Sorry to say it, but I’m with malkavia. Of course smoking is an unhealthy habit. Just like driving too fast, eating fatty foods and avoiding physical exercise. But unless it interferes with my health or comfort, I’m perfectly happy with people to smoke. I think it’s terribly rude to harass smokers or tell them how disgusting their habit it and how bad they are.
Various posters:
**Would you be equally disdainful of a fat person enjoying a less-than-perfectly-healthy meal? Would you tell them that their their appearance sickens you, that their over-eating is costly and unhealthy, that they are spineless and weak? That they are sick?
Of course not. And there’s no need to so damn rude to smokers.
I have no desire to be rude to smokers. They don’t need to be nagged—they’ve heard it all before. I’m fat, I don’t need anyone nagging me about what I eat. I’ve heard it all before.
I have friends who smoke and at my old job I often hung out with the smokers. They were fun to talk to. I never nagged them. We got along fine.
But please, with that all said, I do have a message for all you smokers: Don’t delude yourselves. I have never told a smoker this to their face, but the fact is, YOU ALL STINK. Because cigarettes stink, and you smoke them.
Once more, with feeling. YOU STINK.
This is not something I say to smokers in person, because that would be rude. Nonetheless, it is a hard fact. Don’t get your knickers in a twist, you don’t know how you smell, because you smoke. I don’t know how big my ass looks from behind, because I don’t see my ass from behind. But I’m sure it’s big. And I’m sure that’s as much of a fact as the fact that smokers stink.
Please don’t put on the poor abused victim act because we present you with the truth on this one. You stink.
I don’t necessarily want people reminding me that my ass is big, but then again, I’m not denying that my ass is big, am I? So stop denying that you stink, OK?
I also have no desire to be rude to smokers. And I’m a little heavy, too. But my eating dessert and being 20 pounds overweight isn’t going to give someone else cancer, or make their clothes stink or trigger an asthma attack.
I think people who smoke just honestly have NO IDEA how bad they really smell. The cigarettes cloud their nasal passages and they can’t smell anything.
The worst is that old stale smokey smell that trails after them. It’s just horrible.
And it’s not just you. Your house stinks, your car stinks, your office stinks, your dog stinks, your hair stinks, your clothes stink…all of it.
I have friends who are smokers. I can’t recall any time I might have said anything on this board about smoking that you would have taken offense to, so I can’t really answer that part of the question. The smokers amoungst my friends have all heard me say very simply, that I would wish a gentler death for them than the one that smoking can cause. Lung cancer is a painful, horrible death and I have watched two friends die from it. My father is currently dying from emphazema and his passing is horrible to watch. He constantly struggles to breath, to catch his breath, to try to get a full lungful of air. He walks the length of the house and has to sit down and try to catch his breath.
But we all must make our choices and I have only mentioned it to each my friends once. If you are a smoker, I hope for your sake that you are not affected by the diseases that smoking can cause. Dad didn’t think he would be and will still swear that it wasn’t smoking that caused his problems. (Just as I’m sure that neither beer nor chocolate is making me overweight.)
Yes it is. But since it is not actually directed at anyone specific, nope not gonna land me in jail.
And if I come up to you as a complete stanger and say something extremely rude (not just the words but they way they are said), and you’ve had a bad day leading up to it, AND the action that prompted my statement was within the norms of polite society, what are you going to do? Smile and wave? I don’t f^@king think so.
I went and did it again. I read through this thread and again I’m appalled.
I just want to make one more point. I was JUST talking to my mother, not even 15 minutes ago and I told her that I smoke. She had no idea. I asked her if she’s ever smelled smoke on me and she said no.
Do you really think that my own mother has a bad sniffer? Maybe she has a nose that just doesn’t smell this “stink” that all you non-smokers seem to be smelling.
SHE doesn’t smoke. So really, I don’t know what reasons you are going to come up with to justify the fact that she doesn’t smell anything on me.
And if anyone of my friends ever said anything half as rude as what the posting non-smokers are saying HERE, I would politely tell them to “KISS MY ASS.”
I’m certainly not rude to my smoking friends. It saddens me to see them destroying their lungs but I’m not obnoxious to them. I certainly would never say anything to a stranger about their smoking habits…unless they were smoking in the non-smoking section. And even then I would be polite!
After reading this post and making the fat person = smoker connection, I think I will even be less inclined to say anything to my smoking friends. They’ll quit when they’re ready.
Maybe she does. We don’t know your mother. A lot of people are insensitive to certain smells. How do we know what the scenario is there?
For all we know, she may be the only one. Or, you could be one of the rare people who, for whatever reason, has habits that reduce the smell in certain controlled situations. Whatever. How would we know? It doesn’t change the fact that the vast majority of us nonsmokers here claim that the smokers we encounter STINK. Here, I’ll repeat it again: SMOKERS STINK!
First off, you asked us.YOU started this thread. We are not coming up to you and telling you that you stink. And I for one would never tell you that to your face, because it would be rude. But this is a message board, not Real Life, and I see no reason to conceal the truth. Smokers stink.
While this thread started as a poll to ask us what we tell our smoking friends, it has strayed into other areas. One of them is the stink. You want to delude yourself into thinking that smokers don’t necessarily stink. and we non-smokers are trying to disabuse you of your delusion. Sorry, but we’re only sharing our own perspective on this. Too bad it isn’t what you wanted to hear, but it doesn’t automatically mean that we are rude or mean. We are just telling you what we smell. Because maybe, just maybe, we smell things you don’t. Inconceivable, I know, to consider the possibility that some people may have a differing (and equally valid) perspective on the topic, (and one that you do not like) but those are the breaks.
