# Attention smokers: everything in your house is ruined. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 19, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471 "2014-04-19T04:43:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/181 "2014-04-23T05:13:34Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > While I’m here, about cologne. People who wear too much scent are idiots also. I’m allergic to perfume so I’m sensitive to this, and in my place at least very few people do. We have a few smokers, who smoke outside obeying all the rules. They still stink when they come in, far more than any perfume wearer. When my husband was an Army sergeant, one of his privates showed up to a _two week_ FTX with no soap and towels, just a bottle of Axe body spray. Poor DH had to give him an order to shower, and get him soap and a towel from the PX-- fortunately they were at a base). The guy got do mad, he escalated until he ended up taking a swung at DH, and losing rank when DH reported it, ---
**Author:** ![Bo\_Pai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@Bo\_Pai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bo_Pai)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/182 "2014-04-23T11:56:54Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > So you want people to be open-minded enough to never ever say that something is bullshit… Now THAT’S interesting. Something I didn’t say, but that thoughtful consideration of what I \*\*\*have \*\*\*said actually supports. What does calling bullshit, “bullshit”, actually accomplish? How many people are turned to support what another believes, who were not already sitting on the fence about it? It’s even quite an uphill battle to get someone off a fence. What is achieved by fighting? Other than the basic ego-stroke/blow of win/lose? What is it you want from those who think differently than you? I \*\*\*do \*\*\*want something, I’m just not picky about where it comes from - i.e. I don’t want anything from any specific person. I want interaction with other generally happy individuals. Happy people don’t fight. They don’t waste time knocking others down, they don’t seek to defeat or defend or start wars or poke and harass and torture people who are different than they are. Their number one priority is NOT to avoid embarrassment or exact revenge and they’re not afraid. They’re not like those who live that life, nor do they want to be. They don’t think they’re “better” than those who constantly fight off feelings of inferiority, but they DO understand that they’re “better off” and that life, in general, is better outside of the 'Thunder Dome"…outside the “you’re shit so at least I’m better than shit” game. Plus, in the absence of a constant defense of wounded pride, they’ve had time to notice and explore a wide variety of ideas. Interaction with such people is fun and interesting and a fantastic source of new ideas for others like them. THAT’S what I want and I often find it in those who look for new things to think about in forums like this, but seldom actually participate. People who, like me, have page after page of responses to what’s said here that they DON’T post. People who enjoy thinking their own thoughts - not in search of something to believe, but simply because they enjoy thinking. Perpetual explorers who have no desire to - or simply cannot _ **bear** _ to- \*\*\*stop \*\*\*their own explorations in order to explain or otherwise “catch you up” to where they are. In other words, I often find it in those who are automatically stomped but either don’t bother to fight back or just blow a gasket and leave. They’re not always present, \*\*\*in \*\*\*the present, but their ideas are - and I’m not \*\*\*always \*\*\*successful, but when I AM…it is sooooo worth it! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/183 "2014-04-23T12:10:58Z")
> [@Bo\_Pai](#): > > I \*\*\*do \*\*\*want something, I’m just not picky about where it comes from Well, we all learn in different ways… ---
**Author:** ![Bo\_Pai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@Bo\_Pai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bo_Pai)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/184 "2014-04-23T12:40:10Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Well, we all learn in different ways… True - assuming “learning” is the objective. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/185 "2014-04-23T12:57:02Z")
> [@Bo\_Pai](#): > > [snip] > I want interaction with other generally happy individuals. Happy people don’t fight. They don’t waste time knocking others down, [snip] So wise of you to post in the pit then. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/186 "2014-04-23T13:30:49Z")
> [@Bo\_Pai](#): > > What does calling bullshit, “bullshit”, actually accomplish? It lets casual readers know that you are posting bullshit, and to not take anything you say on this subject seriously. Frankly, that’s enough. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/187 "2014-04-23T15:10:22Z")
> [@Bo\_Pai](#): > > True - assuming “learning” is the objective. What else would be the point of the “fantastic source of new ideas” that you say you’re searching for? . ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/188 "2014-04-23T16:18:43Z")
