Don’t forget the red sticker

by Michael Moore
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:02 PM MST

I’ll never forget a trip I made to the emergency room in the spring of 1990.

My asthma had flared up, which it always seemed to do that time of year. But this was by far the most frightening experience I had with asthma while growing up.

I hadn’t been feeling well, and my parents planned to take me to the doctor that day.

But that morning as I slept in my bed, my mom began shaking me, telling me to wake up. My lips were turning blue due to a lack of oxygen.

I was rushed to the ER, where I underwent a breathing treatment and prescribed steroids. I remember the doctor admonishing my parents, telling them sternly, “You need to stop smoking around him.”

My parents just nodded, but by the time we got back in the car, they were both grumbling about the doctor’s orders as they lit up cigarettes.

My mom looked over her shoulder at me in the backseat and said, “You’re just going to have to stay downstairs,” which meant if I wanted to get away from their smoke, I’d have to stay in the basement.

On the way home, we stopped at a local mom and pop restaurant, and I plopped down in the smoking section, with my parents and others puffing away all around me.

Even today, I often wonder what long-term effects all of that smoke may have on my health.

I realized pretty early that if the sight of their own child struggling for air couldn’t convince my parents to kick their addiction, nothing would.

But I realize now that a no-smoking law n or at very least, restaurants that voluntarily went smoke-free n could have saved me a lot of agony as a child, who struggled to breathe.

Well-Being of Wyoming is handing out red and green stickers and encouraging people to let restaurants know how they feel about smoking. Give a restaurant a green sticker if it’s smoke-free.

A red sticker says they should consider making that change, and that you’ll come back more often once smoking is no longer allowed.

A wise man recently told me that a good law is one that protects us from our government, another government or other people. I can’t help but think that a ban on smoking in restaurants would protect a lot of people n children, employees and others.

In the meantime, more restaurants should make the switch and go smoke-free. Most smokers I know are courteous people; they realize their smoking affects others, and they prefer to go outside to smoke.

Right now, there are 35 restaurants and bars in Natrona County that permit smoking. If you’re hoping to make a change, don’t forget the red sticker the next time you dine at one of those establishments.

To request the red and green stickers, call Well-Being of Wyoming at 472-5991.

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