# On Asking Smokers Not To **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 25, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709 "2010-05-25T15:48:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/101 "2010-05-27T20:02:33Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Tobacco smoke can and does trigger migraines and asthma attacks in people, sometimes even people who are otherwise healthy. Even a little whiff of smoke can do it. Probably a little whiff of smoke won’t have other health problems, but let’s not pretend that tobacco smoke is completely harmless to people who aren’t smoking. How far should people go out of their way to accommodate people with unusually delicate health? Should I ask everyone around me if they have a peanut allergy before I eat a peanut butter sandwich? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/102 "2010-05-27T20:35:40Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > But they weren’t complaining about _her_ smelling. They were specifically complaining that they could tell, while they were in their office and she was in her office, with all intervening doors closed, and so on and so on, each and every time she lit a cigarette. That no one else in the entire department of nonsmokers could smell. > > They were also generally known as whiny bitches, which is why no one in the department really cared. > > Or, of course, it could be that the EVVVVIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS of smoking had overtaken the entire non-smoking population of the department, except for these two brave souls, who were righteously standing up for Truth, Freedom, and The American Way. > > Good great gods above, below, inbetween and nonexistent - it’s pathetic the lengths some people will go to in their insistence that ALL SMOKERS ARE EVIL and ALL NONSMOKERS ARE ABUSED BY EVIL SMOKERS, now innit? Thanks for being so helpful in making that point for me. Funny-when you post like that I can almost hear the voice of Homer Simpson, Overact much? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/103 "2010-05-27T20:44:21Z")
Do most smokers actually know what they smell like? The smell from the cigarette is only one part of it-the smell is in your breath, your clothes, your skin, the walls of the room you smoke in, the upholstery of the vehicle you drive, the clothes of those close to you, the books you read…hell, the list goes on and on and on. With some of you it smells as if you pulled your clothes from a burning building, rinsed them off and wore them. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/104 "2010-05-27T21:13:26Z")
So? As far as I can tell, MOST people don’t know what they smell like, because the majority of them are not exactly springtime fresh. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/105 "2010-05-27T21:18:42Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > So? As far as I can tell, MOST people don’t know what they smell like, because the majority of them are not exactly springtime fresh. MOST people haven’t had their sense of smell and taste deadened by inhaling smoke for years on end. I can take a bath and wash my clothes if I smell a bit-it’s going to take a lot more than that to stop a smoker from smelling like last week’s fire sale. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/106 "2010-05-27T21:59:09Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > How far should people go out of their way to accommodate people with unusually delicate health? Should I ask everyone around me if they have a peanut allergy before I eat a peanut butter sandwich? No, but you should ask before you walk up to them and rub the peanut butter sandwich all over their face. Again; smoking is a special case because it fills the air and affects other people directly. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/107 "2010-05-27T22:57:17Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > MOST people haven’t had their sense of smell and taste deadened by inhaling smoke for years on end. I can take a bath and wash my clothes if I smell a bit-it’s going to take a lot more than that to stop a smoker from smelling like last week’s fire sale. The smell of smoke is also eliminated by bathing and washing clothes. Thing is, smokers smoke every day. And sweaters sweat every day, and people who wear too much perfume wear too much perfume every day. Everybody smells, until they bathe and wash their clothes, and then they don’t smell for a little while until they start doing whatever it is they do each day that makes them smell. Seriously, there’s nothing magical about cigarette smoke. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/108 "2010-05-27T23:45:39Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Seriously, there’s nothing magical about cigarette smoke. Really. Then you do not understand how bad smoke damage can get. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/109 "2010-05-28T00:25:07Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > No, but you should ask before you walk up to them and rub the peanut butter sandwich all over their face. Again; smoking is a special case because it fills the air and affects other people directly. If someone had walked up to her and blown clues of smoke in her face then your analogy might have some merit. