people like you are complaining pussies. Next time your friends want to catch a cigarette, stay seated in your comfortable fresh-air seat where our plume of smoke doesn’t reach your precious air-ways.
“They cannot be serious,” I said to my friends from the relative comfort outside the fencing. They just lit up and shrugged. They have become resigned to this sort of treatment, which is now the lot of the American smoker. Their fate was sealed not in a quick way, but as a byproduct of the slow, deliberate process that vilified the tobacco industry.
No one is denying that the vilification is well-earned. This is, after all, the industry that once countered the surgeon general’s warning with the testimonials of smoking doctors. Then the companies equated smoking with fun, hooking a new generation of smokers. Their advertisements touted low-tar products but failed to mention the added addictive nicotine.
You dumb fuck, nobody starts smoking because of a talking camel. They start smoking because it makes them light-headed. Eventually, that light-headedness wears off and you’re stuck with a nasty cigarette habit. And now we are relegated to city sidewalks, back yards, and “prison yards” at The Bank. WE should be the ones complaining. But nooooo, Mr. McNally is afraid of someone else’s smoke getting caught in his lungs and developing into cancer. Boo-hoo.
It’s easy to argue that the tobacco companies got what they deserved. But what about smokers? Have they gotten what they deserve? Or has a campaign to improve America’s health made them an unfairly despised minority?
Yeah, that’s what I was just talking about.
The campaign against tobacco and smoking ultimately grew to encompass secondhand smoke. But a case could be made that, particularly in an open-air stadium – or the New Jersey beaches that are starting to prohibit smoking – this is really about annoyance more than health. Indoor smoking sections disappeared long ago, as have ashtrays from many nightclubs and bars. Now smokers are being huddled into specific areas outside office buildings or within stadiums, like cultural pariahs.
Oh, so let’s just start banning everything that annoys us! Ummm, kids (besides my own, of course) annoy the shit out of me during a baseball game. Let’s round ‘em all up and toss ‘em in that Phantic Play Zone! Listening to their fucking screams for four innings might cause some discomfort in my eardrum which could eventually lead to loss of hearing!
You know what else annoys me? Shitty editorial columns in my local newspaper. Ban ‘em!
It is important to note that smoking is still legal. Are smokers weak because they haven’t been able to quit? It doesn’t really matter, because they aren’t doing anything wrong.
Cigarettes are dangerous, but the same could be said of the hot dogs, pretzels, and beer sold in the ballpark. Yet I was able to buy them and walk back to my seat to enjoy my doughy, salty, fatty, alcoholic treats.
If we really care about health risks, why don’t we demand a blood-pressure test before serving salty foods, or count beers before allowing people to toddle along to their cars? The obvious dangers of drinking weren’t policed well enough to stop the killing of a young man in the stadium parking lot earlier this summer, apparently over a spilled beer.
The game ended and the cigarettes were snuffed out. As I walked away, I noticed the blue cloud of smoke drifting into the stadium. Would it have annoyed me as much as the guy screaming at the leftfielder or the couple debating which beer to order while obstructing my view? I doubt it.
KILL YOURSELF!!!
47 Responses to “Point/Counterpoint: Should Smoking Be Allowed In CBP?”
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you have too much ::clap clap:: time on you’re hands
fuck me i used the wrong your
I think I caught second hand retardation from that article
so wait…
are we mad at or accepting of this dude’s article? he doesn’t smoke, but is he not showing sympathy for your tiny “prison yard”-style smoking areas? and isn’t he scoffing the contradiction of prohibiting smoking in your seat but being allowed to kill yourself by way off fatty nasty food sold in the stadium? i thought he was pro-smokers, but maybe i’m reading it wrong…
Hmmmm…Uh, Meech, correct me if I’m wrong (hell, people on this site correct me when I’m right) but wasn’t this Patrick guy leaning to your(my) side of the yard on this public smoking thing? Maybe I missed a few key points, but the last two blurbs that you cited appeared to illustrate his defense of smoking at the Bank.
To be honest, I wonder how non-smokers can deal with it at all. I mean, I’m not really a smoker anymore, but occasionally I’ll rip through a five or six sticks during a night at the bars, then bristle when a couple days later when I get caught driving behind someone on the road blazing away…like, how dare they fuck up my morning air, that shit smells terrible…then I guiltily think back to my smoking a few nights earlier.
