Smoking Rant

[blas87]

I can't really nag my bf, because he never leaves the house except to work and go to the store or to get fast food. I could tell him that if I asked him to quit playing video games, how would he feel.

I'm going to have to cut down anyway, moving back home soon. I will probably only be smoking on my way to work and on break, maybe if I happen to need to run an errand or if I want to go back to the bigger city on my days off to shop or go out to eat with the bf.

I don't smoke at his house no matter how itchy and antsy I get, cuz I don't want his ma or his little brother to see me doing it. That, and no matter how much he wants to grouse at me for smoking at my own apartment or in my own car, I'll give him the respect to not smoke at his house, won't even go out in the driveway or by the road.

I have smoked at my parents' house when no one was home. Had to walk all the way into the backyard and out into the woods. Not fun. Not worth it.

[guywithashovel]

This is similar to the threads we've had about people who are really stuck up about eating healthy and will jump on people's cases if they catch them eating something that they deem "unhealthy." I have an ex-coworker who is like that, and I've posted about her before.

When it comes to people who are really overbearing about smoking, diet, or whatever, I've noticed something about them. They usually have quite a few glaring imperfections in their lives, and the lecturing and nagging about diet, smoking, etc. is usually their way of compensating for their other faults.

Take my former coworker, for example. She really likes making sure everyone knows that she runs every day, goes to the gym regularly, and eats healthy food. And if she catches anyone eating anything she deems unhealthy, she gets on their cases about it---especially if she catches you eating McD's. Apparently, that's a cardinal sin in her book. Oh, soda too. If you ever drink soda around her, she'll have to harp about how she NEVER drinks soda.

But you want to know some other things about her? She pays around $200 per month in car insurance---all because of her lackluster driving record. Heck, one time, she had two or three unpaid speeding tickets, and there was a warrant out for her arrest. She also can't manage money, mainly because she's constantly going to the malls (the pricey malls, to boot) to buy new clothes.

So, I guess if someone is giving you a hard time for smoking, eating something that is "unhealthy," or whatever, you can just take a careful look at them, find their faults, and nag them about those faults in return.

[dragon_wings]

I'm not a smoker but my boyfriend is, my brother is, my ex is, and I have a lot of friends that do. I have no problem with it as long as you don't blow the smoke in my face or smoke in my house/car. Unfortunately it seems that the smoke always gravitates towards me. Lol.
Everyone I know that smoke has been respectful to my not wanting to breathe it in, except my ex who would blow smoke in my direction just to annoy me.
I would never lecture my boyfriend or brother on not smoking so why would I lecture my friends. And I used to buy my ex her smokes (cause I worked at a place that sold them and she had no money... fucking mooching bitch).

[Andara Bledin]

What I don't get is the demonisation of smoking. Yes, its bad, I get it, we all get it. It can (notice the word CAN, not WILL) cause cancer, slowly damage and destroy your lungs, as well as a few other medical concerns.

Slight correction: smoking does not cause cancer - it will increase your risk of developing cancer. Both my old boss and my current boss were vehemently anti-smoking and both had cancer. My mother and aunt have been smoking for the last 45 years and both are cancer-free. So goes the genetic lottery.

As mentioned, nobody doesn't know that smoking is bad for you. It's actually gotten to the saturation point where it's so prevalent that we've probably stopped even seeing the warnings. >_<

(totally aside, but dude's you really need to get your junk checked regularly - my old boss could have been treated and been totally cancer-free if he'd gotten the exam done instead of being discovered late, having to go through treatment that made him feel like he'd rather be dead, and eventually suffocating because his lungs filled up with fluid... current boss is much more pro-active and despite having a much less treatable cancer, is still alive and well after treatment)

^-.-^

[kamn]

What I don't get is the demonisation of smoking. Yes, its bad, I get it, we all get it. It can (notice the word CAN, not WILL) cause cancer, slowly damage and destroy your lungs, as well as a few other medical concerns. But, lets be realistic here, so can just about anything else. Its not like nocitine is the essence of Death or something.

Why does everyone constantly prey on the negatives of smoking? Why does no one mention the good sides? If you are asking, "what good sides?", consider, please, what smoking can do. It forcefully stills the body and most times, the mind into a rythm, it relaxes a person. A GREAT thing for anyone who has just been through a traumatic experience, to help them make better decisions and to slightly speed up the recovery process (where applicable). For those around homeless, it reduces lice and flea infections, for the dieting ones, it helps curb appetite (although just a bit) and a few studies suggest it might help with Alzheimer and insulin dependence.

I can attest to the psychological effect, even if it just a few people. My mother used to smoke HEAVILY. Some days, I couldn't see the hand in front of my face when I walked into the kitchen, the smoke was that thick. But, she was calm, collected, happy to help, to do what needed to be done. If something upset her, she grabbed a smoke. I began suspecting that smoking actually helped her, when she got off. Now, she literally can't go for more than 5 days without shouting, yelling and complaining. My father similarly, only smokes when drunk now. But as a side to it, he is far more reclused. I hadn't really seen him in more than 2 months, before I moved out. And we lived in the same apartment.

