Non smoker here - I have never smoked and as such I seem to be a bit more relaxed about it than ex-smokers.
Several of my pals smoke, that’s their choice. I think they’re berks, but they are free to be berks. I only have a real problem when the smoke level gets too high eg a crowded pub.
THis months Viz defines those lepers smoking outside smoke-free buildings as “snoutcasts”. I like that.
Lifelong non-smoker here. I prefer a smoke-free environment, and if I’m in a position where I can reasonably ask people not to smoke (my own home, for instance), I’ll do it.
I have some friends who smoke. And if they ask for my opinion on their habit, they’ll get it. But I don’t, generally, deliver it unsolicited.
I’m with Steve above. I don’t mind smokers, although the smoke itself makes me pretty sick. (Nose plugged solid, headache, sore throat) --so if I am around smokers, we must socialize outside, or I have to leave. I have changed seats in a restaurant because I can’t breathe around smoke.
I am pretty snotty to smokers in a non-smoking area, especially one I can’t avoid (like a gov’t building), but smokers in smoking areas or outside or in bars can do what they like, and shouldn’t have to put up with my BS. Chocolate isn’t so good for me, but you don’t see me giving up my vice.
Yes I have friends who smoke. I find it irritating, and I do have less respect for the more addicted, that are unable to keep it out of my face. I wouldn’t let anyone smoke in my home.
I would no longer date people who smoke though.
I’m dating a smoker. shrug She doesn’t smoke in my house or car or while we’re eating. Her outside smoke breaks usually equal my outside “damn, it’s cold” breaks, though. I’m just glad she’s not a chain smoker…
No, I don’t give smokers shit unless they smoke in a non-smoking section of a restaurant where I’m eating.
I’m one of those annoying people who bugs my friends to stop smoking. As a matter of fact, I often steal Daerlyn’s cigarettes.
Yes my friends smoke, and it bugs the hell out of me. They’re gonna kill themselves, and me along with them.
See, this is something I can’t get my head round. I know smoking is terrible and all the bad things about second-hand smoke, yadda yadda yadda. But at the end of the day, it’s only burning vegetation. You used to have to walk near a few people who were burning a very small amount of leaves. You don’t have to breathe the smoke in, you’re in contact with it for maybe a second at most. Do you dislike burning leaves, or do you dislike the concept of smoking? Should buses and trucks be prevented from driving within 50 feet of store doorways?
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Why is this comment out of bounds, it’s the absolute truth. Smokers can be the nicest persons in the world but they reek to high heaven to non-smokers, and it is usually a nasty old ashtray kind of smell. It’s like being around someone who travels around with dogshit on their shoes all the time. If they can’t smell it they have no clue how they smell to others. It’s a viscerally disgusting smell.
I’ve never smoked in my life, and I’m asthmatic. My sister is a light smoker, and my mom is a social smoker (but just bums cigs off other people). None of my good friends smoke, and the last time I dated a smoker was at age 18. (He was a 2-pack-a-day smoker; we’re still good friends, and he’s cut down significantly, but I still give him crap over it. He doesn’t mind; I just hate to see him waste his money and his health on tobacco.)
There is no smoking allowed in my house, obviously, or my mom’s house. My sister, who is a pain in the ass on a number of levels, knows damn well that sometimes even a secondhand puff will set off my asthma, but still lights up sometimes when I’m at her house. That’s generally my clue to go home, although she swears it isn’t, and that she should be able to smoke in her own apartment. This may well be true, but I also think it’s rude to invite someone over and then proceed to do something that is almost 100% likely to make her violently ill.
I hate the smell, too, but it’s really the least of it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to leave a bar, club, restaurant, or concert because of my reaction to the smoke. It’s very frustrrating, and I’d definitely have a more active social life (and see a lot more live music) if more places were nonsmoking. Let’s face it; a smoking section is not even close to 100% protection for my lungs.
It’s not just burning vegetation, it is burning vegetation that smells foul and gives off toxic fumes.
It’s very hard to avoid because the smoke doesn’t stay in one point. It spreads out, so in a circle of 10 metres radius (more for low quality tobacco) you get hit.
I’d be against people burning leaves near entrances to stores too.
RE: Cars and buses: If they parked in the middle of the sidewalk for 5 minutes while running and spewing diesel exhaust, yeah, I’d be against that too. But as it is, they drive by about 40 feet away and are gone in seconds.
You really think that people should have to hold there breath to walk into the store? Are you serious?
there=their
Eh. Whatever. You know what I meant. Grammar has never been my strong point! 
