Tonight as I waited for my bus at the end of a long working day my eyes were drawn to a young lady drawing nervously and deeply on a cigarette. Nothing unusual about that I thought but then I started to think a little more deeply.

I recollected several in my family who died prematurely from these “cancer sticks” and of a former workmate who, when I arrived at work for a 6am start, I could hear 100 metres away coughing his lungs up after his early morning “fix”. Sad to say, these otherwise fine people had one thing in common when answering critics of smoking: the silly ability to say inane remarks like “well you have to die of something” or “well we could just as easily be hit by a bus”! These silly responses made with bravado soon faded as they faced their demise.

The last time I saw my old workmate was when I met him draped against a pole gasping for breath - he had just been to hospital to get his daily “charge” of oxygen. I asked him the same question as I had years before, “why Bill?” This time his slow, laboured reponse was more measured and less ridiculous: “…why didn’t you guys kick me more soundly up the ass at the time?” His challenge now was very half-hearted, Bill knew he had “dug his own hole” he also knew he was about to face it - he, since, has. What a waste!

With these thoughts in mind I looked again at the more immediate: this young lady at the bus stop; then I realised why I was so sad, for here on her tightly clasped packet of cigarettes was a huge sign decreed by Government edict “… smoking kills…”. Oblivious to the huge warning sign she sucked on the cigarette and blew the smoke for others to inhale - I loathe such inconsideration.

It goes deeper - all round us we have warning signs painted in huge letters: Global warming, loss of the ecosystem, ozone depletion, endangered species, social decay, starving families, etc but, like this young lass probably signing her own death warrant, how many really care? Who but a few will ever act? Who cares who else may suffer the consequences of our actions and inaction?

The ironic part of this whole saga is that this young lady will probably claim a hospital bed and extensive medical care which will be drawn from the coffers my tax will help fund. Worse, she will probably require care from strained medical services that other, probably more deserving people, will have to be denied as resources are rationed.

But blow your smoke, think only of self, to hell with the consequences. Too many are, typically, pathetic, unenlightened, selfish and largely uncaring - yet we call ourselves the “higher species!”

How big do we have to paint the warning signs?