# SonOfArizona is an idiot (as are all people who smoke their 1st cig) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 15, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645 "2003-10-15T20:41:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![lurksfromwork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@lurksfromwork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurksfromwork)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/61 "2003-10-16T04:26:38Z")
Socrates remembered for… “death by drinking poisonous hemlock” ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/62 "2003-10-16T04:27:40Z")
You gotta love the rabid X-smoker, such as **lurksfromwork**. Personally, I think it’s a protective tactic, if they demonize the eeeeevil smokers enough, they won’t start up again. Jesus Fucking Cheeeerist, man! Ease up! Your first post was bordering on hysteria. I’ve known _tons_ of people who smoked in college and later quit. It’s not quite the horror story you’re describing. He’s not gonna immediately keel over when trying to climb a flight of stairs, smell like a walking ashtray at all times, and never find love again because he picked up a cigarette. That’s fucking _ridiculous_. These “social smokers” of which you all speak, aren’t as rare as you’re claiming them to be. I know a bunch of 'em. Usually X smokers, actually. I myself am a light smoker. I smoke anywhere from 1-4 cigs a day and can go for a VERY long time without experiencing an “all encompassing panic attack”. Like I’ve mentioned in countless smoker bashing threads on these boards, most people that know me didn’t even _know_ I smoked until I told them, or until they saw me. So your “you smell like ass, and your teeth and fingers are all yellow and you’re GOING TO HELL!” theory kinda flys right out the window, there. And parents wondering where they failed? I sincerely hope you were joking, there because that is the single _stupidest_ thing I’ve ever heard. Yeah, I’ve got an impressive job, am putting myself through law school and am entirely self sufficant. But my mother cries herself to sleep every night because I _smoke_. :rolleyes: As **Miller** said, get a little perspective. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/63 "2003-10-16T05:05:47Z")
There is a benefit to smoking. It’s the drug nicotine. I like its effects. If you don’t want to use nicotine then don’t smoke or chew. I’m an adult and I get to pick. I accept the risks I’m taking. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/64 "2003-10-16T05:49:49Z")
This thread makes me want a cigarette. Maybe I’ll bum one of my Mom’s Dunhills. . . – VarlosZ (smokes maybe 5-10 cigarettes a year) ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/65 "2003-10-16T06:09:47Z")
A family friend is dying of lung cancer. She’s in her 80s. She never smoked, but her husband did, like a chimney. Thing is, her husband died about 15 years ago and she was only diagnosed about 3 years ago. Secondhand smoke: the gift that keeps on giving. **SOA** , just quit now before you get addicted and it’s a million times harder to quit. Listen to the wise people on the boards. It’s not too late! ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/66 "2003-10-16T06:13:03Z")
Mmmmm . . . head rush. Next to the cost of cigarettes, decreased stamina, trouble breathing, higher medical costs, higher insurance premiums, yellow teeth, cancer, and death, I’d bet that the inability to get a little high from smoking has got to be the worst part about being addicted. What a shame. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/67 "2003-10-16T07:04:46Z")
I don’t get it. I remember a friend trying to get me to start when I was about 15 or 16. I took one drag, and then looked at her and, after I stopped choking, said “you’ve GOT to be kidding, this sucks”. I’ve never touched it since. BTW, this was Alaska, in the 70s and pot was legal, so it’s not that I wasn’t aware of how to smoke. Cigs are just nastier than anything. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/68 "2003-10-16T07:13:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by VarlosZ \* > \*\*Mmmmm . . . head rush. > > Next to the cost of cigarettes, decreased stamina, trouble breathing, higher medical costs, higher insurance premiums, yellow teeth, cancer, and death, I’d bet that the inability to get a little high from smoking has got to be the worst part about being addicted. What a shame. \*\* Woo-hoo! I only bear two of the above costs! Those would be cost of cigarettes and death. But one of those costs we all bear. I’m not being flip here. We’s all gonna die. Try to be nicer to people who don’t behave the way you do. We’s all different, ain’t we? 😉 Tongue firmly out of cheek, smoking is not that big a deal in the world today. That’s just my opinion but they are bigger fish to fry… ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/69 "2003-10-16T07:15:36Z")