So to all the smokers out there: If you think it helps you, keep at it! And screw the idiots telling you that you MUST stop smoking. Its your body, its your choice, its YOU that will suffer (most) the consequences. What they are getting is less than they get from bloody car exhaust/bad oil from their Mc'D!

[bex1218]

As for nagging a smoker, general nagging okay fine. But if someone that actually cares about you is nagging, they're nagging because you're killing yourself in front of them. So maybe cut them some slack? >.>

As I said in my op, I don't mind it once in a while. But my friends and family don't egg on like total strangers. ANd its the constance of it. I know its an unhealthy habit. I never for one second thought it was good for you.

[blas87]

And with that, I want to tell them to fuck off.

It's not the healthiest or smartest thing to do, but they can look at it as me nagging them to give up something they love to do and feel comforted by.

That, and just nagging someone to quit, wow, that sure works wonders! Telling someone every time they light up that you don't like it, making little hand gestures or plugging your nose, yah, that really gets the point across.

[Gravekeeper]

I'm a smoker and try to be a considerate smoker. However, I can't really do anything about the lingering smell on my clothes and hair, and that's the point where I say "get over it". No one ever got cancer because they smelled left over smoke on someone's clothes.

Actually, it does adhere too and linger on fabric/furniture/carpet/room in general for an obscene length of time. Months, basically. It will continue to become airborne off of said surfaces too. Thats why the smell of cigarettes is so hard to get out of things.

So yes, you technically can get cancer from smelling smoke on someone's clothes if said clothes were sitting around in the room long enough. Hence it doesn't do a lot of good if you just quit smoking right before you have kids for example. Not unless you move anyway.

As for nagging a smoker, general nagging okay fine. But if someone that actually cares about you is nagging, they're nagging because you're killing yourself in front of them. So maybe cut them some slack? >.>

[blas87]

I hate people who meet me, know that I smoke, are fine with it.....then after so long, it's like "I wish you wouldn't smoke", or like my immature boyfriend tells people at work when they ask why we don't sit in the break room at lunch break "Because she NEEDS her cigarettes!"

You don't HAVE to come with me to lunch. You CHOOSE to come with me, sit in my car, and that's that. I will not go without a smoke at lunch. I will not. You can take break with me, or you can stay inside where you really want to be. Don't get an attitude with me about me smoking.

My ex bf would on and off quit smoking for so many weeks/months at a time, and when he wasn't smoking, damn if you smoked or knew anyone who did! You were a monster and he was a God, and if he could quit, ANYONE could quit! That was one of the many reasons I constantly visualized beating the shit out of him in his sleep.

[bex1218]

I know when to and not to. And some people are picky about what kind I can smoke around them. Which is strange in itself.

[Mr Hero]

I tend to keep myself away from people smoking. I too once knew someone who didn't smoke in her car whenever I was offered a ride. She never had to go out of her way like that. The way I see it, there are all kinds of aholes and all kinds of wonderful people. Both these groups have people that smoke and people who don't.

[powerboy]

I am not going to lie, I am a smoker. I try to not smoke around kids, unless it is outside. Seeing as the smoke will go in the air and not directly on them. I do not smoke inside other peoples homes, unless they say so first.

[DrFaroohk]

I'm a smoker and try to be a considerate smoker. However, I can't really do anything about the lingering smell on my clothes and hair, and that's the point where I say "get over it". No one ever got cancer because they smelled left over smoke on someone's clothes.

And there's a difference between smelling something and actually ingesting it. Ok, I know that tiny molecules get in your nose and that's how you smell, but really. It's like, smelling smoke vs. actually smoking is like smelling diarrhea vs. eating a whole bowl of shit.

It's not good for you, but it's not the evil monster everyone says it is.

[Aethian]

I edited my post since then, Aethian, but the same sentiment applies. The audacity of them allowing someone to stand right behind someone and smoke in a non-smoking area is ludicrous.

As for getting hit with a cigarette, it does happen, unfortunately. When I smoked, I came close to it a couple times - just from not paying attention.

Oops...still your post applies. I think it's just because here the dealer can only deal with the table. Anything else and it's the pit bosses or security that wanders around. I do know that smokers have been chased away from the non-smoking slot sections.

Yea I had a cousin who constantly talked with her hands and a lot of times she only got the point when all of us would take a few steps away. Thankfully she only does those water vapor ones now since her newest has asthma.

[Peppergirl]

I edited my post since then, Aethian, but the same sentiment applies. The audacity of them allowing someone to stand right behind someone and smoke in a non-smoking area is ludicrous.

As for getting hit with a cigarette, it does happen, unfortunately. When I smoked, I came close to it a couple times - just from not paying attention.