Lutz Meiser
(translation by Kimberly Rose)
Hot Air
R.J. Reynolds can't seem to understand why militant
non-smokers in the U.S. are taking a stand against
their newest cigarette, Hi Q. Is it militance as a
matter of principle?
Those who can't grasp that a cigarette like Hi Q meets
with moral objection understand the incessantly swelling
attack against smoking even less than they understand
the pleasure of smoking. How can anyone even think
that the development of Hi Q could revolutionize the
cigarette market? As if a stalk enhanced with nicotine
and an carbon-insulating mass which produces nothing
but hot air could really replace an object like the
cigarette. Neither smokers nor their enemies have fallen
for this one.
Reynolds has ill-advised consultants. Hasn't anyone
told this mega-corporation that the group of smokers
who do so out of nervous habit is rapidly dwindling
compared with those who smoke for the oral stimulation
of other erogenous zones.
The new cigarette has to be a flop.
And if the Reynolds press secretary complains about
militant non-smokers, she obviously doesn't understand
them either. The whole world is bewildered by the moral
objections directed toward smokers. Someone grabs a
cigarette in a street cafe, where the exhaust fumes
waft between the tables, and he's harassed. What exactly
is the militant non-smokers prerogative? This is the
million-dollar question.
But, as with every million-dollar question, there is
a hint: Could it be that militant non-smokers simply
can't handle looking on while someone else indulges
in their joy? For some, the hardest thing is to grant
others their simple pleasures. Maybe all this sheds
a different light on the puritanical tendencies that
are shaping the U.S. today.
In the U.S., the smokers who practice their perversion
(and smoking is one now) fit into the typical street
scene as poorly as the flasher or streaker.
What's going to happen to all those voyeurs who are
waiting to catch someone in the act of perversion?
If things continue as they are, they'll soon be out
of luck. They'll have to find a new victim. How about
all those unscrupulous people who sit in cafes and
indulge in watching passersby.