PS, **SoA** has written posts in several other threads (older ones, I haven’t seen him around for awhile, but then, perhaps as I don’t frequent the same forums he does, he may have been around) at any rate, if I recall, he was none too bright then. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/70 "2003-10-16T10:53:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whatami \* > **Thanks, I know what an analogy is, it’s just hard to spot it when it makes no fucking sense.** Oh horseshit - Don’t make it worse - if you really want me to believe that you actually perceived it as a statement primarily addressing a supposed close similarity between smoking and self-amputation, I’ll lower my opinion of your mental capacity accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/71 "2003-10-16T12:50:43Z")
Hey **SonOfArizona** , it’s your money. Get rid of it as you wish. We live in a consumer culture and I understand how young people feel the need to associate themselves with products which elevate them in the eyes of their misguided peers. Buy a box of 20 smokes for the weekend, give half away to moochers. Pretty soon you’ll be known in the frathouse as a guy who one can always bum a smoke from. A few 20-cent, 5-minute intervals later, and you’ve got yourself some nodding acquaintances. Way to go! I read your concern about all the cool gestures and stuff that smokers can do. You should definitely practice your thoughtful, too-cool-to-be-a-loner poses in a mirror first before attempting them in public. I recommend the “jaded squinty-eyes”, for when you’re huffing directly on a butt, it makes you appear world-weary and tough. Don’t forget the “slapping the new pack repeatedly into your palm”, which not only compresses the cigs but also serves as a kind of dinner bell for your mooch brothers. It’s a way of saying “Look at me! I’m a kid with a new pack of smokes!” Also practice the following phrases, which you’ll be using a lot: “Lemme have a pack o’ (your brand name here)” (at the store), “I’ll be right back, cover me” (at work), and my favorite, “BLEAGHHHaguhaguhaguhaguhaguh” (any time!). Too cool! ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/72 "2003-10-16T13:05:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Seven \* > **Who cares if he’s going to smoke? Isn’t it HIS life and HIS body?** I care. The second it starts to affect _my_ health. It’s called second hand smoke. And it can also be deadly. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/73 "2003-10-16T13:09:56Z")
I will say, in defense of SonOfArizona, that he’s now 18 and living in a college dorm, and I’m not surprised that he’s coming into GQ (and the Pit) asking questions about sex, cigarettes, absinthe, magic mushrooms, nipples, urination, shaving, floaters in his eye, and strange dark hairs on his body. He registered in December 2002, which would have been when he was still 17, and he has consistently come across as intelligent, curious, and motivated, and I’m proud that for the most part, the SDMB has dealt with his questions kindly. So leave the kid alone, I say. We were all 18 once. Just because he’s smoking when he’s 18 doesn’t automatically condemn him to a lifelong, non-quittable addiction, or a ghastly death from lung cancer or emphysema–the Better Half was smoking when he was a teenager, and quit when he was 19. And the bit about “non-smoker girls won’t look at a smoker” is an Urban Legend IMO, because **I** , a non-smoker, once looked at a smoker, and 30 years later, I’m still looking at him. And lemme tell ya, he looks _good_… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/74 "2003-10-16T13:17:30Z")
**MonkeyWrench** : > [@](#): > > I’m not being flip here. We’s all gonna die. Try to be nicer to people who don’t behave the way you do. We’s all different, ain’t we? Oh, of course. I didn’t mean to be snarky; I just wanted to point out that it’s unfortunate that smokers don’t get to have a head rush, and I figured I’d make a little joke while I was at it. As for **SoA** , you could phrase the situation in any number of ways, but it wouldn’t be at all inaccurate to say that he’s _decided_ to start smoking in order to be cooler. This kind of attitude is why I had no interest at all in joining a fraternity during college – seriously, I can get drunk and meet people just fine without paying hundreds of dollars in dues each year. I’m stereotyping here, of course, but some people make it very easy to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/75 "2003-10-16T13:20:02Z")
But–a word to the wise for SonOfArizona… Back in 1974, I wasn’t looking at his ciggie, dear. 