Freedom

A long time ago in a country far far away (Brazil) I was in a bus on a rainy summer afternoon. It wasn't rush hour so it wasn't completely packed, but it was slowly getting there. I managed to find a seat, settled down and opened a book, pretending to be busy while waiting for my stop to come.

It was hot and humid inside that bus and I was starting to get a little uncomfortable. That's when it happened. There was this girl seated about 10 feet away, but in a seat that faced me. As I said previously, the bus wasn't completely packed yet so we had a clear vision of each other. Our eyes met and it was one of the worst sensations in my life. She was the ugliest girl I'd ever seen in my life and I couldn't stop looking at her!

After a few minutes, I was sick and felt like throwing up. Seriously, it was the worst case of motion sickness I would ever experience in life (well, up to this point, at least). In an herculean effort, I managed to get off the bus (three stops before mine!) before throwing up on the sidewalk.

I'm not sure what exactly caused that, but I have a pretty strong suspicion that that girl's ugliness had a lot to do with it. In the same way somebody smoking a cigar by my side would bother me a lot, that girl bothered me so much that I had to get off that fucking bus three stops before mine and puked on the sidewalk.

Which takes me to the following question: why is it that, in the US of A, authorities make laws against smokers but don't make any against ugly people? And what about fat people? And smelly people? Have you ever, like I have, been so bothered by an ugly person to the point of throwing up? Have you ever, like I have, been on a plane and the person next to you was so fat that you were uncomfortable for the whole nine fucking hours? Have you ever, like I have, been in a movie theater and the person next to you smelled so bad that you had to watch the next session because the room was packed?

Don't get me wrong here. First, I'm not a smoker and second, I'm not suggesting there should be a law against ugly, fat or smelly people in public spaces. What I'm saying is that this persecution of smokers is ridiculous and unfair. I even understand the smoking ban in restaurants, but in bars? Bars, for God's sake? What's next, are they gonna outlaw nudity in strip clubs?

That's it, if banning smoking in bars is reasonable, banning nudity in strip clubs is also reasonable. They said they banned smoking in bars to protect the health of bartenders, waiters and waitresses. What about the rights of a strip club's staff member who's offended by nudity? Who protects those people?