# Fuck Cigarette Prices!!!!!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [May 17, 2002, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507 "2002-05-17T06:21:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 5

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/81 "2002-05-23T10:52:43Z")

</div>

Kabbes,

trust me on this. Smoking will always be cool, no matter how well you argue to the contrary.

If you don’t believe, think music (sex pistols, ac/dc, metallica, early stones, nirvanna) or films (on the waterfront, a few dolalrs more, once upon a time in the west). Nothing quite projects the sheer “can’t give a fuck” attitude that is the epitome of cool quite as well as a cigarette.

Sorry, but it’s just the way it is. Healthy living just seems a bit dorky in comparison.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/82 "2002-05-23T13:19:55Z")

</div>

I’m sorry, but when I see someone in _real_ life (as opposed to a movie) puffing on a fag, I simply think “sad and pathetic”. 100% of the time, anyone, anywhere.

In me it just evokes pity - about as far from envy as you can get.

There they are, huddled over and pathetic, desperate to feed their sad little addiction. Their clothes smell. Their breath smells. You find them standly morosely outside buildings in the rain. And this is supposed to be _cool_?

Hey, a lot of what I’ve said above goes for other activities too - and there are plenty of smokers out there who in _other_ ways are the very _epitome_ of I-want-to-be-them cool. But the evil weed is not part of this. The movies are not the high street.

pan

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/83 "2002-05-23T13:47:11Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by kabbes \*  
> **The movies are not the high street.**

Say what you like, all I can tell you is that every time I’ve shot the bad guy, saved the world and gotten the girl I’ve done it whilst smoking.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to pop down the shops for a packet of Camels and some ammo.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/84 "2002-05-23T14:14:07Z")

</div>

At least **kabbes** you keep your opinions to yourself when you’re with RL smokers 😉

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/85 "2002-05-23T14:32:24Z")

</div>

No **yoj** , you know that in every _other_ way you’re one of those epitome-of-cool I-want-to-be-them types. So no worries there 😃

(Besides, I must admit that it’s always somewhat different in a bar, where smoking becomes merely neutral - something one does - rather than a weakness)

pan

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/86 "2002-05-23T14:33:50Z")

</div>

No - now. A very different sentence!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/87 "2002-05-23T14:39:12Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by kabbes \*  
> **(Besides, I must admit that it’s always somewhat different in a bar, where smoking becomes merely neutral - something one does - rather than a weakness)**

Ah, I see your point. Like all vices, it really is something that should only be done when the occasion warrants. Say you’re out for a drink, or you’ve just made passionate love to Rene Russo.

Time and a place, and all that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/88 "2002-05-23T14:46:42Z")

</div>

Quite. When you’ve just reversed the polarity on the supervillain’s bomb, causing his trousers to explode, I’ll be the f_irst_ in line with a lighter for you.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/89 "2002-05-23T14:59:52Z")

</div>

Damned decent of you - but aren’t I meant to casually light it off his still burning corpse, uttering a viciously witty put down as I do so?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/90 "2002-05-23T15:08:02Z")

</div>

Silly me. Forget my head next.

And don’t forget to stub it out on his twisted and evil forehead.

pan

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/91 "2002-05-23T15:28:53Z")

</div>

There are few things I seriously hold against people. Offhand I can only think of two. Anti-smoking clap-trap like this is seriously one of them. Trying to make all the smokers like prisoners and soldiers? Just want to show off that you can have power over us? What the fuck? We retreated from restatraunts. We backed off from busses and movie theaters. We left 'em at home when you asked us not to smoke at your house. We no longer smoke at the office… if we’re lucky you’ve designated a small portion of **your** precious “work environment” (why it is not also _our_ work environment was never stated) with which to smoke. What fucking more can we do and keep our vice? Apparently line the fucking government’s coffers. And then what? Should we just foget the tax and bribe you directly? Or does that come _after_ the tax?

