A (hopefully) mature discussion: Is it really okay to hate smokers?

[Unesh52]

Hating someone who smokes is like hating someone because they're fat (for me, that's how I see it). You can hate the person, you can hate being fat, but you shouldn't hate a person for being fat. That's the same view I have of smokers. You shouldn't hate a person just cause they smoke.

I worry about how broad this "hatred" is. Is it "hatred" to not want to be around a person? Or is it only when you start thinking of violence against them? Maybe when you just start trying to hurt their feelings?

The point is, I don't "hate" fat people or smokers. I don't want to have sex with fat people (at least not obese people), and I don't want to kiss a smoker. It's not because I hate what they do, it's because what they do affects some quality which I use to determine my level of romantic and sexual interest in them. It's not their habits that I hate, but the results. That's not unreasonable, right?

I can extend this logic -- my brother has asthma and reacts poorly to cigarettes, and my girlfriend is outright allergic to them. If you're not used to it, they probably smell bad, and if you around it long enough to be used to it, you're putting yourself at risk from second hand smoke. So I "hate" people that (without asking) smoke when I'm in the car with them, or have the audacity to get pissed when I don't want them smoking in the building with me. "Hate" in the sense that I'd rather they not do that, because it displays a marked disregard for the comfort and safety of others. It's not that they enjoy cigarettes, it's that it's that there are effects of smoking that I don't want to and shouldn't have to deal with.

Smokers are putting an immense burden on the health system, which is both very important and under pressure as it is.

That's an interesting angle. Should health care derived from tax money be used to treat people with smoke related diseases? There is a marked risk. But in that sense, I can also see an argument for not treating athletes or even hikers with tax money. There is a notable risk associated with those things too.

EDIT: I just read a post that mentioned cigarette tax. So yeah, I can see an argument that they actually pay for their own government funding. I don't see much to this line of thinking anymore.

 

[Desworks]

As a smoker, I find the hatred of smokers to be a handy thing indeed, as anyone who hates me simply because I smoke is exactly the kind of jackass that I don't need to know anyway.

As for the constant debate of where I'm allowed to smoke, I'm from Ireland. Smoking is banned inside Pubs, restaurants and other places of work. So I don't really feel bad for smoking at the doorway to the shops, or at the bus stop, or where ever. I've already been kicked out of any indoors area, and frankly, it rains a lot in Ireland. If I feel like a smoke, I'll have one, and if you truly believe that the second hand smoke will cause you to die as it disperses into the atmosphere, then you can either go indoors or stand in the rain.

 

[bloob]

As many people have said the hatred of smokers is unfair. But perhaps it is better for society that this stigma is attached to smoking as it may prevent people starting or encourage them to quit.

Personaly however i think being fat is worse than smoking. Obesity is just as big a strain on the NHS as smoking however at least a smoker will have paid a large amount of money towards their treatment with the insane amount of tax on a box of cigerettes. (the exception obviously being those people who are fat because if genuine deseases/disorders, which isn't the case for the majority of obese people)

 

[Thaluikhain]

You do realize that there is a large tax revenue on cigarettes right?

That's true of course, but I'd be very surprised if the tax raised was equal or greater than the cost.

 

[hyperdrachen]

Cigarette smoke is hard on your lungs, it's bad enough with all the air pollution that we "need" from cars and industry. Somone hazing up the air I'm breathing for recreation/addiction is not acceptable. If you smoke in your own home, or car, or anywhere I don't have to breath it, then by all means light them up.

I don't hate smokers on the principle alone that they smoke but any that I do hate is because they have developed a sense of entitlement. At work we get a 15minute break and a 30minute lunch. But smokers seem to find the fact they smoke grants them 3 extra 5-10min breaks to smoke. Your habits are your own problem. I don't stop 3 times at work to play my DS, it stays at home.

Cigarette smoke stinks up my clothes, irritates my eyes and is hard on my lungs. Your addiction should not be my problem. Alot of smokers don't seem to realize how terribly they stink. Smoke if you want but don't make it my problem.

At another job I used to have, one of the employees was a heavy smoker. Since our manager was also a smoker, they seemed to have a sort of understanding of "the habit," and so my coworker was allowed extra breaks beyond the usual allotment so she could go outside and have a smoke. I asked for an equal amount of break time, since I would've loved extra time to wander down to the nearby mini-mart for a drink, and I was told that I couldn't take any more breaks because I didn't smoke.