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/110 "2010-05-28T01:01:53Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I have no problem sorting out smokers from non-smokers in the office because it is in their clothes and on their breath. Of course the non-smokers would be more sensitive to the situation because their sense of smell hasn’t been burned away. Or _you_ have some weird sorta paranormal olfactory ability. Can you point out which female coworkers are menstruating? Do you sometimes sniff at the air and foretell rain? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/111 "2010-05-28T01:44:43Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > If someone had walked up to her and blown clues of smoke in her face then your analogy might have some merit. If smoke didn’t move away from smokers, yours might have merit. Mine is closer. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/112 "2010-05-28T03:36:15Z")
Funny how every smoker claims to be a considerate smoker. > [@villa](#): > > Now, even as a smoker, I don’t think asking someone to stop smoking falls into the category. I generally don’t have a problem with anyone asking me to stop smoking, even in a smoking area, if they do it politely. I will, dependent on the situation, accede to their request or move. It happened recently at a race track as I did not notice my smoke was blowing straight at a table a family were sitting at. He asked if I would mind moving, I moved… At a casino in AC, when I waited 45 minutes for a seat at the Blackjack table where smoking was allowed, and the harridan sat next to me asked the dealer to ask me to stop smoking… Well, she got a hearty no. I’d say that smoking at the Blackjack table inside a casino was pretty fucking rude to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/113 "2010-05-28T04:35:21Z")
I don’t smoke now, but I used to. So I rarely ask someone outside not to smoke. There would certainly have to be an obvious sign and children present before I would say anything. That’s because I don’t think you young folks realize how much territory smokers have given up. When I was in college (I was a smoker then) we could smoke in class. We smoked at teacher workshops and at any restaurant or bar. No need to ask for the smoking section. We even smoked in theaters. And the doors of cars front and back were equipped with ashtrays. The only time that things were really unpleasant was on my first job. In a room of fifteen people, I think twelve of us smoked. There were no windows. Even in church college the dorm rooms had ashtrays. And ashtrays were a favortie Christmas or birthday gift. Most living rooms were equiped with a little ashtray on a stand. People would compete with each other to have the most chic table lighter and cigarette box. Cigarette holders themselves were a fashion item. Remember Holly Golightly’s long one in _Breakfast at Tiffanys_? So if there is no sign around and the smoker is outside, you take your life into your own hands asking the smoker to move. Smokers are not the only ones who might want to be a little more considerate. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/114 "2010-05-28T05:49:14Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > The smell of smoke is also eliminated by bathing and washing clothes. Thing is, smokers smoke every day. And sweaters sweat every day, and people who wear too much perfume wear too much perfume every day. Everybody smells, until they bathe and wash their clothes, and then they don’t smell for a little while until they start doing whatever it is they do each day that makes them smell. > > Seriously, there’s nothing magical about cigarette smoke. Really. Actually, the smell of smoke is eliminated from CLOTHES by washing. A smoker’s body, however, is infused with the smell and taste of smoke, and that smell and taste won’t go away unless the smoker hasn’t smoked for at least a couple of weeks. Smoking some tobacco will intensify the smell and taste, but that smell and taste is THERE if you’re a smoker, no matter how recently and thoroughly you’ve bathed. Similarly, if a room has had smoke in it on a regular basis, the smell will seep into the walls and furnishings. In some cases the items can be cleaned (curtains washed, etc.) but in other cases there’s no hope for it. When I began seeing a new dentist, one of the things I asked was whether he or any of his staff that would work closely with me were sensitive to scent. While everyone insisted that they didn’t have any sensitivity, I decided not to wear scent when I had a dental appointment anyway. I enjoy wearing scent, and I apply it very lightly…but not everyone loves Opium as much as I do. I’ve always avoided wearing scent when I have a doctor’s appointment, because sometimes a disease gives off a certain smell, and I certainly don’t want to mask any symptom any more than I would with proper bathing. I recognize that my soap and shampoo and conditioner do have some scent, but I don’t buy stuff that has extra scent in it. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/115 "2010-05-28T05:58:10Z")
