At first glance, she appears as any other Bostonian might, boarding the T at Haymarket at 8:30 AM on her way to work in South Boston: long black coat, coffee in hand, reading her Boston Metro. But beneath that “everywoman” façade lies the heart of an angel.

Nancy Kingfisher is generous beyond expectation. “The way I see it, alcohol and smoking go hand in hand,” retorts Ms. Kingfisher, when questioned about the possibility of Boston’s bars going smoke free. With the vote a number of years ago in Brookline to ban smoking in all indoor facilities, it would come as no surprise to see Boston jump on the same bandwagon that began with California years ago. But as Ms. Kingfisher so eloquently points out, alcohol sans smoking is like french fries without ketchup, a donut without jelly, green eggs without ham.

Regardless of the social implications, a public ban on smoking in bars would severely curtail the number of smokers in our society, and thus, send a ripple effect of woe through our towns, neighborhoods, schools, parks, and even jeopardize the future of our children. Without the obnoxious amount of tax dollars collected from patrons of the cancer stick, there might not be a little league field for young Johnnie to play on in East Boston, or enough books for Sally to use in her classroom in Roxbury, little Bobby might have to walk up to a half mile just to catch a bus to school in the North End, and let’s not forget the budding environmentalist Cindy, who would have no trees to study in her Southie neighborhood park because there was no money to spend on planting any.

As is the case with any issue, there are two sides to the story. On the flipside of this tax question remains the notion that millions of tax dollars a year are squandered on helping victims of smoking related diseases. “Hogwash,” says Ms. Kingfisher, “What about the kids? Think about the kids! My smoking is helping those children, dammit! And those ridiculous TRUTH commercials? What a bunch of nonsense. I’ll give you some truth: more dope fiends, more homeless, and more societal degenerates because our government can’t provide any outlet for our youth. They’d rather carry their banners of morality instead of just collecting our tax dollars and putting it into our children instead of their salaries and bureaucracy.” Indeed.

So the next time you are at a bar and your mind flutters to a seeming pastoral arcadia of smoke free California or fumeless Brookline, think of the sad, deprived faces of our children, with no parks to play in, no little league ballparks to attend, and no books in their classrooms with which to improve themselves. Maybe then, you will understand how sensible, honest, and compassionate is our beloved hero and martyr, Nancy Kingfisher: citizen, patriot, smoker. As Whitney Houston, that model citizen and patriot, herself, once sang, “The children are our future. Treat them well and let them lead the way.”