About 30 years ago when my wife's asthma was at its worst and her pulmonologist was working hard to stabilize her, he, the doctor, suggested she visit a hospital in Denver that specialized in respiratory problems like hers. I took an extended vacation from work, and we drove from Oklahoma to Denver. On the way we stopped at a restaurant to eat.
Smoking was still allowed in restaurants at the time, but they were required to have separate areas for non-smokers. We sat at a table and ordered our food. While we were waiting a group of about 20 young soldiers [U.S. Army] came in and they moved several tables together to form a long single table all the way on the other side of the large room in the part where smoking allowed so they could sit together.
I said something to our waitress about my wife's susceptibility and was advised in turn that the restaurant was in fully compliance with the new smoking ordinances in place even though there were no wall or barriers of any kind between us and the smokers.
Before our food arrived most of the young men lit up their cigarettes and very shortly my wife went into a severe asthma attack cause by the smoke.
Instead of enjoying our meal I rushed her to the local hospital. It was near-by, so they were able to bring her out of it OK. Perhaps we would have done better by staying home where no one was allowed to smoke in our home?
These days I guess you cannot smoke at all in public restaurants. However, with COVID-19 being what it is or is not, my wife is still allergic to almost anything in the air and her immune system was severely permanently damaged by the continuous use of steroids for years to control her asthma. It did help with the asthma, but... So, we do not go to restaurants or many other places where people many people go at all anymore. So then, how bad is second-hand smoke... and other things?