I haven’t read the entire thread but I’d like to add: “And your neighbour’s apartment is ruined also.” My downstairs neighbour smoked inside (150 year old building, if that makes a difference) and my apartment REEKED. I mean REEKED like cigarette. I bought an air purifier and it didn’t touch it. I don’t smoke but as soon as I walked in my own front door all I could smell was cigarette. When I moved into my husband’s house I spent the first week washing and airing out \*every single textile I own \* because _everything_ smelled like smoke. My other neighbour at the time, whose bedroom closet shared a wall with the smoker’s apartment, said all her white clothes were ruined (stained yellow) from the smoke next door. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/189 "2014-04-23T16:42:55Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > It’s just like fucking Craigslist, but merchandise is generally shipped instead of picked up. I imagine shipping a call girl would be a bit diffuclt. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![medic1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@medic1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medic1)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/190 "2014-04-23T16:59:15Z")
This would apply to almost EVERY home built in the 20’s thru the 70’s as many. many of the home owners of this era were smokers. personally, as a non smoker, I would rather try to rehab a home belonging to a smoker than one belonging to cat owner. Now THERE is a stench that cannot be removed. ---
**Author:** ![Oliveritaly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oliveritaly/32/15233_2.png) [@Oliveritaly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oliveritaly)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/191 "2014-04-23T17:09:08Z")
I was a little pissed when I wrote that :-/ I lite my temper get the better of me. Sorry to all … ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/192 "2014-04-23T17:19:07Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I haven’t read the entire thread but I’d like to add: > > “And your neighbour’s apartment is ruined also.” > > My downstairs neighbour smoked inside (150 year old building, if that makes a difference) and my apartment REEKED. I mean REEKED like cigarette. I bought an air purifier and it didn’t touch it. I don’t smoke but as soon as I walked in my own front door all I could smell was cigarette. When I moved into my husband’s house I spent the first week washing and airing out \*every single textile I own \* because _everything_ smelled like smoke. My other neighbour at the time, whose bedroom closet shared a wall with the smoker’s apartment, said all her white clothes were ruined (stained yellow) from the smoke next door. Probably from the shared HVAC system. When we moved into our current apartment we were told the systems were separate. Turns out he didn’t mean the exhausts were. There was a big gap in the “air out” duct from the smoke-from-waking-until-sleeping downstairs neighbors’ apartment that dropped a lot of their returned air right in front of our furnace. Duct tape fixed that right up, as the first night it smelled like someone was smoking in our bedroom. There can be other gaps too - stick your head in our kitchen sink cabinet or bathroom sink cabinet and you could smell cigarette smoke there, coming up from the gaps around the pipes. The one I can’t figure out is where in my bedroom closet floor there is some kind of gap that lets the smoke through. I’m randomly moving a pile of stuff around to see when I might have blocked the gap (hidden by carpet). ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/193 "2014-04-23T17:33:57Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I haven’t read the entire thread but I’d like to add: > > “And your neighbour’s apartment is ruined also.” > > My downstairs neighbour smoked inside (150 year old building, if that makes a difference) and my apartment REEKED. I mean REEKED like cigarette. I bought an air purifier and it didn’t touch it. I don’t smoke but as soon as I walked in my own front door all I could smell was cigarette. When I moved into my husband’s house I spent the first week washing and airing out \*every single textile I own \* because _everything_ smelled like smoke. My other neighbour at the time, whose bedroom closet shared a wall with the smoker’s apartment, said all her white clothes were ruined (stained yellow) from the smoke next door. I call bullshit. You are claiming that smoke travels through solid matter. The smoke did not travel through the wall and stain her clothes. Just no. This is a dumb thread. On the one hand we have **Bo Pai** claiming cigarettes will give you a Wolverine like healing factor, and the other claiming that smoke has evil magic powers. That a single lit marlboro has greater penetration and a longer half life than plutonium 239. Both sides are just dumb. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/194 "2014-04-23T18:05:56Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > I call bullshit. You are claiming that smoke travels through solid matter. The smoke did not travel through the wall and stain her clothes. Just no. > > This is a dumb thread. On the one hand we have **Bo Pai** claiming cigarettes will give you a Wolverine like healing factor, and the other claiming that smoke has evil magic powers. That a single lit marlboro has greater penetration and a longer half life than plutonium 239. Both sides are just dumb. I would say that both sides are not quite as dumb as believing a 150 year old building has nothing but solid matter between the apartments. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/195 "2014-04-23T18:10:18Z")
