I sympathise with those who suffer from allegeries. As a former smoker I can see this from both sides. Where would you propose that smokers go? We should be reasonable about these things. Smokers already have to go outside to have a cigarette. Is the smell of smoke that bad? I find the smell of perfume far more objectionable. What about body odor? I would rather have somebody smoking next to me than somebody who doesn’t use deodorant.
How do the most fervent of you anti-smokers travel? I recall from the year I spent at a university in France that a much higher proportion of the population smoked. The university had only banned smoking during lecture the previous year. I don’t recall seeing any non-smoking sections in restaurants, there was an ashtray at every table. Those of you who object to the smokers at the entrance of a building probably shouldn’t visit.
There are some things that you have to live with when you function in society. Everyone has habits which can grate on someone’s nerves, smoking is one of them.
Simply put, smoking where non-smokers have no choice but to inhale your smoke is just plain wrong.
Smoking outside a doorway where people entering and leaving will have no choice but to inhale your smoke is inconsiderate, but at least it is momentary. Smoking outside someones window just seems wrong, especially if it is illegal to smoke there.
As to brujo, who asked how we deal with it when we travel, all I can say is that I either wouldn’t go there or I’d have to deal with it then. At least it would then be my choice, not yours. The OP was about having the smoke forced upon them, not voluntarily going someplace where there was known to be smoke. Huge difference.
Well, looks like we’ve covered the allergy aspect fairly well…
The last time I was around cigarette smoke, I was coughing up thick yellow crud for five days, sounded like a frog, and couldn’t get more than an hour or so of sleep at a time because of all of the coughing. Not Fun[sup]tm[/sup]. And it wasn’t like I was in a smoke-filled bar, or the like. Just a standard bar-and-grill in that lull time between lunch and dinner when there were only a handful of people there, and only a couple of those people smoking. The smell of cigarette smoke (especially the stale smoke) is enough to make me want to involuntarily decorate said smelly person with the contents of my stomach.
So yes, if someone is smoking in a place where smoking isn’t allowed, I will get on their case. If I’m in a place that is under my control, I will ask those who reek of cigarette smoke (or strong perfume/cologne/whatever) to leave, or at the very least get downwind of me unless they wish to buy me a case or so of DayQuil. Else, if it’s a smoking-allowed place I don’t bitch about it. I simply take my business elsewhere.
Now, if those smokeless cigarettes I occasionally hear about catch on in populartity, then we’d have the major problem non-smokers have with smokers solved right there. (The littering problem that unfortunately some smokers have has been fodder for other rants already.)
What do you people who are allergic to smoking do? How bad are the symptons? I’m really curious.
When I smoked, I used to smoke outdoors near the ashtrays. I can sympathise with the OP. Most smokers in fact will smoke only in a location where the are allowed to.
As I mentioned previously, I don’t go to bars, or restaraunts where smoking is permited. I don’t go to the homes of smokers. I avoid places where I know that the smoke will be thick - there’s a jazz club here in town that I love to frequent because of the live music, but I can’t because of the smoke. Now I know that smoke is part of a jazz club, but I still can’t go.
I never object to people smoking in designated areas, but I resent the suggestions that I should just “hold my breath” when I’m trying to enter my place of work. Even if I do that, my hair and clothing will still stink, and that’s really, really disgusting.
Where should car racing enthusiasts go? Where should wrestling fans go? Where should those interested in S&M go? C’mon, let’s be reasonable about things! There should be a race track, wrestling ring and dungeon in every place of work. Otherwise people will just have to put up with getting run down, pinned to the floor and whipped by a woman in leather on their way through the front door.
Many people have personal interests and hobbies that others might find annoying or even life-threatening. But only smokers seem to think theirs is a special case that should be catered for in every location.
I didn’t think Futile was being an asshole - I think he raised a legitimate point - if you have a habit/hobby which others do not share, why should they be forced to be exposed to it? You’re not allowed to drink in public, you’re not allowed to practice S&M in public, you’re not allowed to strut around naked save for a bandana on your schlong in public, why should smoking be any different?
(And yes, I know that in some places you can do all of these things, however in most urban areas you cannot.)
WHAT?!?! You mean all those bandana-on-the-schlong guys I keep on seeing are really not allowed to do that in public? Damn.
Seriously, lezlers - what makes smokers so special? Frankly, I’d rather see more bandana-on-the-schlong guys, and less smelly smokers. Even an extremely unattractive guy with a bandana on his schlong would be prefereable - all I’d have to do is avert my eyes and not see him, or his bandana’d schlong. Not so easy ignore smelly cigarette smoke.
(I just wanted to see how many times I could fit “bandana” and “schlong” into one post…)
I’m on the non-smokers side here. If you want to smoke, go ahead and smoke. Just please do it somewhere away from me.
I seems that a lot of (inconsiderate) smokers don’t seem to want to recognize that that cloud of smoke around them is their doing -that cloud isn’t there when you’re not smoking, people!! And the smoke does travel, through windows and doorways, etc, into the lungs of people who want nothing to do with it. So just please, move away from the building, and away from the doors so that non-smokers now can CHOOSE TO AVOID YOU!!
There are some universities (I know of two in Ontario for sure) that ban smoking within 9 feet from doorways. No one listens, and fucking security doesn’t seem to care. They will, however, tackle and ticket those healthy bikers who are biking on the grass, though, because THEY are a problem… :rolleyes:
What makes smokers a special case? Selfishness. Some smokers (not all, mind you) have to get their fix and they don’t care what the consequences are to others.
What makes smoking a more socially acceptable addiction than drinking or shooting up heroin or running down the street whacking people with sticks? Why should they have special rights to indulge themselves in public and force other people to share the byproducts of it? Dammit! (There hasn’t been a good swear in this thread for a while.)
Brief hijack: What I’d like to know is if I’m really allergic to tobacco smoke itself or the chemicals added to cigarettes in processing. I’m inclined to believe it’s the chemicals but I’d have to grow my own tobacco, dry it, and burn it to find out.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Turpentine *
**You know what really gets to me?
It’s all those fat people who all have BO…they always stink up the goddamn place, INDOORS, while the smokers have to go outside.
So fucking inconsiderate!
**
[QUOTE]
A very poor analogy. Much as some smokers seem to have difficulty understanding where they stop and the cigarette starts, they are not, in actual fact, an indivisible part of their body. They do have the option to remove them from their lips.
Now you can have a go at fat, smelly people if you want. But some people do not have that much control over their size or their smell. They can’t exactly leave their body at home.
And no-one’s ever died from someone elses BO. Nor do you still smell like them long after you’ve parted company.
I think that what makes smoking so special is the fact that there are more smokers out there than say, people who want to walk around buck naked.
According to the CDC, 23% of Americans are currently smokers. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5040a1.htm When you have that many people who not only wish to do something but are addicted to the point where they feel they must do it, they are going to do it. A reasonable compromise has been made in the sense that for the most part, people don’t smoke in buildings, or public facilities.
Has anyone actually died from the effects of second hand smoke? Yes, it is inconvenient, but we all have to make compromises when functioning as a society.
Spazcat
If you really want to find out whether you are allergic to tobacco or the chemicals, have someone smoke an American Spirit around you. From what I recall, they have no chemical additives. They also taste strange compared to what other cigarettes taste like.
