• Originally published May 12, 2009 at 4:45 p.m., updated May 12, 2009 at 10:21 p.m.

Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette;

Puff, puff, puff, and if you smoke yourself to death,

tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate

that you hate to make him wait

but you just gotta have another cigarette.

- Merle Travis, Tex Williams

These days, I can't help feeling like a hypocrite because I'm so intolerant of smokers.

Heck, I smoked for 43 years, and I was always angered by those who would make negative comments about smoke bothering them, or secondhand smoke causing cancer.

The one that really ticked me off was the fake cough some would stage as a passive-aggressive way of telling me the smoke was bothering them.

I challenged the secondhand smoke haters to show me definitive proof from an unbiased scientific study that secondhand smoke harmed anybody. Today, more and more proof is being offered.

Three and a half years ago, I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and my heart doctor pointed straight at my hard-living ways, especially cigarettes, as the culprit in my illness.

I quit on the spot, and it wasn't fun withdrawing from them, believe me. But these days the monkey is off my back, and I never think about smokes, except when a smoker passes me and I smell the stuff.

Man, I'm so sensitive to it that I can smell it in a smoker's clothing, and I cringe, even when he or she isn't lit up. And someone can be puffing 50 feet away from me, but if I'm downwind and catch even a slight whiff, it irritates the devil out of me.

And that's why I feel like a hypocrite. Once upon a time, I openly condemned "reformed" smokers who started preaching to me just because they had quit. In fact, I told them there was nothing worse than those who quit and then looked down their nicotine-stained noses at me and my fellow smokers.

But here I am. I'm one of them now. Don't come in my house if you're smoking. And my car? Don't even think about lighting up in it.

So when I read that the Texas Legislature might pass a statewide ban on smoking in public places, I smiled. (The Senate version is strongest because it includes bars and restaurants.)

I do understand the concerns of business owners who don't want government invading their private property with this ban on smoking.

And I understand the smokers who say it's their rights that are being curtailed, and selected areas for smokers in bars and restaurants would solve the problem without these Draconian measures like a total ban.

Still, I am squarely in favor of the ban, especially if outdoor facilities are provided for smokers.

And I'm sorry I'm such a hypocrite.

Jim Bishop is a senior editor for the Advocate. Leave him a message at 361-574-1210 or jbishop@vicad.com or comment on this column at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com

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