Sometimes when I enter the restroom at work, it’s obvious someone coming back from a smoke break was there before me. I want to hang a sign in there that says “Dear smoker: you literally stink worse than shit.”
Full disclosure: I grew up in a smoking household. My mom died of lung cancer a couple of years ago. I find cigarette smoke to be one of the most repugnant smells I’ve encountered. I wouldn’t date a super model if she smoked.
I agree with the rant. I think I must be allergic to tobacco, which wouldn’t be surprising, because I’m allergic to a lot of plants. If I’m in a smoker’s home for a while, even if no cigarettes are actually burning, I start to itch, my face starts to burn, my eyes water, and my nose runs. I can’t stand the smell of cigarette smoke, burning, or old and stale.
Every single smoker I know thinks that other smokers smell, but they personally don’t.
So smoker Granny’s Rembrant and antique heirlooms are ruined then? So it’s okay if we give them to your cousin then? And you’ll raise no protest because, for you, they’re ruined?
And you need to gut a house to make it livable after a smoker lived there? Huh, wonder why century homes, in my city, cost a premium? Don’t they know they’re ruined!
I suspect the issue is about those smokers who take a deep sniff of that antique quilt or ottoman and insist it doesn’t smell like smoke, when it actually does, and merrily post that there aren’t any odors in it.
My husband and I rejected one apartment based on a smoker living there and being in the process of moving out after nearly a decade. Even with the fans going and obvious air fresheners everywhere, both he and I (in separate visits) felt like we were having allergy attacks by the end, it was that acrid, and the property manager - without me even saying anything initially - was falling over herself promising that she’d replace the carpet and pad, repaint with Kilz and then whatever color(s) we wanted, etc. This was not a patio-smoking guy, this was an older guy who apparently rarely left the place and smoked like a chimney. Pity because it was a lovely place (though we prefer the town we’re in now), but I just couldn’t stomach the thought of the smoke abatement efforts not working.
Thats not true – You can simply go through and remove all the unwanted apostrophes. The problem is that you might miss some, or else remove ones that really ARE necessary.
Exactly. Every morning I drink a little mercury and swallow a few lead paint chips just to be safe. I’ll still be walking around healthy as a ham when all you smokers and tofu-eaters are coughing your lungs out!
Isn’t everyone allergic to tobacco? The stuff is a poison, after all.
My experience is the same: every smoker I know thinks their stench doesn’t reek. On top of that, they also believe they believe they’re not addicted to the crap.
Speaking of lead, did you know that Vitruvius warned of lead poisoning, two thousand years ago? Nobody listened. Naturally.
Anyway…
It has nothing to do with one’s state of health. It has to do with the body’s ability to respond to toxins. A smoker’s body is in a perpetual state of “toxin-management”. He’ll still die, but he’s not going to die first. If somebody is able to stay on their feet long enough to accomplish an air exchange and save your ass, it’s probably going to be a smoker.
Re. smoking only on the patio - I suspect that will still make your house smell. Smokers drag that smell in with them after smoking - it doesn’t just stay outside.
As for older houses being ruined by decades of smoking, well, they do smell. I don’t think I’ve ever gone into a truly old house (that hasn’t been gutted) that doesn’t have a certain funk to it.
This is a very strange thread; I’m not sure how we got to a place where we’re arguing that smoking doesn’t stink, and that smoking is healthy.
My experience as an ex-smoker, is I had no idea I reeked that bad, and yes I knew I was quite addicted. My experience among other smokers and ex-smokers I know feel the same.
Anecdotes for the win and all that jazz…
As to the OP - we didn’t (ex-wife) and I didn’t smoke in the house because it ruined everything, walls, curtains, rugs, furnture, etc…so yes we knew it was bad for everything.
For the record, after 26 years of smoking, and now an ex smoker I’ve never felt better.