Yesterday was very long and exhausting with all the preparations for my brother and sister’s arrival from USA. My mother was very excited and of course got us all working and preparing the meals and sweets that my brother is craving; he was away for almost two years after all.

He was supposed to arrive on Friday but his domestic flight into Chicago was delayed by an unexpected storm and it happens that on that particular day, RJ decided to be punctual and this led my brother and sister to miss their flight to Amman. To be precise; they have arrived before the take off but RJ staff would not allow them in and said that it was not their responsibility that they were delayed. Therefore; they had to stay in Chicago over night and catch the next flight to Amman.

Yesterday; RJ was delayed for an hour and a half in Chicago so we headed off to the airport to be there when they arrive. The flight arrived and we started watching passengers going out and meeting their waiting families with lots of hugs, smiles, laughs and tears. The terminal was literally full of people and 80% of them were smoking despite all the “No Smoking” signs and the fact that the airport is actually a “Smoke Free Zone”. It seemed that all smokers have a tendency to disobey and disrespect all the rules and laws when it comes to their cigarette cravings. They handle this issue as if the world and everyone in it owes them something and that they should be allowed to do whatever they wanted and get away with it.

When you have a couple of hundred people smoking in the same space; what do you think will happen? You got it; the fire alarm was set off and boy was it noisy!

It kept ringing for almost 10 minutes and I kept looking around and people were still smoking and lighting up new cigarettes and at the same time having a big frown on their faces exclaiming why this alarm would not stop ringing!!

This got me wondering; why do all smokers have this tendency to break the law? Why are they so careless about the wellbeing of others? Why do they put others in danger and act as if it is their right to do so? Why do they think that they can get away with it?

I will tell you why …

Because the “No Smoking” signs are just that; signs. They were put there to make us believe that we are doing something about the health risk that smoking causes, they are there to make us believe that we are acting to enhance our image since we are on top of the list of countries with alarmingly high rates of cancer, they are there to tell people who object to smoking and smokers that there is something being done, but the sad truth is that people are bragging about breaking this simple law; they smoke right under the sign and show it off.

It seems to me that signs stating certain laws in the country like “No Smoking”, “STOP”, “Give Priority” and the likes are just there to give us the illusion of being a civilized community, while in reality; all these signs mean absolutely nothing if not followed. If people are left to their own judgment; they will always be inclined to break the law if they know that they can get away with it.

My uncle lives in France. When my dad visited him once and he took him out for a ride, my dad noticed that my uncle was stopping at every “STOP” sign even if the street was completely empty and he could really get away with it, so dad asked him: why don’t you just keep going if the street is empty? My uncle answered: if I do not stop, I will be paying a huge fine and maybe persecuted, so it is better safe than sorry because you never know when there is a policeman standing around the corner!!

Why don’t we have the same level of law enforcement? Isn’t it better to have laws that are followed than having signs that are not respected and are disregarded at every chance people can get away with it? How can we create the urge to respect the law even if there is no one watching? I suggest that the government starts fining these law breakers every chance they get because only then, we can say that we are a community that respects the law and does not break it, because what are the chances that someone who breaks a small law would have a higher inclination to break much bigger and more important more critical laws?

Anyway; my brother and sister arrived safely but their luggage didn’t!!!

Let’s hope that RJ can locate them and bring them back!!!