alexist

I was just reading today's Independent and came to the agony aunt column. It was about a woman who had been told by prospective hosts that their household was non-smoking and mobile-phone free. The columnist said that a guest would ask if smoking was OK, and "a polite host would say smoking is fine". WHAT!?! It's impolite to ask guests not to smoke? I'm sorry, but if it's your house you have every right to insist that guests not smoke--it's an activity that affects you and your house. I don't want to breathe it and I don't want my clothes and furniture to smell of it--and I don't think it's at all rude to ask guests to comply with house rules within reason.

ETA: My mother quit smoking in 1986 and is now so fanatically non-smoking that my father is not permitted to smoke indoors. He and my sisters (all addicts) have to go on the balcony regardless of the weather.

Ironically, it was my parents' smoking that turned me into a raging nonsmoker: my childhood memories involve me coughing from the smoke fug.