If you didn’t want to be confronted with opinions that distress you, you needn’t have started the thread. I’m not condoning the habit confronting smokers in real life (I don’t have a habit of doing it to my smoking friends) but newsflash—this is not “real life”, this is a message board. And yes, once more with feeling, SMOKERS STINK.
This is just uncalled for. You seriously have some self-esteem issues as well as anger management issues to post this kind of crap. To look at a group of people that you yourself used to be a part of with such venom and hatred for a habit they engage in, is truly appalling. I can’t believe more people on this thread haven’t called you out on this…this…words fail me. :mad:
I’m a light smoker (a pack a week, if that even) and many people are suprised when they find out I smoke. They honestly had no idea. Guess I can’t reek that bad.
I think what a lot of the self-rightous non-smokers don’t realize is that lecturing a smoker will do nothing to make them quit. If anything, it’ll keep them puffing away just to spite you. What gives you the right to lecture someone - a fellow adult mind you, of a personal habit? I don’t care what your intentions are, it’s none of your business. It’s not as if they don’t know it’s bad for them. Christ. As long as they’re considerate (i’m very considerate, I can’t even comphrehend smoking anywhere indoors, I live in California, and won’t even smoke outside if i’m anywhere near a non-smoker, to give you an idea, I once sat on a bench that someone else was sitting on the other end of. I wanted a smoke, but would not light up until the other person did, in case they didn’t smoke. I didn’t want them to have to breathe in my smoke.)
A hint to the smokers: when I was outside (halfway through the parking lot, I won’t stand by the door) having a smoke, a co-worker came out and decided it was a good time for an anti-smoking lecture. I just nodded at him and smiled and didn’t say a word the whole time even when he paused for my response. He just got flustered and walked away. Worth a shot eh?
Even in Maryland, Iyou can’t escape it. Laws be damned, people cluster right outside of doors to smoke. It filters inside, and if I’m anywhere near the door to my place of business, I can’t breathe.
That’s what I posted back on the first page that made some posters mad.
Some businesses (in Baltimore County, at least) have signs posted that smokers must be 50 feet away from the door.
Don’t get me wrong; if I’m in a place that allows smoking, I don’t give people crap when they light up. Even if people ask if I mind, if And I don’t give friends crap if I know they’re sensitive about it. I’m just frustrated, is all; after all, shouldn’t I be able to go to a bar or a concert and enjoy myself like anyone else? I see it as almost like a lack of accomodation for my disability. Why should I have to move 3,000 miles to hae a disability accomodated?
And as for the people who light up in enclosed, public places where smoking is specifically prohibited, like the subway: they should all be ticketed, as the law provides. My sister: well, that’s a whole other thread.
I don’t want to appear to be a pro-smoke militant.
I agree that it stinks, and as a consequence, I stink (though I insist that it stinks of burning leaves).
I agree that it’ll kill me.
I agree that non-smokers should have the right to eat/drink/etc. in a smoke-free environment (even I find some Dublin pubs too smoky).
I agree with Eva Luna’s final statement too.
But I don’t agree with the conditioned response that some non-smokers have about the habit. It’s a terrible habit, but it’s part of society, like it or not. Eva’s case of athsma is an exception to the general complaints, but for the most part, please, walking past people who are smoking on the street will not make you sick. Nor will it make you stink. You hate the smell because you’ve been brought up to hate it. Diesel fumes are far nastier, smell far nastier, and they’re a lot more volumetric and all pervasive than cigarette smoke.
Just calling a spade a spade, lezlers. Smoking sucks, smokers are suckers, the dumbest thing I ever did as a teenager was start smoking, and I’m a far, far better person for having quit. What’s appalling? Perhaps my description cuts a little too close to the bone for you? … Spite me! Puff away! It hurts you far more than it hurts me, believe me.
And who’s lecturing? To reiterate: I never harangue colleagues or strangers, but people do often come to me and ask me how they might become a happy ex-smoker too.
Of course, they can never seem to follow through with it, why? They are junkies. They are trapped in the fierce grip of addiction, and not strong enough to resist that first genuine craving.
Well gee, you found me out. :rolleyes: I just want to be as cool as you, I want to look down on and say horrible things about a group of people so that I can feel better about myself. Please, RTA wont you teach me? Won’t you teach me to be as hateful, condesending, self-rightous and judgemental as you? pretty pretty please??
No. I’m sorry, but no. I hate it because it smells bad to me. I have always hated it. My parents both smoke heavily (well, not Dad any more, but he would if he could) and I can remember from a very young age how the smell would ruin dinner, ruin breakfast and on weekends would ruin lunch. Now that I am an adult, I won’t eat with my parents because the smell still ruins my dinner. Even though I have explained this, Mom thinks it is because I hate her cooking. To you it may smell good, but please don’t try to tell me that I hate it because I was brought up to. To me, it just stinks. And yes, the smell of Diesel fumes are worse - and I would not eat with someone who smells of them either, nor would I want such smells in my home.
I honestly feel bad for people with severe asthma. My cousin has -really- severe allergies and city smog makes her incredibly sick. Because of this, she chooses to live as far from the inner city as possible. Is it unfortunate that she has to alter her life because she has a disability? Definitely. But should we ban automobiles and factories in the city so that she (along with a very small percentage of society) can breathe comfortably here?
Of course not.
Oh, the things I would like to say to RTA.
