Smoking Kills More Than Smokers

the problem:

Many of my friends hate this town. They want to get out of here and never come back after graduation. Although there are many opportunities for me away from here, I would be a fool to say that I wouldn't miss this place. I have lived here all of my life, and the biggest joy of it all is having Victor and Kaye live next door to me for the whole seventeen years. They've have been the grandparents I never had. Kaye loved to take me shopping just to spoil me, and Victor helped me build the treehouse I had always wanted. They have always been there for me. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever.
When Kaye was growing up, the society didn't realize the damage cigarettes could do to a person's health. Needless to say, Kaye became addicted to smoking at a young age and hasn't been able to survive one day without a pack. Although Victor has never smoked before, he's inhaled it for the forty years of their marriage and is now dying from lung cancer. Kaye has this guilty conscience following her, telling her that should be dying of cancer and not her loved one.
I went to check up on Victor and Kaye to see how they were doing about two weeks after Victor had stopped his chemotherapy. As soon as Kaye pushed open the front door, the nicotine came pouring out of the house and into the fresh air. I felt queasy just standing outside. I quickly inhaled for my last breath of fresh air, hoping it would last me thirty more minutes. Every ten seconds, Kaye would take a break from our conversation to take a puff. I couldn't help but feel as though she was imposing on my life and taking away my freedom. It was my choice to not smoke, but I was inhaling just as much smoke as she was. How is it right for me to have the same risks as smokers do just because of their choice?
My head began pounding from the odor. I told Kaye I had homework to finish and I needed to get home. How horrible of a person would I have been if I told her I was tired of being locked up in her smoking chamber? While walking home, I called my boyfriend to see if he wanted to go out. He met me at my house thirty minutes later dressed nicely, while I was still wearing the same clothes from earlier that day. When I hopped into his truck, he gave me a funny look. "Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked. He said, "You smell like you've been smoking. Is there something you want to tell me?" At that point, my face turned bright red. I was embarrassed and mad at the same time. Not only had Kaye been inconsiderate to think about how I felt about her deadly smoke being blown in my face, but she was also didn't think about how the toxin would follow me around for the remainder of the day.
I love Kaye as if she were family. However, I think it is unfair for smokers like her to bring their habits around nonsmokers like me. I don't expect Kaye to air out her house and put out her cigarette just because she hears her doorbell ring. It's her own house and she should be allowed to do what she wants there. But when there is smoking at every public place, it is very likely that the cigarette is affecting more than just her. She is putting other people's health in danger, taking away their freedom, and being inconsiderate. No matter how much I wish Kaye wouldn't smoke, there is nothing I can do to stop her. I can't save her life, but I can save my own. So how am I supposed to do something about this? Well, all there really is to do is speak out and aware people of what is happening to the person I love and hope that everyone spreads the word.

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