# I smoke. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2002, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468 "2002-09-07T21:16:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/21 "2002-09-08T00:12:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by essvee \* > \*\*You can justify the existence of cars. If you didn’t live in NYC, there’s a very good chance you’d be driving. \*\* Right but does everyone always drive when they need to? I mean, do you need to drive to the Packers game? You can watch it on TV. Do you need to go on a cross country road trip to bond with your friends? You can stay at home and do each other’s nails. And watch the Packer game while you’re at it. What the hell. If you’ve ever driven a car for simply for your own enjoyment then you’ve polluted the air and endagered the lives of others much worse than I have but for the same reasons I have. Your rights end at the end of your tailpipe, man. And your bumper too, Larry Leadfoot. > [@](#): > > **It’s my personal theory that these otherwise intelligent people turn into raving paranoiacs on the subject of smoking because, deep down, they are terrified, TERRIFIED, that they are giving themselves cancer and cannot bear to think about it. So they vociferously attack even the mildest anti-smoking observation.** Nah, my OP was rather well tempered. Sarcastic, wry and obnoxious, sure, but there was no screaming urgency to it. In my experience, however, people who _don’t_ smoke can be quite boisterous in their righteous indignation. Oh and I’m not exactly terrified about cancer. I mean if I quit smoking and don’t get lung cancer, I can still get pancreatic cancer or have a heart attack, or get hit by a crosstown bus, or brained with a waffle iron by an ex-lover. I’m severely comfortable with my own mortality. > [@](#): > > **As everyone must know now, I don’t drive. Can I bitch at you now?** Well if you can also establish that you’ve never dented any skulls in a drunked bar room brawl, I suppose I’ll allow it. Unless you’re one of those guys on mass transit that _doesn’t_ stand clear of the closing doors. Ooooh, I hates them. ---
**Author:** ![LolaBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LolaBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaBaby)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/22 "2002-09-08T00:14:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > \*\ ***Alphagene** - try my method of quitting - get pregnant. > > wha? > > Seriously - the only thing, and I **do** mean the only thing keeping me from smoking again is the knowledge that I’d have to quit again. And I couldn’t face that. \*\* Ouch, **wring**. That’s how I quit. That and drinking. I even held out over the year of breastfeeding. Unfortunately I am weak, and I eventually went back. :smack: My name is Lois, and I am a smoker and a drinker. :o (Now was that so hard?) ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/23 "2002-09-08T00:20:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pldennison \* > **According to about a zillion Google links, the single most common cause of house fire fatalities in the United States is careless smoking.** And in 1994, [car crashes related to careless drinking](http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drving.htm) cost the U.S. $45 billion in direct cost, loss of earnings and household productivity. And killed 40,716 people. I never said smoking was without danger, but neither is drinking. And people seldom get all up in my grill about boozing it up. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/24 "2002-09-08T00:30:02Z")
‘Bitch away, Pedro. But you do yourself and humanity a disservice if you unfairly generalize people who smoke and imply that people who enjoy a smoke are scum and that you are a superior life form for not smoking.’ Garrison Keillor is wry. Wry you’re not, Gene baby. For the record, I don’t think you are scum for smoking. I do think, however, that you are flailing about for rationalizations in a most amusing fashion. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/25 "2002-09-08T00:45:47Z")
Actually, Essvee, I saw him as countering the rationalizations of people who want to get angry at smokers. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/26 "2002-09-08T01:19:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alphagene \* > \*\* > > **But your second hand smoke is killing _me_!** > See that Celica in the parking lot, Oberon? The one you drove here? That thing constantly cranks out hundreds of cubic meters of poisony toxicy fumes from the minute you turn the ignition to the time you shut her off and pop out your Whitesnake tape. On a horridly bad day I’ll smoke a dozen cigarettes. Most of them in my own apartment. Plus I don’t drive. So who’s polluting the air more? > \*\* Hmmm. Any chance of getting a catalytic convertor put on your cigarette? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/27 "2002-09-08T01:28:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Well if you can also establish that you’ve never dented any skulls in a drunked bar room brawl, I suppose I’ll allow it. Unless you’re one of those guys on mass transit that doesn’t stand clear of the closing doors. Ooooh, I hates them. Free of both. (I don’t drink, either.) Trouble with _argumentum ad hominem tu quoque_ is that once in a while you get someone to say _ego non quoque_. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/28 "2002-09-08T01:52:07Z")
**Hmmm. Any chance of getting a catalytic convertor put on your cigarette?** The minute I the EPA determines I fail to meet the applicable emission standards of my region, I’d be happy to. **Trouble with argumentum ad hominem tu quoque is that once in a while you get someone to say ego non quoque.** Um OK? Be a dear and help me out with the fallacies here, Carrie Nation. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/29 "2002-09-08T01:57:59Z")
Dear Smoking guy: As an ex-smoker I feel I have the right to criticize you, and exercise smug superiority at any and all times. My friends who still smoke take issue with this. Could you please set them straight? btw: You really should quit, you know? It’s not at all an attractive habit and you’ll feel so much better when you stop. All it will take is cosmic willpower like I have, but it’s a shame that **you** can’t seem to stop. Here, I’ll help you. All I need to do is lecture for six hours or so, so let’s begin… ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/30 "2002-09-08T02:06:12Z")
Since you asked so nicely, Betty Ford, the trouble with a “‘you also’ argument to the person” is that once in a while you get someone to say “not ‘me also’”. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/31 "2002-09-08T02:09:02Z")
