# The world revolves around smokers.. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 24, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927 "2003-12-24T23:29:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Obsidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@Obsidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obsidian)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/121 "2003-12-30T09:02:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lynn Bodoni \* > \*\* I buy things from eBay too, and I know right away when they’ve come from a smoker’s house. I recently bought a glass bank shaped like an owl (I collect owls, and I particularly love owl banks) and I had to set it out in one of the storerooms for a couple of weeks, because it smelled so strongly of smoke, even after I washed it. And this was GLASS, mind you, which is not known for retaining odors readily. Fabric items can take months to completely lose the scent. When I played a collectible card trading game, I wouldn’t trade cards with smokers, because their cards stink. > \*\* I smoked a pack a day up until a year ago (Jan 7). The house I live in now has never been smoked it, and none of the furniture has ever been smoked on or around (by orders of roommate-- and it was the pathetic huddling outside in the parking lot that finally got me). When I was in college, we smoked in the appartment, all the time. I never thought is smelled like smoke at all. Well, when i was home for thanksgiving, I came across a box of stuff from college in my parents basement. So I open the damn thing, and the smell nearly gagged me. Every once in a while I’ll open a book that I’ve had for a long time and catch a wiff-- some of these items have been in a smoke free house for 2 years and still they smell. I admit to still having the occasional cigarette now and then. After a few months I only remember how much I liked it & miss it, and will break down and bum one off someone. I’ll have a few puffs, gag, grab some mouthwash and move on. But every single time I do that, the second I walk in the door, **PucksRaven** is all “You were smoking, weren’t you?” ---
**Author:** ![rostfrei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rostfrei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rostfrei)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/122 "2003-12-30T23:21:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Creative\_Munster \* > \*\*lezlers, rostfrei didn’t want to contribute more than that because I think she thought she was going to get a lot of pat on the backs for her actions and was taken aback when so many people pointed out what a bitch she was. \*\* I’m a he, and I wasn’t expecting a bunch of pats on the back either. You mis-interpreted my post as being anti-smoking when that is absolutely not true. I smoked a pack a day for nearly 20 years and decided to quit 2 years ago. Several of my friends smoke and I don’t mind being around them while they smoke. I am absolutely, positively NOT anti-smoking. For the record, I did call HR about this matter today. They confirmed that I was correct in denying this woman a break, under the circumstances. If that makes me a bitch, then so be it. Eric ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/123 "2003-12-30T23:29:37Z")
> [@](#): > > catsix, I’m afraid not. Unless you only smoke when you’re naked, encased in plastic and freshly shorn, you move smoke in and out of your home and car in your clothes and your hair and on your skin. And because smoking deadens your sense of smell, you don’t even recognize the fact that there is a lingering aura of smoke that stays with you, simply from the contamination of your belongings. Funny, then, that all of my non-smoking family were shocked as hell to find out that I do smoke because, apparently they couldn’t tell. They finally found out when my aunt saw me light up a cigarette while at a barbecue and said ‘What the hell are you doing? You don’t smoke.’ ---
**Author:** ![rostfrei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rostfrei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rostfrei)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/124 "2003-12-30T23:37:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rostfrei \* > \*\*I’m a he, and I wasn’t expecting a bunch of pats on the back either. You mis-interpreted my post as being anti-smoking when that is absolutely not true. I smoked a pack a day for nearly 20 years and decided to quit 2 years ago. Several of my friends smoke and I don’t mind being around them while they smoke. I am absolutely, positively NOT anti-smoking. > > For the record, I did call HR about this matter today. They confirmed that I was correct in denying this woman a break, under the circumstances. If that makes me a bitch, then so be it. > > Eric \*\* However, I do have a problem with the lady that I wrote about in my OP. She hacks very LOUDLY and constantly and then say, “Oh, these darned allergies” after a hacking attack. Try talking to someone on a phone while a barking seal is sitting next to you. It’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/125 "2003-12-30T23:48:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yosemitebabe \* > \*\*Of course I understand. I was trying to make a point. For every xx minutes of “extra” break that a smoker gets, I would take the same amount too. And in some work places, I could take that time at the _same_ time. > > I doubt that this “extra breaks for smokers” phenomenon is obsolete. Probably less now, but not obsolete. The cluelessness of some people (especially bosses) can be staggering. In a former job, not too many years ago, we had an employee who often took “extra” breaks. I never thought much of it, but yeah. That’s what they were. It didn’t seem like an “extra” break so much because she simply stood at the front entrance of the store and smoked for a few minutes. It wasn’t part of her scheduled lunch or break. I never bitched (she was a nice lady for the most part) but had I asked to stand outside for a few minutes to drink a Pepsi, what do you think the answer would be? (No guessing here—the answer would be _no._) \*\* Bingo. I didn’t give a shit if my co-workers smoked - their lungs, their choices. But when they were disappearing for smoke breaks once an hour with management’s _blessing_ and _I_ was required to cover their tables, yet wasn’t allowed to take these breaks myself because I didn’t smoke, I had a problem with it. If someone was smoking in the break room on an unscheduled break and our manager walked in and saw it, they wouldn’t say a word. Yet if a non-smoker was on an unscheduled break in the breakroom and a manager saw it - “Get back on the floor.”