But, anyway, yeah, he didn’t seem so down on the smokers.
Holy crap, that was one of the most poorly written columns I’ve ever read. I’m struggling to even figure out if the dude had an opinion or was just making a series of observations.
Still, people who smoke are assholes and should be enclosed in tiny plexiglass cages at airports and baseball stadiums.
good, i was right.
I don’t know what the fuck he was trying to say, but he called me weak so I defended myself with the written word.
Smoking can kill you. My father died as direct result of smoking. He was crossing the street to buy a pack of cigarettes and he was hit by a bus.
Thanks. I’ll be here all week.
(Opinionwise, I don’t give a shit what you do. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink and I don’t eat hot dogs. People who do those things can do what they want. I really don’t care. BUT, don’t you DARE put your OWN NAME on the back of a Phillies jersey!)
Preach meech.
WHY cant we smoke on the 675,000 miles of open-air ramp/catwalk/asshole avenue that takes PAYING fans of the Phillies 10 minutes to go down just to be corralled into a pen like filthy farm animals.
I am sure you know if you have ever sat in the upper level how long it actually takes to get down to get a fix. Unbelievable. On a hot day no one would even be able to smell cigarette smoke over the rotten breath, B.O. and rank farts of the sub-human beasts that tend to surround you and your seats.
P.S. The guy that wrote** this article has hemorrhoids.
**”eating a bag of beginners magnetic poetry and shitting an aborted column then publishing it”)
What is Scott Eyre doing with a cigarette during the National Anthem. Or meech, is it a “spoon”?
in honor of harry
I’m not a fan of smoking, but seeing multiple people with lungs taken out might do that to you. Not to lecture, it’s just scarey seeing that and thinking about you don’t want that to happen to you, you associate things like that to behaviours that lead to it. If I saw people die in accidents with that repetition, I’d probably never get into a car. With that said, I don’t think the way they have it set up at the stadium really works for most people, since the play pen style smoking areas are right at the exit-where nearly everyone uses to leave, and thus get second hand smoke. I think they should allow that bridge over Ashburn Alley to be a smoking area, or the bar area in the bleachers above Ashburn Alley. Those are the ost open areas, and won’t affect the passerbys as much.
I dont have an issue with people wanting to kill themselves…smoke away. Just keep it out of my air so I dont smell like ash tray, and dispose of your butts accordingly. Next smoker pig who hits my car with a thrown butt out their window is going to get run off the road.
Fightins-I hate that too. It’s horrible. I have actually picked up a butt and thrown it back at a car when I was cycling-but I don’t think they noticed.
But a little reefer’s ok, right?
im really impartial about smoking. i dont dabble in cigarettes, but i enjoy cigars. As respectful as you try and be.. there will always be someone that overreacts. like anything, smoking is only a joy in moderation.. like cheeseburgers, doritos and freshmen.
Like others, im not even sure what this article is trying to say. Theres nothing worse than an amature writer trying to dazzle the public with a confusing piece like this. Eh, I supose there are worse things.. like tropical storms the weekend of a big series.
hurricane isabell was my favorite tropical storm/baseball memory. thome thoome thoome
@Jdash
This doesn’t really have anything to do with this but i did smoke a joint(dubee) in the left field upper deck at camden yards when i was down there for a baseball tournament when i was 15. made me feel kinda like a badass at the time.
I lol at the smokers… poor saps who dont have the energy or determination to quit…
I smile when i see them in the airports stuck in that “smokers room”… its like cattle ready to get prodded….
Thank you god for a smoke free bar as well..
now back to my beer.
youve got some reading comprehension issues. he’s saying that they probably get unfair treatment in public places like that.
‘Would it have annoyed me as much as the guy screaming at the leftfielder or the couple debating which beer to order while obstructing my view? I doubt it.’
i mean, if that doesn’t sum up his editorial, i dont know what does. hes saying there are worse things going on in the ballpark (see: people getting killed for no reason by some drunks)
i mean, wow.