The arguement, “I should be able to do this because others do that” is kinda weak. How about showing me a benefit of smoking? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/32 "2002-09-08T02:55:41Z")
I odn’t know about you, **mayberrydan** , I sure as hell don’t want to live in a world where behavoir has to have a concrete benefit. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/33 "2002-09-08T02:58:42Z")
> [@](#): > > How about showing me a benefit of smoking? Population control. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/34 "2002-09-08T03:00:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mayberrydan \* > \*\*The arguement, “I should be able to do this because others do that” is kinda weak. How about showing me a benefit of smoking? \*\* Not that an activity has to have a “benefit”, a “need” or any sort of justification, but what the hell, I can name two: 1. It apparently feels good. Per first-hand evidence in this thread, coffee, beer and tequila taste better with/after a cigarette. (I think they’re wrong about coffee: you can’t improve on perfection, but having never smoked…tobacco…\* I can’t state 100% that they’re wrong) 2. (and far more important) It pisses off shrieky smoking facists. I have considered taking up smoking just so I could light up and puff smoke in the face of a shrieky smoking facist who’s annoying one friend or another in a public smoke-allowed place. Fenris, more annoyed by shrieky smoking facists than by considerate smokers \*Read that phrase in a Bella Lugosi voice “I never drink…wine…” ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/35 "2002-09-08T03:32:10Z")
**Manda JO** - True, not everything has to have a benefit, but this particular activity has so many negatives that there probably should be one somewhere. **SPOOFE** > [@](#): > > _originally posted by spoofe_ > Population control. True… but why does it have to smell so bad? **Fenris** > [@](#): > > _originally posted by Fenris_ > Not that an activity has to have a “benefit”, a “need” or any sort of justification, but what the hell, I can name two: see above > [@](#): > > 1. It apparently feels good. Per first-hand evidence in this thread, coffee, beer and tequila taste better with/after a cigarette. (I think they’re wrong about coffee: you can’t improve on perfection, but having never smoked…tobacco…\* I can’t state 100% that they’re wrong) > > 2. (and far more important) It pisses off shrieky smoking facists. I have considered taking up smoking just so I could light up and puff smoke in the face of a shrieky smoking facist who’s annoying one friend or another in a public smoke-allowed place. I have to say I agree with number two. I can’t say I have an opinion on number one as I don’t smoke, hate coffee, and can’t drink alcohol (doesn’t agree with me). I’m not trying to come accross as an anti-smoking facist, but I just don’t see an upside to it and for me, an upside HAS to be there. I guess I just don’t understand smoking and am just looking for answers for my own curiosity. Incidentally, in Canada, smoking costs like 7 bucks/pack or so (which I guess is like 5 or so American). ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/36 "2002-09-08T03:49:58Z")
Don’t forget the bleeding rectal ulcers and the Alzheimer’s. I sold out last Thursday, and now my ass hurts and I have trouble rememb… …what? Though I _have_ discovered that Miller High Life does indeed taste like carbonated cat piss. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/37 "2002-09-08T03:54:46Z")
**Mayberrydan** : > [@](#): > > I guess I just don’t understand smoking and am just looking for answers for my own curiosity. For me, the answer is (was–I quit three and a half years ago) that nicotene is a Great Fucking Drug. It’s the only drug I’ve ever done that calmed down my nerves while keeping up my energy level, all while leaving my brain clear. I’d give up caffene and alcohol (and chocolate) in a heartbeat if I could have sweet nicotene without consequences. Now, it may not be this way for everyone–different personalities react to different drugs diffrerently–but nicotene did a better job of addressing my own personal bundle of neurosies than anything else I ever encountered. Saying “I liked the way it made me feel” is like saying " ihave sex because it feels good"–technically true, but dosesn’t begin to get across why it would be so hard to give up. Plus, it was a great way to meet people–chatting in small groups of people you don’t know and who are from a wide variety of social backgrounds is my favorite social mileu, and you only get that with smking, in my experience. I had more fun–and learned more about people-sitting in front of a University building spending the hour between classes smoking than I ever did in at any party, bar, vlub, or other formal gathering. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/38 "2002-09-08T04:01:06Z")
**Mayberrydan** : > [@](#): > > I guess I just don’t understand smoking and am just looking for answers for my own curiosity. For me, the answer is (was–I quit three and a half years ago) that nicotene is a Great Fucking Drug. It’s the only drug I’ve ever done that calmed down my nerves while keeping up my energy level, all while leaving my brain clear. I’d give up caffene and alcohol (and chocolate) in a heartbeat if I could have sweet nicotene without consequences. Now, it may not be this way for everyone–different personalities react to different drugs diffrerently–but nicotene did a better job of addressing my own personal bundle of neurosies than anything else I ever encountered. Saying “I liked the way it made me feel” is like saying " ihave sex because it feels good"–technically true, but dosesn’t begin to get across why it would be so hard to give up. Plus, it was a great way to meet people–chatting in small groups of people you don’t know and who are from a wide variety of social backgrounds is my favorite social mileu, and you only get that with smking, in my experience. I had more fun–and learned more about people-sitting in front of a University building spending the hour between classes smoking than I ever did in at any party, bar, vlub, or other formal gathering. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/39 "2002-09-08T04:16:43Z")
**Manda JO** - genuinely enlightening, thanks 🙂 Congrats on being able to quit by the way. A few friends of mine have tried and were both unable to. When I asked them why they smoke, or started to smoke, (I really do try to ask politely) they never really give me an answer they feel confident about. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468/40 "2002-09-08T05:05:56Z")
“Smoker” is no longer politically correct. The modern term is “people of smoke”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoke/127468.md?page=3)