😉 He didn’t catch my eye because I thought his cigarette made him look “cool”. He caught my eye because he looked so fine, all by himself, with or without a prop in his hand, and the “smoking thing” was just something that he “did”. Girls–the good ones, the keepers–are looking at the kind of person you are, not at whether you look “cool” with a cigarette or not. You’ve been soaking up too much Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/76 "2003-10-16T13:25:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RTA \* > \*\*Hey **SonOfArizona** , it’s your money. Get rid of it as you wish. We live in a consumer culture and I understand how young people feel the need to associate themselves with products which elevate them in the eyes of their misguided peers. > > Buy a box of 20 smokes for the weekend, give half away to moochers. Pretty soon you’ll be known in the frathouse as a guy who one can always bum a smoke from. A few 20-cent, 5-minute intervals later, and you’ve got yourself some nodding acquaintances. Way to go! > > I read your concern about all the cool gestures and stuff that smokers can do. You should definitely practice your thoughtful, too-cool-to-be-a-loner poses in a mirror first before attempting them in public. I recommend the “jaded squinty-eyes”, for when you’re huffing directly on a butt, it makes you appear world-weary and tough. > > Don’t forget the “slapping the new pack repeatedly into your palm”, which not only compresses the cigs but also serves as a kind of dinner bell for your mooch brothers. It’s a way of saying “Look at me! I’m a kid with a new pack of smokes!” > > Also practice the following phrases, which you’ll be using a lot: “Lemme have a pack o’ (your brand name here)” (at the store), “I’ll be right back, cover me” (at work), and my favorite, “BLEAGHHHaguhaguhaguhaguhaguh” (any time!). > > Too cool! \*\* You must have jumped from 13 to 30. ---
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/77 "2003-10-16T14:12:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Oh horseshit - Don’t make it worse - if you really want me to believe that you actually perceived it as a statement primarily addressing a supposed close similarity between smoking and self-amputation, I’ll lower my opinion of your mental capacity accordingly. \*\* I’m happy to hear that your opinion of me (if you even have one) hasn’t yet been lowered! 🙂 Like I said before, I just feel like this is a decision the kid is gonna make regardless of what’s said by others here. I think that maybe it could be handled better than by making fun of him. I suppose that’s just me though. Also, I was a bit miffed about what was going on in GQ. People were not answering his **factual questions** and were instead having a go at him. GQ is not for preaching and apparently **bibliophage** agreed, since the thread has been closed. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/78 "2003-10-16T14:45:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lurksfromwork \* > \*\*Socrates remembered for… > “death by drinking poisonous hemlock” \*\* He also found time to invent the Socratic method and create his own philosophy that served as the basis for much of Western thought from his own era until now. Y’know, when he wasn’t quaffing noxious chemicals. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/79 "2003-10-16T15:15:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnoopyFan \* > \*\ ***SOA** , just quit now before you get addicted and it’s a million times harder to quit. Listen to the wise people on the boards. It’s not too late! \*\* [hijack]I just wanted to inform everyone that **SOA** is actually a dutch acronym for “sexually transmitted disease” (seksueel overdraagbare aandoeningen). Kind of makes the whole thread even **more** surreal[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645/80 "2003-10-16T15:28:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whatami \* > **I’m happy to hear that your opinion of me (if you even have one) hasn’t yet been lowered! 🙂** Ah, I should probably calm down now. I flew right off the handle and I’m sorry; there’s just something about that rolleyes smiley that heats my blood to boiling point in a very short space of time, but you weren’t to know that and it’s my problem anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonofarizona-is-an-idiot-as-are-all-people-who-smoke-their-1st-cig/207645.md?page=5)