I stepped out onto the balcony for a cigarette,

ashing in my cute little heart-shaped glass bowl which I've reserved for the purposes of collecting cigarette-related refuse. As I see my neighbor in passing for the third time on this lovely relaxed day I've enjoyed at home, I smile and offering a greeting.

"Hello," I suggest.

"You need to stop that! It's not good for you,"

he snaps in response. This kind of reaction to a person who smokes is more than just a rude remark. It asserts that the speaker thinks lowly of the other for making a personal choice to enjoy a cigarette of which everyone is sharply aware is damaging.

Why is it okay to treat a person who smokes cigarettes as a lowly person?

Why is it okay for this complete stranger to pass judgement over my entire life and the choices which have led me to where I now stand, cigarette in hand?

Society, in it's pursuit of health-conscious lifestyles, has mistakenly cloistered persons who choose to smoke cigarettes into a negative light. Society will tell you that "cigarette smokers" are delinquent degenerates who place no value in life.

But are we truly so different from anybody else?

Does my cigarette make me a bad person? Or is it my choice to smoke it, knowingly exposing my body to dangerous chemicals? Does the cigarette automatically render my generous nature, positivism, goals, and contributions to society completely worthless?

Deciding to enjoy a cigarette at this time in my life, before I embark on a path that removes this activity from my lifestyle entirely does not change me as a person, and it does not change my effect on others. It is up to each individual to react to me in the way that they feel most comfortable with, and

I have today learned that my neighbor is an actual bigot.