. And yes, I know my resentment here lies with the management and not with the smokers, but the smokers were the ones who would ask me to cover their tables constantly. When you’ve got your own busy section, it’s a little difficult to add someone else’s to it. Yet those of us who didn’t smoke (and there were very few of us in the restaurant) were required to take up the slack. Smoke all you want. My family and most of my friends smoke - it’s their choice. But in a work environment, either extend the same courtesies to everyone or extend them to no one. Ava ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/126 "2003-12-31T00:46:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lynn Bodoni \* > **When I played a collectible card trading game, I wouldn’t trade cards with smokers, because their cards stink.** [Hijack!]What game was that **Lynn**?[/Hijack!] Enjoy, Steven ---
**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:** [December 31, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/127 "2003-12-31T00:58:17Z")
Oh, it was Magic:TG, **Steven**. And I sucked at it. I’ve still got quite a collection, but I gave it up somewhere around the Ice Age, I think. I’m just not interested in buying more and more expansion sets, or trading for them either. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/128 "2003-12-31T01:33:52Z")
I know the feeling. They pretty much killed me when they switched to releasing ~300 rares per year and made it so you’d have to buy ~10 boxes of cards($119 retail per box) to even have a CHANCE of getting ONE of each. Of course a player’s set(a pool large enough to have the maximum you’d be allowed to play in a single deck of any given card) is at least four of each card. So that means ~1200 rares a person would need to get to have a players set of the cards released in any given year. Currently the ratio of rares:uncommons:commons in a booster pack is 1:3:11 so if you wanted to get 1200 rares(so you’d have a player’s set of rares) then you’d wind up with 3 X 1200 = 3600 Uncommons, and 11 X 1200 = 13200 commons for a grand total of ~18,000 cards per year you’d add to your collection to stay current. Trading or buying singles can get you around this, and is probably necessary because even with that massive number of cards there is a very high probability that you still won’t have enough luck to get four of every rare. There are various ways to get around buying this massive number of cards, but they are still royally screwing with card distributions. In any event, you can still play can’t you? We hold a M:tG night at our place every so often, we’re shooting for once a month(more realistically we’re looking at bi-monthly or every six weeks or so). Players of all descriptions are welcome. We’ve got people who have played forever and some who are just learning. We play big multiplayer games for the most part and we play to have fun. Several Dopers are already on my invite list for when I’m organizing another game night, I’d be happy to add you if you’re interested in dusting off the old cards and giving it a go sometime. Simply getting invitations doesn’t obligate you of course, but if there is a time you could make it we’d be happy to have you. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/129 "2003-12-31T03:25:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by avabeth \* > \*\*Bingo. > > I didn’t give a shit if my co-workers smoked - their lungs, their choices. But when they were disappearing for smoke breaks once an hour with management’s _blessing_ and _I_ was required to cover their tables, yet wasn’t allowed to take these breaks myself because I didn’t smoke, I had a problem with it. If someone was smoking in the break room on an unscheduled break and our manager walked in and saw it, they wouldn’t say a word. Yet if a non-smoker was on an unscheduled break in the breakroom and a manager saw it - “Get back on the floor.”. > \*\* Well, that does suck, and I don’t blame you for being resentful. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/130 "2003-12-31T04:22:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catsix \* > \*\*Funny, then, that all of my non-smoking family were shocked as hell to find out that I do smoke because, apparently they couldn’t tell. > > They finally found out when my aunt saw me light up a cigarette while at a barbecue and said ‘What the hell are you doing? You don’t smoke.’ \*\* Oh, **catsix** , don’t waste your breath. I’ve been participating in smoking threads since I started here, telling people how not all smokers walk around with scented beacons blaring _smoker!_ above their heads all the time, to no avail. The same posters will come back time after time and still assert that they just _know_ when someone is a smoker. The fact that everyone who sees me smoking is _shocked_ (much like your example) that I smoke, doesn’t seem to matter. I don’t think people stop to ponder the fact that they probably _think_ they know whenever someone is a smoker because if they ran across a smoker who they _didn’t_ smell anything on, they would never realize it. You know, because they didn’t smell it. I’m just sayin’ ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/131 "2003-12-31T04:36:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TeaElle \* > \*\ ***catsix** , I’m afraid not. Unless you only smoke when you’re naked, encased in plastic and freshly shorn, you move smoke in and out of your home and car in your clothes and your hair and on your skin. And because smoking deadens your sense of smell, you don’t even recognize the fact that there is a lingering aura of smoke that stays with