Poll: Ye olde Cancer Sticks

[Murais]

Real men smoke pipes. They're casual, classy, taste several times better, and waaaaaaay cheaper. Also, you can smoke aromatic blends so that the air around you smells like something pleasant, like cherries or apricots, instead of corrugated asshole.

In short, pipes FTW.

 

[deckai]

Well, I don't smoke and don't care is someone else smokes as long as they don't do it while I'm eating, in my bedroom or around children.

Smoking is like alcohol, it's a social accepted drug with the small addition that it can affects the people around you.

 

[Lavi]

The other day I was having a smoke and a small child (who never got anywhere near close enough to me to breathe in any secondhand smoke) felt entitled to look over at me and begin melodramatically gagging coughing and so on. Now personally, I find this very offensive; I'm being made fun of and alienated for a lifestyle choice.

The question here is, what is so wrong with people who smoke? These days, because of the whole healthy lifestyle kick, it seems that this in particular is being villainized.

As though smoking automatically makes you some sort of second rate lowlife. Not to mention the preaching. I KNOW IT'S BAD FOR ME, LEAVE ME ALONE.

If you're a smoker - How do you feel about the way we're treated? Do you notice at all?

If you're not - How do you feel about it? Do you go out of your way to express your opinion on the subject?

1. It smells.
2. You have no respect for your own life.
3. You smell.
4. If you do something stupid, why would you expect not to get made fun of?

 

[sosolidshoe]

The question here is, what is so wrong with people who smoke? These days, because of the whole healthy lifestyle kick, it seems that this in particular is being villainized.

You smell bad
Your teeth are yellow
Your skin is grey
You Smell REALLY bad
I am forever cleaning up discarded fag ends
Discarded lit fags start fires
I am forever putting out discarded lit fags
You make wherever you go smell really bad
You make stains up the walls and on the ceilings of anywhere you go
Smokers seem to put smoking ahead of simple personal safety, I run a petrol station yet I have to tell people not to light up every, damn, day.
Did I menion how bad you all smell?

I don't like smoking, I don't hate it enough to go around preaching at people, it's your body after all. But all the same smokers cause problems for non smokers wherever they go, not least the smell, which they swear blind is some kind of myth, the same way a fat guy swears his weight is a glandular problem and nothing to do with that Big Mac he's cramming in his mouth.

PS, sorry, it's been a slow day today.

So I take it you also have issue with people who drink, people who eat onions, people who drive cars....I can keep going. The point the OP was trying to make is that, as with all habits which CAN have a negative effect on others, most smokers are quite considerate and accommodating; so why are we ALL judged based on the arseholes?

Should we judge every person who goes out on a Friday night by the standards of the drunken, puking lout who smashes beer bottles on walls for a laugh and pisses in your doorway? Should we judge every car driver by the standards of the obnoxious wanker driving a poorly-maintained gas-guzzler that pumps out noxious fumes, who swears and honks his horn at anyone travelling within the speed limit? No? So why should we judge smokers by the standards of the arse who discards butts everywhere, has no consideration for non-smokers, and doesn't react well when politely asked to move further away?

As I said in a similar thread, I think that cigarettes should not be allowed to be sold. None the less, I would still appreciate it if people smoking near me would kindly take it down wind. You chose to smoke and get cancer from it, I did not. I do not want other people's second hand smoke giving me cancer.

And this really pisses me off. I know those adverts where the smoke coming off the cigarette turns into a snake and starts strangling the nearby baby is scary, but stop being such a gullible idiot. Understand the mechanism by which smoking causes cancer in smokers, and you will understand why secondhand smoke is only considered a danger to bar staff and those in a similar position - unless there is a smoker following you around, constantly chainsmoking, and filling every confined space you enter with the stuff, you are not going to get fucking cancer.

1. It smells.
2. You have no respect for your own life.
3. You smell.
4. If you do something stupid, why would you expect not to get made fun of?

This really pisses me off as well. No respect for my life? Huh. I take it you also make pariahs of: anyone who drives a sports car, anyone who rides a motorbike, anyone who rides a bicycle on the road, anyone who engages in mountain climbing, river rafting, skateboarding, snowboarding and any other number of "extreme sports", anyone who eats barbecued food, anyone who eats fish more than once or twice a month....etc etc etc.

Thousands of activities undertaken by billions of people each day have significant risks to short or long-term health, yet they are not treated as pariahs by people like you. So, what makes a considerate smoker worse than any of the above, other than your own apparent ignorance?

 

[Pariah87]

It's wrong to demonise smokers...but the general consensus is it's ok to have a go at fat people?

Oh lord, you give with one hand and taketh away with the other. As another guy said, I'm big enough and ugly enough to ensure I very rarely get any backlash for my habits. One stuck up tart of a bloke in London did give me the fake cough one day though when I was outside Euston Station. It's funny how with a glare from me, he stopped coughing and started walking extremely fast.

I'd love to go to America again, just to see the kind of reactions I'd get over there. Over here, people don't like sticking their nose into other peoples business, whereas over there it seems like a decent % of you are on some kind of moral crusade.

 

[BlackStar42]

As long as I don't have to breathe it, go ahead.

 

[KnowYourOnion]

Yeah, the guy's allowed to have his opinion and you're filling his lungs with smoke I'd say he's allowed to cough at you.......

