Remember when we all used to smoke?

I'm dating myself here but only 30 years ago or so smoking was commonplace from university lecture halls to bars and restaurants let alone to cinemas and airplanes.

No more. Lighting up a cigarette today is not only illegal in most public spaces but socially unacceptable. I recently attended a memorial service for an old acquaintance on a ferry off Portland, Maine, and the shock when someone started smoking was palpable.

It seemed completely gross.

Such social pressure against smoking has been all to the good. Now similar pressure is being seen as a deterrent to driving while texting. A recent story in The New York Times cited friends and family exerting pressure on drivers who text.

One wife became so concerned about her husband's safety, she got on his case to the extent that he felt forced "make a choice between his habit and marital bliss." He chose the latter.

Another woman was concerned about her friend whom she felt was endangering herself. She was cited for her sensitivity to the dangers on the road as her sister had died in an accident.

Summoning up the full strength of moral opprobrium, or disproval, of texting while driving, she described it as "completely gross."

- Peter C.T. Elsworth