you, simply from the contamination of your belongings. \*\* Posts like this are what I’m referring to. The condescending “I’m afraid not” bullshit is fucking annoying, too. This might apply if you were talking about a pack or more a day smoker, but for a light smoker such as myself (and I’m assuming **catsix** ) who smokes between 0-5 cigs a day; not so much. I simply don’t smoke enough to have the smell on me on a consistant basis. My car and house do not smell like smoke. Ido not smoke in my home and _rarely_ smoke in my car. I’m also an essential oil burner/incense/air freshener junkie. In case my own deadened sense of smell isn’t enough for you, the fact that the same people I mentioned in my above post that were shocked to find out I smoke said things like “but your car and house don’t smell!” I’m taking as confirmation of that fact. So excuse me if I don’t take _your_ word (someone who does not know me and therefore has never smelt my car, house, or person) for the fact that I am a walking ashtray and smell the part. I’ll take the words of those who have actually _smelt_ myself, car and home. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/132 "2003-12-31T04:57:38Z")
There’s no doubt that _some_ smokers don’t, in fact, smell like smoke. I’m willing to take your word (and catsix’s word) that you don’t smell. But you must admit that there are many, _many_ deluded smokers who truly have no idea that they smell. Many of us have met them. They have no idea and think that the rest of us are being “Princess and the Pea” because we smell smoke on them. Or, their own deadened sense of smell tells them that _they_ couldn’t _possibly_ smell, therefore, anyone who says that they do is just full of shit. Also, some people don’t smell until you get close to them. :shrug: I may not smell someone when I’m standing across a table from them, but I will get a whiff when I get closer. Since many people don’t get _that_ close, they may never notice that the person has some smoke smell clinging to them. Denial is not just a river in Egypt. So pardon us if we don’t immediately take the smoker seriously when they insist that they don’t smell. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/133 "2003-12-31T05:22:30Z")
I never said that no smokers smell. I was referring to posts like **TeaElle** ’s, claiming that there’s no possible _way_ you could be a smoker and not smell. Which I believe myself and **catsix** have proven is total bullshit. Oh, and yes, people who have hugged me and have gotten otherwise in a close proximity to me have _still_ been suprised I smoke. So no, I’m still not full of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Nvme77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Nvme77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nvme77)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/134 "2003-12-31T05:44:32Z")
Just in case I havent generalized enough in this thread. Ok- so all dopers that smoke do not smell and all their personal effects are free and clear as well. All smokers from the dope do not abuse of their breaks and would never deign to impose their work on their non smoking co workers. Non smoker dopers that refuse to acknowledge these possibilities are irrational, over sensitive, nicotine nazis that need to get off their high horses and mind their own business instead of poking into the lives of smokers that you don’t know are smokers since they don’t smell, hack or have cravings. Let the smokers be- they are productive non confrontational contributers to society that keep getting dragged through the proverbial mud about myths like second hand smoke. I need a cigarette now. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/135 "2003-12-31T06:11:54Z")
Cute, **Nvme77**. Especially considering the fact that I never said _no_ smokers smell. Hell, a _lot_ of smokers smell. All I’m saying is that it _is_ possible to _not_ smell, contrary to some opinions here. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Nvme77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Nvme77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nvme77)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/136 "2003-12-31T06:21:38Z")
Hey, I’m just sayin, too. Got a light? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/137 "2003-12-31T06:25:13Z")
Don’t make me tackle you and force you to inhale the sweet smell of ashtrayee goodness… ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/138 "2003-12-31T21:03:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nvme77 \* > \*\*I wish that asking someone if they are a smoker was allowed in interviews. \*\* Generally you can tell by the stench of stale smoke surrounding them. But another way is to take them into your private office for an interview, then push an ashtray toward them and say “you can smoke in here if you want”. They will either light up, say they are fine right now, or say “no, I don’t smoke”. So you can pretty much tell if they smoke or not. Also, the smokers will relax a bit and you can tell more about them from the interview. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/139 "2003-12-31T21:07:26Z")
That’s an easy trick to spot if you consider one thing: It’s always a trick. My answer to an offer like that is a flat, simple, ‘No, thank you.’ ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927/140 "2003-12-31T21:17:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam H. \* > **BTW, this is a [news story](http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-smoking18dec18,1,7143470.story?coll=la-headlines-california/) from another thread where it’s been pointed out that it IS legal to screen out smokers from the hiring process simply because they are smokers.** I’ll betcha somebody could argue to the courts that nicotine addiction is a **medical condition**. If and when that happens, it will **not** be legal to discriminate on the basis of smoking, because medical conditions are among the things Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act does not allow employers to discriminate on the basis of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-revolves-around-smokers/220927.md?page=8)