Hey cabbie! Quit killing yourself, myself, and my faith in society!

As I got in a cab today after work at a garden, I noticed a sign in front of my seat that said "please don't smoke." That's normal.

In the front seat, I noticed that the driver with an ignited cigarette in between his lips. Also a normal occurence.

After spending a month and a half in Israel, you start to get used to the fact that people of all ages smoke all the time, but given his sign that requests that passengers not smoke, I thought it would be appropriate if the driver would follow his own rule.

If I did smoke, I would light one up in the back seat and see if he noticed. Actually, what I would have done was ask him if he had a light. But, since I don't smoke, there was one possible solution to this situation, requesting that he extinguish his cigarette.

After I voice my request, he tries to explain to me how the open windows in the front seat mean that none of the smoke, or carcinogens from his cigarette found their way into my lungs. However, the smell of the car didn't support his claim. I insist that he put out his cigarette, which he tosses out the window. There was a cold silence the rest of the ride (Was is something I said?).

Now, I could have asked him to put out his cigarette simply because I didn't want the the smoke getting into my lungs (That was part of it). Now, I could have told him to put out his cigarette simply becuase he is killing himself (That was part of it, too). But mostly, I did it because of the hypocrisy of the situation.

What will cause more damage to me in the long run? The smoke. What will ruin my faith in society and make me wonder why there are rules at all? The hypocrisy of the situation.

If I could take a line from Mitch Weaver in Bob Saget's classic film Dirty Work (slightly differennt context but the message is clear):

Do you know what hurts the most? It's the lack of respect. That's what hurts the most. Actually, it hurts the most. It's the lack of respect that hurts the second most.