 

[Trivun]

I hate smoking, I don't hate smokers. Sure, I think that people who smoke are idiots, but even so I'm not going to demonise them when I should be demonising instead the people who promote smoking as a good thing (stupid tobacco companies...). Everyone who I know who smokes has the courtesy to ask first if it's okay before smoking when they visit me, and they always go out into the garden or car port to do so, rather than smoking indoors. And that's fine by me. We have ashtrays at my family's house for smokers, though my parents and grandmother all quit years ago. I do have a problem if someone doesn't ask before lighting up at my house, or if someone smokes near to me and I can smell or breathe in the smoke, but otherwise it's your body. You're stupid for doing it, but even so it's completely up to you. If you want to smoke then fine.

Note that in this post I only talk about smoking cigarettes, and that's because I know the risks and health problems associated with tobacco. Regarding smoking weed and the like, I'm fine with that, because that has nowhere near the level of risk to your health as cigarettes do. Unless you're cutting it with something else that's more dangerous, in which case you are an idiot.

 

[Vaccine]

Nope, never have.

I think poorly of people who do it, but I don't "demonise" them, I generally just avoid them.

 

[MassiveGeek]

I don't smoke, know a lot of people who do though.

I have to admit that I cough to when I get cigarette smoke in my face - but it's genuinely coughing because it makes me feel really sick and sometimes nauscious, however, unless the person smoking lit the cigarette acted rudely(lighting the cigarette while standing close to me or something), then I just pull up my scarf over my nose and move/keep walking.

When I cough, I don't mean it in a rude fashion, I just can't really stand/handle the smoke. And most people will take the hint when they hear me cough and apologize, then move, no big deal, so for me it's only really been a positive outcome of it. I can't speak for others though.

 

[Rett Silvari]

My only problem with smokers is when they can't be bothered to follow the rules.
I had a no smoking sign put up where I work because where I live state law prevents most smoking indoors in public places.
And everyday I get someone talking to me while lighting a cigarette.
I mean, I've got a freaking no smoking sign literally floating right over my head and you decide to light up 2 ft away?

Beyond that, I don't care if you smoke.

 

[SturmDolch]

My dad smokes, as does most of my older family. I would never smoke because I'd rather spend the money elsewhere and I think it smells bad. Plus the health risks, of course. Really, smoking a pack a day in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada comes out to around $3650 per year, considering $10/pack. I would rather travel or buy a brand new gaming computer every year for that money.

Go ahead and smoke, though. Your cigarettes are taxed enough to support the health care system. But please don't smoke near non-smokers. It stinks. I don't mind it as much since, like I said, my dad smokes and my grandfather smoked so much his house emitted clouds into the Swiss alps. But other people really hate it. It's equivalent to me pooping near you on the sidewalk.

It's wrong to demonise smokers...but the general consensus is it's ok to have a go at fat people?

What? It's the complete opposite, in Canada at least. Here, smokers aren't allowed to smoke in bars, restaurants, within 5 meters (I think) of building entrances, soon in their own cars, and they are taxed heavily. I don't really mind because I don't smoke and it bothers me. It's a preventable strain on the public health care system we have.

Fat people on the other hand? They don't pay anything extra for being fat. In fact, they get an extra seat on the plane if they're lucky. Or free surgery to make them thin and ready for fattening again. Do smokers get free surgery to quit smoking? No, because it doesn't exist. Is it actually free? No, the taxpayers pay for it.

 

[Hamster at Dawn]

I don't smoke but it still pisses me off when people start preaching about how bad it is. If you want to smoke then I really don't give a shit, enjoy it.

 

[orangeban]

I think its good people are told not to smoke but don't make fun of smokers its just dickish.
Though breathing in secondhand smoke is nasty

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

I don't smoke, but I don't attack those who do. I may not like the smell of it, but I won't do a melodramatic gag at smokers - the only exception to that is at my friends who smoke, and that's because we like to joke about the whole furor surrounding it. Other than that, it's a choice, and not one I see a point in moaning about. If you want to smoke, smoke. If you don't, don't. If you hate smoking, well, you're free to express it, but don't be a total arse about it.

 

[Vrach]

snip

Actually what the kid essentially flipped you the bird for, was the fact that your smoke was disgusting for him to breathe.

This is pretty much the only thing I fucking hate about smokers, it's your thing for sure and do it till you drop as far as I'm concerned, but do it away from me/nonsmokers. Hell, every single smoker I ever met was disgusted when someone else would blow smoke in their direction and you guys are used to the damn thing.

Open spaces/smoker areas/alone somewhere - go for it. It's either dispersed before I can breathe much of it in or you're packed in your own hell. Closed spaces with nonsmokers? Fuck off. Cancer aside, it's just disgusting.

 

[Koroviev]

Some kids and their parents did that to my mom once. She was smoking in a designated smoking area at a resort place. I don't smoke, but really, who was more obnoxious in that scenario?

The morality police need to mind their own fucking business.

 

[elcamino41383]

I don't much care for smoking. But I don't go out of my way to share my opinions with smokers, even if I know the person. The only time I really do nowadays is when they go for their smoke outside, and it's cold, then they come back inside and complain about how cold it is. Well guess what? You wouldn't be cold if you didn't feel the need to go smoke. I don't wanna hear it, just like you don't wanna hear me complaining about you smoking. I do tend to tell friends that I'm not fond of their smoking because, being my friends I'm concerned for their over all health, but I don't berate them for it, at least not anymore...I used to be a Nazi about that.

 

[RoyalWelsh]

I only ever smoked one cig and found it disgusting. Never had another one since, and never will.