> [@InterestedObserver](#): > > As a 16 yr vegetarian, I am offended by the fumes from cooking meat. But I deal with it. I don’t demand everyone refrain from meat cooking/eating. But rather ironic to be seated in the non-smoking area of a restaurant only to be assaulted with the second-hand smoke from the other table’s fajita platter, delivered in a cloud of beefy smoke that pollutes the whole building. Hey, man, I don’t WANT those carcinogenic vapors! And the odor makes me sick! > > I GET that the stench of tobacco smoke Icks some out. The stench of the meat department at the grocery store (blood and rotting flesh, lovely..I hold my nose) and co-workers or classmates who scarf down their meat-laden meal next to me…EWWWW! > The aroma of the bad habits/choices of others constantly imposes on me. The aroma of your cook-out sickens me. I have to close my windows on hot days to avoid the lighter fluid and burning dead flesh fumes. Thanks. > > And I have been a non-smoker…yeah, it STINKS! Much in the way MEAT does to a vegetarian. Hey, I vote that we ban all public consumption of meat. > 😛 > P.S. And YES, perfumes/synthethic “fresheners” give me an all day headache! Stick to the essential oils and remember, “a little dab 'el do you!” Cut it the fuck OUT! (IME, only Chanel #5 and Laugerfeld fail to aggrivate my head.) I too have been a vegetarian for 16 years (since age 12, with much resistance from my family and knowing not a single other vegetarian–believe me, I’m no fan of meat) and I hate the smell of meat cooking and also hate perfume and most other scents (incense, fabric softener, almost anything). But cigarette smoke is totally different. No other scent that I’ve encountered lingers as much and they don’t give me headaches at all or nearly as easily (depending on the scent), they don’t make my throat hurt, and they don’t make my eyes water. My dad used to be a smoker and just from staying at his house, I would smell like smoke to the point where people would point it out, even though he never smoked in the same room as me. In my experience that is never the case with other common smells. He cooked meat too, but I never left the house smelling like meat. So I really think cigarette smoke is different. The smell is irritating, but it’s especially irritating because it’s not JUST a smell. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/116 "2010-05-28T06:38:42Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > If smoke didn’t move away from smokers, yours might have merit. Mine is closer. She walked into it so no, you’re not closer. Not even close actually. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/117 "2010-05-28T06:43:07Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Actually, the smell of smoke is eliminated from CLOTHES by washing. A smoker’s body, however, is infused with the smell and taste of smoke, and that smell and taste won’t go away unless the smoker hasn’t smoked for at least a couple of weeks. Smoking some tobacco will intensify the smell and taste, but that smell and taste is THERE if you’re a smoker, no matter how recently and thoroughly you’ve bathed. Bullshit. > [@](#): > > Similarly, if a room has had smoke in it on a regular basis, the smell will seep into the walls and furnishings. In some cases the items can be cleaned (curtains washed, etc.) but in other cases there’s no hope for it. True. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/118 "2010-05-28T13:26:34Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Actually, the smell of smoke is eliminated from CLOTHES by washing. A smoker’s body, however, is infused with the smell and taste of smoke, and that smell and taste won’t go away unless the smoker hasn’t smoked for at least a couple of weeks. Smoking some tobacco will intensify the smell and taste, but that smell and taste is THERE if you’re a smoker, no matter how recently and thoroughly you’ve bathed. One could say the same about people who drink, or eat red meat. Again, there’s nothing magical about smoke as opposed to other stinky things, no matter how hysterically people insist otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/119 "2010-05-28T13:50:18Z")
You smokers can believe that you smell of fresh cut roses after you shower all you want…but I know better. My grandfather was a chain smoker. Hell, my HUSBAND was a smoker. He’d step out of the shower, and I’d kiss him…and I could taste the smoke on his flesh. Not just his mouth, but everywhere else, too. Smokers are not just depositing the smoke on their bodies, they are INGESTING it, and it becomes part of their bodies. A very few smokers seem to not develop a smoky smell (don’t know about taste, I wasn’t on kissing terms with these people). It’s pretty well accepted that certain dietary habits will change a person’s smell, why is it so hard to accept that putting other substances in the body will also change that body’s smell? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709/120 "2010-05-28T13:54:21Z")
If you’re speaking to me, perhaps you can explain what part of my post yours addresses? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-asking-smokers-not-to/540709.md?page=7)