Sometimes We Offend at a Distance
In my line of work (buying scrap gold and silver) I use extremely powerful magnets to help in determining if an item contains iron or other magnetic cores. The magnet can pull the object from a distance without touching it. In a similar manner, offense can be given at a distance.
Let me explain. In response to my article Electronic Cigarettes Should be Banned as Well (where I support a ban on the puffing on anything that even looks like cigarettes in smoke-free zones), a reader calling himself saxojon left this comment (I cleaned it up a bit):
But you are offended because you can see me doing it, even though I'm in no way interrupting your private space? You are simply being a moralist prick. Grow the f*ck up.
Dear saxojon: you do not have to blow smoke directly in my face to interrupt my private space. Engaging in behavior which children should not see or which is disgusting is offensive. As was demonstrated in my article, dangling one's penis 30 feet away from a child does not make it less offensive than doing it one foot away.
Let me give you an example from a true experience: an acquaintance of mine who was in a prison visiting room a few years back recalls an incident where a fellow inmate began having his girlfriend masturbate him out of the sight of prison guards but in the sight of other inmates and visitors. After the visiting hours were over and the inmates returned to their dorms, the other inmates severely beat the callous inmate for offending their families. This insensitive prick thought that since he wasn't exposing himself directly in their private space that he wasn't offensive at a distance. He was wrong.