I have seen so much of this in the workplace.

 

[brunothepig]

I've never professed to hate smokers... At least not in general terms, my hatred for specific smokers stems from many other factors.
However, smokers with little respect for those of us who don't like to smoke get on my nerves. My friend's mum is bad for this. Rather nice lady actually, but she will smoke anywhere. She seems to think that since it's no big deal for her, it shouldn't be for anyone else. She smokes in my friend's car if he's not there, despite him asking her not to. She smokes in every room of the house. Blah blah blah. Don't want to start ranting, I'm just saying, that is what I hate. Not the person, but how inconsiderate some can be.
As for hating, or mocking people, for smoking. Well, I don't care if you keep it away from me. I think it's incredibly stupid, I do make jokes with my mates about smokers being idiots, but honestly? Feel free to smoke if you like. You know the consequences.
So, no. It's not ok to hate a person for smoking. At least I don't think so. But I think it's totally fair to judge a stranger for lighting a cigarette in a restaurant, or blowing smoke in your face.

 

[MassiveGeek]

It is not the smoker I hate, it is the act of smoking I hate. I personally easily feel sick, and smoking is one of the worst things I know that really makes me feel awful.
Do I want people to stop smoking? Well, yes. It's not exactlt a good habit and it does in fact affect the people around you. Do I want to stop them from smoking? Absolutely not. Because it's their right to do it - but it is also my right to speak my mind about it.
Now I do cough when I get smoke in my face - not to be rude, but because I can't handle it, but I never give them nasty looks or ridicule them to my friends, I know lots of people who smoke and have smoked. If they're not smoking in my face then I won't react, because if they do then I'll tell them aboutmy issue with the smoke or move away.

It is not okay to hate anyone for solely one reason - there's so much more to a person than that. And you should try to accept that before you become an asshole that hates for stupid reasons.

 

[Mumonk]

What people do with their own bodies is their own business, as long as they keep it their business. When they make it our business (i.e. smoking where I have to smell that shit) that's when I get mad, thank god where I live they can't smoke in pretty much ANY building =).

I feel that way about all things, take religion for example, like that demotivational I saw once, Religion: Treat it like your penis, don't take it out in public, don't shove it down your kid's throat. =P

Basically ANYONE should be able to do ANYTHING they want as long as it ONLY EFFECTS THEM and nobody else, in either private or with other consenting adults that want to do the same thing.

EDIT: I forgot, I work at a hospital, and I deal with people that smoked for like 30-40 years and are now dieing, all I can think, first, this is what they get, and second, it kinda makes me mad that we have to take care of them. Due to their poor health they can't get insurance, and we are a county hospital so we have to take care of everyone regardless of whether they can pay or not. So basically they have done something that they KNOW is killing them, and they keep doing it for years, and now they want someone to come help them for free. People like that are the reason hospitals run out of funding, have to cut back personnel and make health care more expensive. Fuck them, they should go die in their own yellow, smoke encrusted house.

 

[clipse15]

You do realize that there is a large tax revenue on cigarettes right?

That's true of course, but I'd be very surprised if the tax raised was equal or greater than the cost.

Why is that so hard to believe? The Number of cigarettes purchased by North Americans every year is massive and Obama just raised it to about $1.00 spent on a pack of cigarettes is taxed so that is a massive revenue stream right there.

Secondly not every person who smokes will be in hospital due to there smoking. And then there are the rich and affluent who pay for their own premieum health care that smoke.

Trust me you are probably paying for people who do drugs and if your American you're paying for people who drink (Since LCBO in Ontario is government owned) but cigarette smokers are carrying their own.

 

[northeast rower]

Let me introduce my response with this: my father is a smoker. My aunt is a smoker. One of my grandparents was a smoker but she died before I was born. Many of my friends and co-workers are smokers.

It is NOT OK to hate smokers. I love my family and friends more than anything, and if they want to smoke, so be it.

That doesn't mean that I condone smoking. I can see the effects all around me. I can hear my father coughing in his sleep every night, phlegmy and labored. Several of my friends can't go two hours without one.

