P roper etiquette on the London Underground is to evade eye contact. Coming home from classes as a study abroad student, I would stare at my hands or the posters advertising films and art exhibits as we slowed to each station. Some interesting people, though, would catch my attention.
I’ll never forget the smoking banker. Being either a smoker or a banker would not make this man an anomaly in London, but his focus whilst rolling a cigarette for 20 minutes did. Shoulders hunched and eyes attentive, he would pinch a bit of tobacco from his pouch, place it carefully and then lick the paper lightly. The rolling was routine. His well-cut suit and facial wrinkles told me of his presumably stressful work.
I remember thinking how satisfying that cigarette would be as he finally lit up when he ascended back to the machine of urban life.
The smoking banker would not be welcome in Chapel Hill. People, students and community members alike would stare at him, judge him and potentially voice their negative opinions about him audibly. This is because Chapel Hill is a bubble, an ivory tower where openness and tolerance extend only far enough to accommodate the average non-smoking Chapel Hill resident.
The Orange County Smoke-Free Public Places Rule prohibits smoking in all government-maintained spaces including parks, bus stops and sidewalks in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
The county rule works in conjunction with the campus-wide UNC Smoke Free policy to eliminate almost any legality from smoking a cigarette. The map outlining smoke-free zones on the UNC Department of Environment, Health and Safety website is an absolute joke.
Nearly the entire campus is blue, protected by the smoke-free buffer .
The history of North Carolina is one of economic vitality through the production and sale of tobacco. Tobacco Road isn’t a cute or coincidental name — it’s a trademark of our state’s lucrative relationship with the tobacco industry .
A ban on smoking in Chapel Hill is an ironic denial of the very product that has continuously fostered economic strength and sovereignty in our state.