This is the first Fightins piece to leave me puzzled and unamused. What do you want Meech? Smoking is banned in public arenas not because it’s annoying (which it is), but because second hand smoke is a proven health risk to patrons and employees. It’s banned for the same reason drunk driving is banned–personal freedoms end when they put others at risk.
Anyway, enough serious crap. I mostly like the smoking pens because passing by allows me 10 seconds of smug satisfaction ridiculing the addicts within. There is no greater high for liberals than smug satisfaction. Except weed.
Worst example of “Point/Counterpoint” ever.
Quite frankly, I think smokers get what they deserve. I grew up in a house full of chain smokers and escaping the smoke was one of the most liberating experiences of going to college.
Admittedly, this is one of the most rushed, dumbest things that has ever been published on this site.
Thankfully, this is a blog and in about 2 days it will be buried somewhere in the archives never to be read again.
yeah seriously meech, i mean its been at least 20 minutes since i posted a wheeler recap and its been buried by a smoking debate i mean come on……
/just trying to have wheeler mention me or the wheels twitter guy on air. just to have him acknowledge getting made fun of would make my life
I though it was pro-smoker too. And even though I am no (cigarette) smoker myself, I love anything that will shorten the lifespan of human beings, beyond blatant murder of course. That’s why I eat meat-lovers pizza like it’s my job.
It takes a big man to admit when he screwed up, Meech. Too bad the site didn’t crash today so this would be lost forever
Smoking’s bad for you? Does the pope shit in the woods?
I enjoy smoking in the designated area by the Phanatic Phun Zone. Its pretty damn funny that CBP would rather me waft second hand smoke up into where the youth fans play rather than smoke out by Bull’ss BBQ, where there’s already a shit ton of smoke anyway
@Fightins Newbie
I am emptying my ash tray on your car as soon as I find you. Hopefully you have a sun roof
Smoking fucking blows. The smoke smells terrible, it gets in your lungs and makes you unhealthy.
If you’re gonna smoke, at least smoke pot. I can accept that — not cigarettes.
Name one good thing about cigarettes, whether you are a smoker or non-smoker. Oh, wait. You can’t.
Fuck cigs.
why is scotty eyre smoking during the national anthem?
All the Phils passed a ciggy around and took a drag, in honor of HK (This picture is from April).
oh. well now i feel dumb.
Meech…I think the editorialist would agree with you. Try reading the entire article next time. thx.
@Danny, If you ask me nothing is hotter than the smell of a little bit of cigarette mixed with perfume on a sexy lady. Boner time!
Meech is feeling my secondhand Libertarianism/contrarianism.
Maybe the smoke will get rid of some of these fat fucking behemoths taking up a seat and a half and these octogenarian fucks walking too slow throughout the park.
HDYSR is easily the worst contributor to this blog. Meech certainly sounded a lot like him with this one.
@eff the mets
Please sir, stop flattering me, you’re making me blush.
i knew this guy, a cop in philly, in incredible shape physically, who died in his patrol car from a massive heart attack due to his smoking habits.
smoking sucks. no excuses. it’ll fuck you, but more importantly it’ll fuck over your family when you go. his daughters still haven’t recovered.
There is nothing worse in this world than a JNS (Judgmental Non-Smoker) and frankly the ballpark is chock full of those fucks. I KNOW that cigarettes are deadly. I KNOW that I’m paying near 6 bucks a pack to drastically lower my quality of life. And I KNOW that people don’t like to breathe that shit in. I get that, but please, stop treating us like we are fucking animals because we smoke. When I’m in that goddamn chicken coop smoker’s section at a Phillies game I feel sub-human.
I love that most bars are now smoke free. I hate going out and smelling like crap. And then you wake up and smell your clothes the next day… ahhhhhh. Seriously. Just freakin quit already. I’d rather see people dip.
toolbox murderer, you make a point, but your name scares me
at least we can all agree that there should be a weed-smoking section, too. It’s discriminatory not to have one.
Enough has been said about the comprehension. Worst article ever.
fuckthemets, by the way things are going.. weed will be legal in 4 years and cigarettes will be illegal.
@muscles If you do ever find me to dump your overflowing ashtray on my car, I am willing to wager you have no muscles, and fit the smoker pig label.