Glendale News Press, CA
June 7 2008
Culture of smoking should be left behind
By Robert Phipps
Published: Last Updated Friday, June 6, 2008 11:21 PM PDT
The Glendale City Council is reportedly considering passing an
ordinance regulating smoking in Glendale’s outdoor public areas,
similar to those recently passed in Burbank and other California
cities.
Will it pass? Well, Armenians have told me it doesn’t have a chance.
They say Armenians make up much of Glendale’s population, and smoking
is a part of their culture, and there’s no way they’ll let it pass.
All countries have cultures, and the United States is no exception.
A big part of the United States culture is this: We want everyone. We
are an amalgam of cultures. We want people from every country. In
fact, everyone in the United States is ultimately from another
country. Native Americans are in reality the `first’ Americans, whose
nomadic ancestors came across the Bering land bridge from Asia ages
ago. But, in order for everyone to coexist, we need immigrating people
to bring only the best parts of their cultures. We want their skills,
talents, knowledge. We value their dress-styles, music, dance, art. We
want their food, architecture, inventions. We want their language,
literature, religions, history. We value and welcome the good things
and good people from everywhere.
But there are parts of every culture the people must leave behind when
they come.
As part of our collective culture, we try to learn from our
mistakes. In the United States, we no longer tolerate people harming
or ill-using others without legal justification. In this culture, it
is not acceptable for a man to beat his wife or prevent her from
talking, either by voice or ballot.
Newcomers may not sexually harass women in the workplace or force
children to labor. In this culture, people may not sell their organs
or their children.
People are not allowed to import certain entertainments from their
countries, such as bull fighting, cock fighting and dog fighting. It
is not OK for people to enter and continue their custom of eating dogs
and cats. The list goes on.
The United States culture of today is very concerned with health. We
have learned throughout the years of the damage smoking causes to
ourselves and our loved ones, and we no longer want smokers to annoy,
irritate and endanger nonsmokers – even outdoors.
When we invite friends into our homes, we gladly welcome their entry,
but expect them to wipe their feet at the door. And if people come to
America from a country that still condones smoking among the
nonsmoking public – indoors or outdoors – then they must understand
that that behavior is no longer a part of our culture, and consider
its forbearance a small price to pay for all the great benefits they
will receive when they walk through our door.
So, the question remains: Will Glendale pass an outdoor smoking
regulation? Well, I guess we’ll have to see what kind of culture – in
terms of health and smoking – the City Council thinks Glendale should
have.
?ROBERT PHIPPS is a Burbank resident.