It’s not just burning vegetation. It stinks. It smells bad. It’s toxic. It gets in your clothes and hair and is impossible to get that smell out without thorough washing.
Smokers don’t realize how bad they smell until they quit smoking.
Yes, you do have to breathe the smoke in when there is a cluster of smokers right in front of a doorway.
Smokers have rights, sure, but I have a right to be able to get into a store without having to walk through a toxic cloud of cigarette smoke, too.
I didn’t even like the smell of cigarette smoke when I smoked! I wouldn’t smoke in my apartment or house, and hated that my car smelled like smoke. After I quit, I realized that it was even worse than I thought. I can smell a smoker even if they just walk past my desk. Now I’m so glad we never smoked in the house, so I didn’t have to scrub everything down when we (my husband and I) quit.
My friends who smoked quit about the same time I did, but being around smokers doesn’t bother me, except for the smell in my clothes / hair afterwards, but I get that from going to the bar anyway. I don’t offer my opinion or criticize smokers unless asked for my opinion, or about how I quit. I know what it’s like to be a smoker, and being harassed / lectured does not help. Seeing people who have successfully quit and are happy does. A smoker will not quit until they are ready.
I would not allow someone to smoke in my house or car, but it would be fine if we were outside, like in our yard.
As a recent ex smoker, I do notice the smell now, and you are right, it isn’t pleasant. (Though sometimes it still amkes me think about really wanting a smoke…) I was also a considerate smoker. I would not smoke when with non smokers or would go elsewhere to do so. As for the walking inside with smokers outside the doorway, get over it. You sent smokers outside to smoke. They (formerly we) went outside. You pass by them in 1 second. I also on a daily basis pass my old group of smoking friends when I walk inside. Yes, I can smell the smoke. No, I am not the biggest fan of it. But I am only out there for 1 second. Anytime you walk outside you breathe fumes from vehicles that also pass by in seconds. Only there ae alot more of those. You want to complain, then tell the government to ban all forms of pollution. Smoke from cigarettes outside probably ranks way below some other toxins you breathe on a regular basis. I do not wnat to be around cigarette smoke, but I do not have the right to tell someone doing something legal in a public place to not do it. Get off your high horses.
Yes it is.
I agree it’s unpleasant in enclosed spaces, and that you shouldn’t have to be exposed to large amounts of it if you don’t want to - and if the smoke is blowing into the store then you have grounds for complaint. But walking past people outside who are smoking will not make your clothes and hair smell. It may stink, but it stinks of burning vegetation. You walk through clouds of diesel and gasoline fumes every day - does this irritate you as much? Or is there a possibility that your perception of tobacco smoke has been colored, just a little, by your perception of smoking itself?
I had an interesting experience in an elevator Monday. I was in the elevator already, when a man and woman came in together. The man was “jokingly” giving her a hard time about smoking, and the woman obviously didn’t appreciate it.
He turned to me and said, “do you smoke?” I said “no.” He said “You see her? She smokes.” He obviously wanted me to join in ribbing her. I said “She knows it’s bad for her. I don’t need to tell her that.” Then we rode in uncomfortable silence for the remaining 50 floors or so.
Sheesh. If you’re an adult, I’m not going to give you a hard time about smoking. You know exactly what it’s doing to you.
Fortunately, none of my very close friends or family smokes. I would probably encourage them to quit, but only if they are very close friends or family.
Other friends of mine do smoke, but they are always considerate about it, so I have no cause to complain.
And jjimm, those knots of smokers are usually under overhangs or in semi-enclosed spaces. People don’t usually burn piles of leaves in those conditions.
The fact of the matter is that I feel that my rights as a non-smoker supersede the rights of the smoker. If I am in their space (home, vehicle, or bar), then I have to put up with it. It’s my choice to be there. But in the vast majority of cases, I should be free to go about my business without having to breathe their toxic fumes. (FWIW, I think that smoking areas should be provided for smokers.)
Well, it wasn’t me who put up the signs. It was the stores. I was just happy to see them.
I’m not on any high horse about it, either. I just hated walking through a knot of smokers outside every entrance.
Next time I go to the store, I’ll look at it more closely. I think it made mention of a county code which required the smokers to be 50 feet away. I don’t remember ever voting on something like that, but someone wanted it on the books, so there it is.
This is in Maryland, BTW, which has some pretty stringent anti-smoking laws.
Are you asserting it is just plane jane tobacco leaves in your cigarette? And thats it? Nothing else?
So there’s nothing in your cigarette but some leaves? Nothing else?
:rolleyes: