You don’t drive, I gather?
Thank you. Non-smokers can be such hypocrites. I once made the terrible mistake of smoking too near a lady who took great offense, making a huge show of grimacing and coughing and waving the smoke away from her, as she proceeded to walk to the curb and stand within a couple of feet from the exhaust pipe of a city bus bellowing huge clouds of black diesel smoke right in her face. She seemed to not mind that smoke at all.
I’ve always hated the “smoker’s code”. Too many people abuse it, IMHO. I always always made sure that I had enough cigarettes to get me through until I could make it to get another pack. People bumming from me ruined my count and generally pissed me off. I really hated it when people would justify it with the old “ what goes around comes around” nonsense. It never did for me because I never needed to bum. If I was running low, I would ration or make sure I could get to a store.
I guess I’m in the minority. Good thing I gave that nonsense up.
I’m not claiming to be oppressed because of my driving habit.
But shouldn’t you be? Shouldn’t drivers be ‘oppressed’ in the same way, by your logic?
Yeah, I’m not playing that game. Have a nice day, Red. 
Wait, he hasn’t given the “from my yellowed, stinking hands” speech yet!
I made a small addendum to my smoker’s code; if you ask me for a smoke and appear to be under the age of 25, I will card you. Similarly if you ask me for a light.
Yeah, I’m a bitch.
I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that’s because you’ve decided to leave this thread out of embarrassment at how dumb that was.
Seriously, no matter how you feel about smoking, the fact remains that drivers are about the most catered-to class of Americans.
That’s probably true, but they’re also about the biggest class of americans, and one that many don’t have the option not to be a part of. So they probably should be catered to.
Everyone has options. You may not like all your options, but you have them.
It wasn’t a game.
I don’t smoke.
Both cars and cigarette smokers are permitted to emit their toxins freely on the roads of America. Indoor smoking is restricted in many places, but neither am I permitted to bring my Honda inside and leave it idling. I’d never really thought of it as oppression until now.
Sorry. Better analogy needed.
Smokers have actively lost the right to smoke where they want over the past several decades. This has not happened with cars. Hence oppression. (not that I’m arguing it’s right or wrong).
But that wasn’t even really my original point. I was merely pointing out the irony of calling those who don’t smoke “victims” when most of them also carelessly dispel carcinogens and all other kinds of unhealthy chemicals into the air without nary a second thought.
Oh yes, a bit of nostalgia I just felt. I never smoked for long enough for it to become a habit, or to think of myself as a smoker, but when you’re a booze whore like I am, you often find yourself shrowded in a cloud of haze of second-hand smoke for some reason, which then turned into first-hand smoke. I enjoyed the idle chit chat over a smoke with strangers around the building, and couldn’t get enough of the buzz I got when a cute boy would ask me outside to smoke. Or maybe that was the alcohol.
Actually, smokers aren’t allowed to smoke in many outdoor areas.
And since smoking on the street is far less dangerous to pedestrians than cars are, I think the analogy is fine.
I don’t like to share. Not anything–cigs, food, gas, etc. I’m on a tight budget and cigs are fucking expensive. I have to ration them out to myself, so every cig I give away is one less cig I get to smoke when I need to relax later that day. I just plain avoid social events (ESPECIALLY BARS) where people like to smoke but don’t bring their own cigarettes. If I happen to get hit up, I will always say, “Sorry it’s my last one,” and either leave or actively avoid contact with that person.
One exception. I was approached by a guy at a gas station, Thursday afternoon, right after I’d bought a pack and didn’t have pockets, so it was clearly visible in my hand (initial reaction: “uuuugh…”). He asked if he could buy one off me for a quarter because it was payday in the morning and he wouldn’t be able to afford any until then. I was so tickled he’d offered to pay that I gave him two cigs for free, and felt good about myself all night. That was worth it. But in the general case, I don’t share.
Actually, that reminds me. Although I don’t regularly smoke anymore, I’ve noticed that in the last five years, if I did happen to have a pack on me, in the street people will offer to buy cigarettes off me. That was completely unheard of (at least in my experience) in the 90s. I just give away three or four cigarettes, since I really shouldn’t be smoking them anyway, but from time to time I like to still have a pack.
I’ve noticed the increase in offers to buy cigarettes too. Around here they go for over 40 cents apiece, so there is probably a decrease in altruism to other smokers. I’m down to less than a pack a day now, and don’t carry any out with me anymore, but when I did I never accepted money for them.
Third Degree Smoker’s Code Violation. Punishment: Return to kindergarten.