A few people here do seem to be taking the anti-smoke side a little far. But cigarette smoke really does stick around more than most things. Once I stayed with my dad for a couple months, and the only place in his large, well-ventilated house that he smoked was in his office with the door closed. I would go in there to use the computer, but never when he was in there or even soon after he was out. I never once went in there when you could still see smoke or anything. Later my friend mentioned that when I was staying there I always smelled like smoke. And as sensitive as I am to smoke, I couldn’t tell (I sure knew the room smelled like smoke and my dad did, but the rest of his house didn’t, and I definitely didn’t think I did). Insidious stuff. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/196 "2014-04-23T18:23:38Z")
> [@steveroo](#): > > My mom, who smoked for over 50 years, firmly believed that smoking kept her healthy. During one of her infrequent attempts to quit, she came down with a bad case of bronchitis, and concluded that this was because she didn’t have cigarette smoke killing off whatever virii and bacteria that had invaded her lungs. > > I should add that she was an educated, literate person who had attended a prestigious university. That was her last attempt to quit; from then on, she steadfastly believed that smoking was the key to health and brusquely dismissed her family’s pleas that she stop. She believed this right up to the day that she was diagnosed with lung cancer. > > Oh, and just to get back on topic, she also believed that smoking was odorless, innocuous, and completely inoffensive. She’d say, “I don’t know you’re talking about; I don’t smell anything,” in a tone of utter certainty. That’s a refrain I’ve heard countless times from unrepentant smokers. It’s absolutely mind-boggling to me that someone who reeks of tobacco, to the point that you can smell them twenty feet away, will say things like “My friends don’t even know I smoke!” > > I rarely buy stuff on eBay anymore, but I always looked for ads that clearly said “from a non-smoking home.” Of course, if the ad doesn’t mention that, you can contact the seller and ask them; unfortunately, since smokers think their homes don’t stink, they have no problem lying about that. Did she actually change her mind after her diagnoses? My FIL was just diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. I’m not really sure what he thinks (he’s the most taciturn guy I’ve ever met), but I suspect that he thinks it was worth it - he’s totally in love with smoking. Even after he had a quadruple-bypass, and the doctors told him he **must** quit, he didn’t. My guess is, he probably thinks “60 years of smoking - that’s worth a few months of misery." ---
**Author:** ![Oliveritaly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oliveritaly/32/15233_2.png) [@Oliveritaly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oliveritaly)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/197 "2014-04-23T19:34:42Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > 'Nuff said. 🙂 They’re good cars! I did laugh though. Thanks cat … ---
**Author:** ![Bo\_Pai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@Bo\_Pai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bo_Pai)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/198 "2014-04-24T07:23:44Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > It lets casual readers know that you are posting bullshit, and to not take anything you say on this subject seriously. Frankly, that’s enough. So it’s a sort of sideways or backward public service announcement. That’s an interesting assessment. ---
**Author:** ![Bo\_Pai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@Bo\_Pai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bo_Pai)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/199 "2014-04-24T08:49:22Z")
> [@andros](#): > > What else would be the point of the “fantastic source of new ideas” that you say you’re searching for? > . New and interesting lines of thought, leading to even more new and interesting lines of thought. Not everyone wants to “know”. Some just enjoy exploring and discovering and exploring what they discover - nothing brings that exploration to a grinding halt faster than the dreaded declaration, “I know”. Once you’ve decided that you “know”, there’s no point to any further consideration. Everything you “learn to know” was once a new idea and/or discovery that came from someone who dared to \*\*\*not \*\*\*“know”. Some live to say, “I know!”, while others live to say, “What was THAT?!?!”. Once you know something, the thinking stops and the defending begins. Which is just a rickety, broken down roadblock to an explorer who will simply run right over it. Some people sit around “learning” and “knowing” and defending what they “know”, while others run around exploring, “making fools of themselves” and having the time of their lives. And it’s the explorers who have discovered, somewhere along the way, during their explorations, \*\*\*all \*\*\*of the old stuff that knowers “know” and \*\*\*seek \*\*\*to “know”. Knowing/learning and exploring/discovering are two entirely different states of being with two entirely different objectives. One perceives thought as a means to an end while the other perceives thought as a means to more thought in a never-ending parade of explorable thoughts and ideas - and “never the twain shall meet”. There’s no “win/lose” in exploration. Every thought bears fruit and the best fruit is often a change of direction which is something a knower will go to some pretty extreme lengths to avoid. Learning/knowing simply isn’t my thang. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471/200 "2014-04-24T11:31:00Z")
> [@Bo\_Pai](#): > > Learning/knowing simply isn’t my thang. Maybe use that as your sig? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-smokers-everything-in-your-house-is-ruined/686471.md?page=11)