"I can't breathe Mommy," gasped my six-year-old daughter as she held her hands securely over her nose and mouth. Immediately, I removed her hands, looked into her mouth, and listened to her breathing; she seemed to be just fine. Catching my own breath, I noticed a couple sitting on the bench to the left of us with their telltale signs of chain smoking scattered on the floor. It then became apparent why my little one "could not breathe."
             We had hoped to enjoy a nice Sunday afternoon together as we sat in Athens Square, a public park in my hometown – Astoria, NY. Who could imagine that someone or something would be able to prevent us from doing so? Observing the same couple, I noticed that they continued to smoke cigarette after cigarette, so I decided that perhaps it would be best if we picked up our belongings and moved elsewhere. This was not the first time that this has happened to us. Today, I felt that enough was enough, and I could tolerate no more. I gathered my courage, turned to the couple and asked, "Excuse me, would you mind smoking elsewhere, the smoke is really bothering my daughter?" The woman replied embarrassed, "Oh, certainly." The man by her side was a bit disgruntled, but also agreed to stop smoking.
             I do realize that my desire for smoking in the ambient to be banned is highly unlikely to happen, but what ever happened to common courtesy? I do not agree with the use of constitutional rights as an excuse to selfishly fulfill one's desires while compromising the quality of life of others. Think about it, why is smoking banned in private places such as restaurants where people have the choice of whether or not to dine there, but not in public places such as children's parks or the perimeters of schools? It sounds a bit odd to me.
             Not only is smoking polluting our air, but also our environment. There is not one block in this city that a person could walk down wit...