They see it not as a "badge of honor", as many of you have described it. They see it as a necessity. They can't break away, they can't give it up, they can't bring themselves to part from the habit. It's like drinking coffee in the morning: it just happens, like any other routine.

Don't hate smokers. Hate smoking, but not smokers.

 

[elbrandino]

I think it's fine to hate smokers. I mean, we hate drug addicts and alcoholics for doing what they do. What's the difference? The smoke gives me borderline migraine headaches. On top of that, they're addicting. I don't smoke, but my parents used to and can't stay off cigarettes for more than a few moths at a time. Not to mention that smell that goes along with smoking. My girlfriend's grandfather was recently diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and has 6-8 months. He doesn't smoke, but his wife and their son smoke. In the house. Essentially, they're killing him. So yeah I think it's ok to hate smokers.

 

[warprincenataku]

I don't really hate anyone. Actually, I pity them a bit having their rights taken away. Can't smoke in bars, bus stops, etc., but then there are people who don't want to be affected by other people's choices, especially those that can cause serious health issues.

I personally don't smoke, just for the record

 

[Jaded Scribe]

As a smoker, this attitude irritates me.

I know of very few people who smoke who, if asked politely, won't move a few feet farther away, or shift downwind.

People get so uppity about it, and it's maddening. My husband was once smoking at his college, a good 30 feet off to the side of the door and had a woman and her daughters walk the long way around to walk past him to do the annoying cough thing. That just pissed him off. He was well away from them, and they went out of their way to be jackasses.

I also dislike smoking bans. Restaurants should have the right to decide what kind of patronage they want to cater to. At least out here, a lot of popular family brunch restaurants (e.g. Village Inn) would be non-smoking on the weekends from like 6am to 3pm so they could cater to their family clientele.

But forcing bars to disallow smoking has had a profound effect on their income. Places that used to be packed for football games are getting thinned out. People are losing money. If the non-smokers cared that much, they simply wouldn't frequent those establishments that allowed smoking.

 

[Talal Provides]

The thing people who hate smokers need to understand is pretty much everybody who smokes doesn't do it because they like it. They do because they are addicted to nicotine and they fucking have to. We know it's stupid and horrible for us and we wish we never started and we'd love to quit if we could but doing so is one of the hardest things a person can possibly do in their life. We're victims of our own stupidity. Pity is what you should be feeling, not irrationally intense hatred.

 

[Gavmando]

I think your ideas on the coolness of cigarettes are flawed.

The reality of smoking may be that you are socially shunned, but that's not what people generally think about. What people generally think about is how cool smokers are in popular culture. A perfect example of this would be the show Californication.
Not only does smoking make the characters look cool, but at times it's essential to the shot and the story.

People love the idea of smoking even if the reality sucks. And once they become addicted, it's going to be doubly hard to break the habit.

 

[Xcelsior]

I'm not a smoker and I don't treat people who do smoke any differently to the way I would treat others. Now I'm not a fan of smoking, but treating someone negatively just because they do smoke is just plain retarded. I myself find smoking to be an unattractive trait so I won't smoke, but to those that do smoke more power to them.

 

[Marter]

So...why can't I hate smokers if I choose to?

The way I see it, as long as I don't alter my own behaviour towards the person, (except, you know, avoiding them while they smoke), then I should have the right to hate them if I choose to. Same with being racist. As long as it doesn't change how you communicate with the person, or how you discuss the person, then I honestly don't care if you are racist. (I'm not racist, it's just an example).

No, I don't like smokers. I have this opinion because you are doing something that I consider to be stupid. Clearly we differ in opinion on that, and that's fine. I just don't get why you would want to put all those toxins into your body, and I don't like the fact that you are shortening your own life. I'm not going to treat you differently because of it, but I judge your character partially based on the fact that you do smoke, and because of that, I don't like you right off the bat. Now, if I get to know you, and you're a decent enough person, then maybe I change my overall opinion of you.

All I'll say is this. If I don't know you, and I see you smoking, I'm going to dislike you right off the bat.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I don't hate smokers for smoking, I don't even hate smoking, my grand parents have smoked around me all my life so I'm use to the smell (I love it) and some of my ex-girlfriends smoke too.