So I’m sitting outside the HSS today in “Smoker’s Alley,” minding my own business, willingly exposing my lungs to carbon monoxide and carcinogens, and knowingly putting myself at risk for various types of cancer by lighting up a cigarette. 

Within the vast time frame of six or seven minutes it takes me to enjoy my smoke, I am approached by two different people: strangers I’ve never met or even seen before, who politely ask if they can “bum” a cigarette from my pack.

I think we can all agree that allowing smoking on campus is an excellent policy (okay, that was sarcasm, people!)  The real problem lies in the fact that we smokers cannot have a moment to ourselves to light up without being bothered by complete strangers who believe, that by some unwritten rule, they are allowed to ask random people for cigarettes if they notice they’re smoking. 

I mean, this is an issue of common decency.  You don’t see people scoping out the Sombrilla looking for people eating Chick-Fil-A to “borrow” a Chick’n nugget.  And yes, these cigarette scavengers do use the term “borrow.”  Can I have it back in the same condition?  No?  Then you didn’t “borrow” it; I gave it to you.

And don’t get me wrong; I have no problem bumming cigarettes to my friends or colleagues, especially if I know they’re smokers and have run out. 

But that doesn’t mean I should feel obligated to provide any random Joe UTSA-Student with a smoke when they’re having a nic-fit. 

Cigarettes are expensive, people!  The pack of American Spirits I was smoking today cost me almost eight dollars!  Taxes on tobacco have been on the rise, at both the state and national level, to support things from education to health care. 

So pay your taxes, and buy your own pack for Pete’s sake!

James De la Pena
Senior, Mathematics