Timeless

Guess the author:

Incidentally, I must say I can bear witness to this queer taboo about tobacco. Of course numberless Americans smoke ... But there does exist an extraordinary idea that ethics are involved in some way; and many who smoke really disapprove of smoking. I remember once receiving two American interviewers on the same afternoon; there was a box of cigars in front of me and I offered one to each in turn. Their reaction (as they would probably call it) was very curious to watch. The first journalist stiffened suddenly and silently and declined in a very cold voice. He could not have conveyed more plainly that I had attempted to corrupt an honorable man with a foul and infamous indulgence; as if I were the Old Man of the Mountain offering him hashish that would turn him into an assassin. The second reaction was even more remarkable. The second journalist first looked doubtful; then looked sly; then seemed to glance about him nervously, as if wondering whether we were alone, and then said with a sort of crestfallen and covert smile: `Well, Mr. C-, I'm afraid I have the habit.'

It never ceases to amaze me that the only sin left in America is smoking. The only act that can truly be condemned, for which even those who do constantly feel guilt is smoking. My roommate was watching the 1950 classic, All About Eve, and at times it looked like a three-alarm fire, there was so much ash and smoke flying. Now, you can't even smoke in a bar in California. Yeah, that's not exactly news, but it never ceases to amaze me. Better yet are smoking areas in airports...I don't know if you've seen them, but it has to be a stressful experience for any smoker, shut off in a glass cage, with the masses walking by, glaring disapprovingly.

Regardless, the author is, surprise surprise, G.K. Chesterton and the year is nearly a century past. How can an author be so timeless about such a trivial issue? Gotta love the guy.