God bless the fucking slippery slope because you’re sending us right down it. **Get out of my fucking life already** you fucking bastards.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/92 "2002-05-23T15:42:35Z")

</div>

First, get your smoke out of my lungs, my eyes, my hair, and my clothes. Then get your butts off our streets, sidewalks, lawns, forests, and mountains. Then grow, process, and consume your own tobacco. At that point, when you have gotten yourself out of my life and our commerce, I promise you will be 100% left alone.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/93 "2002-05-23T15:50:54Z")

</div>

minty green, I really hope that you don’t drink, drive a large car, play your music too loud, fly, or do any one of about a thousand activities that I could post an equally holier than thou critique of.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/94 "2002-05-23T15:51:04Z")

</div>

and then you stop everyfucking thing that annoys me.

Fuck you.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/95 "2002-05-23T16:05:08Z")

</div>

Yojimbo - me, or mg?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/96 "2002-05-23T16:16:25Z")

</div>

[QUOTE]  
\*Originally posted by minty green \*  
First, get your smoke out of my lungs, my eyes, my hair, and my clothes.  
[/quote

Fair enough. I try very hard to make sure that non-smokers are not bothered by my habit. Within reason. If you are 100 feet away from me outdoors but are annoyed that you can merely _see_ me smoking, too fucking bad. Also, if you are perhaps one of those folks that wears too much cologne/perfume, I would appreciate that you stop doing that because I don’t like the smell of that either. There should be a law.

> [@](#):
>
> Then get your butts off our streets, sidewalks, lawns, forests, and mountains.

As I’ve already stated, I don’t leave cigarette butts anywhere. We are not all part of that problem.

> [@](#):
>
> grow, process, and consume your own tobacco. At that point, when you have gotten yourself out of my life and our commerce, I promise you will be 100% left alone.

So you are saying that you are against things being sold that are bad for people? Hmm, that opens a can of worms. Following that logic, we should get rid of candy, fast food, SUV’s, cell phones, alcohol, etc. Following that, you will probably have to distill your own scotch that you admittedly enjoy (a truly disgusting habit in my opinion). Once you are willing to get your vice out of our commerce, then we can talk.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/97 "2002-05-23T16:20:29Z")

</div>

damn coding.

(preview, preveiw, preveiw)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/98 "2002-05-23T16:21:03Z")

</div>

All’a you bastards. Fuck up and leave me alone. I’m trying to build my desert paradise here and you keep knocking over my hut.

pan

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/99 "2002-05-23T16:24:55Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Gary Kumquat \*  
> \*\*Yojimbo - me, or mg? \*\*

Well it’s not you as you don’t come across as a self-righteous SOB with a girder rammed up their shitepipe.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507/100 "2002-05-23T16:44:30Z")

</div>

Relax, gentlemen. I was responding solely to **erislover** ’s hyperventilating “leave me alone” argument. As long as we choose to live in civilized, democratic society, _nobody_ will be left 100% alone. When **erl** retreats to a Unabomer shack in the woods where his actions have no conceivable effect on other people, he may then reasonably expect to be left alone.

Yes, **Gary** , I sometime drink, drive car, play my music loud, fly, and probably do any number of those “thousand other things” that you might get holier-than-me about. I even occasionally smoke. (Man, those were some good Cuban cigars in Cozumel last week.) But I **don’t** fucking whine about it when my activities that impact others–or even merely myself–are regulated or taxed in ways that infringe on my ability to engage in those activities whenever and however I want. Do you folks really not see what a bunch of crybabies you are? Wah, you have to spend $5 for a pack of cigs. Wah, you can’t light up wherever you want. Wah, people nag you to quit. Get fucking over it and get on with your lives, already.

**musicguy** , I was very careful to _not_ accuse _all_ smokers of leaving their butts all over the damn place. If you don’t do so, thank you very much and more power to you. From my observations, however, you are among a distinct minority of smokers who do not behave as if the world is their ashtray.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507.md?page=4)

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-cigarette-prices/109507.md?page=6)
