I smoke cigs......

[SayItAintSoJoe]

This has happening to me more and more lately. I'm walking down the street smoking a cig and a person (both m/f) walk by me and as they pass, I get a "COUGH COUGH". Now I realize that some people are allergic to tobacco smoke. I get that some people think smoking is disgusting. I get that the smell is offensive. I don't need some prick to give me a "COUGH COUGH" as they walk by. Last night was the final straw. I'm walking to the corner market to buy a pack of smokes actually and I'm down to my last cig as I walk. I get this snooty old biatch with her dog walking the opposite direction. Its clear I'm smoking as our eyes meet aobut a 1/4 block away. She passes me, with her dog, and goes out of her way to walk into a neighbors yard to clear me. I hear this "COUGH COUGH..its ok sweety". That did it...I turned and shouted "You could have crossed the street ya know COUGH COUGH". I'm sick of the passive COUGH COUGH from the non smokers. Get over it....I'm outside. In my business, you better damned well be aware of where you are and who's on set when you wanna duck for a smoke. You have to be mindful of the wind direction, where you are and WHEN you can go grab a smoke. I'm probably the most polite smoker out there. I even hold my smoke in if a person is passing me or if a family with a child is coming near me. Just knock off the "COUGH COUGH"....its childish.

 

 

Next time you see that old lady thank her for me. Her actions have led to the best thread on here in weeks.

 

[CowboyGal2011]

Are you accusing me of littering?

 

I think he was accurately describing you as a piece of trash.

[The Irish Doggy]

I think there is a large distinction between prohibition era banning of alcohol and a smoking ban in public areas. One says you can't do it anywhere, the other says you can't do it in places where other people have a reasonable expectation of a safe atmosphere - be it workplace, restaurant, whatever. I don't think a smoking ban targets a goal of better health for smokers so much as maintaining the health and comfort of non-smokers. One's right to smoke should not trump another's right to non-smoking and freedom to go where they want.

[Azazello1313]

Maybe it's because I'm a few years older than you, but I do vividly recall the days before smoking was illegal in bars. It wasn't a "dude you an kind of smell on the other side of the restaurant". If you went out to bars or clubs, you were inundated by cigarette smoke. Plain and simple. The way you phrased it does work better for your argument, but that's not exactly how it was. And, for the umpteenth time, I'm not calling for it to be illegal, but rather understanding why some would.

 

hanging out in smoky bars, I would say that's an area where you know what you're getting into going in.

 

if restaurants were all given the choice how to run their own establishments, do you think most of them would integrate smokers in with non-smokers? I don't. I think most of them would either disallow smoking, or confine it, because most patrons don't want to smell that chit. it was different 40 years ago, because the culture at large had very different attitudes toward smoking and very little appreciation of the health risks, so unfortunately it was something you HAD to tolerate in public places (hell, even on airplanes).

 

it's not laws cracking down on smoking that necessarily drove those changes in societal attitudes, any more than prohibition or the war on drugs made people less tolerant of alcohol or pot useage.

[whomper]

If I know one thing about Rovers , its that he is truthful when he posts. I have footage of

[detlef]

here is what the nanny scolds who would use the law to make everyone else behave as they see fit have to say about alcohol

 

 

 

and there we go. rather than differentiate between the teetotalers who target smoking with the ones who target booze or the ones who target happy meals, I think we'd do well to recognize that they are all playing the same game and using the same logic....and that society's attempts to temper those harmful behaviors with the law prove to be ineffective and counter-productive pretty much across the board.

Considering that I'm essentially arguing on behalf of a law that I don't actually support, I'm guessing that I'm going to run out of steam here before you do.

 

That said, both smokes and booze are totally luxury items, both of which cost everyone, both those who use them and those who don't, plenty. With that in mind, I actually have little issue with taxing the hell out of them. At very least, to mitigate their costs on society. I mean, we tax people for going to work, I don't see why we shouldn't tax them from smoking or drinking. And yes, the tax on booze means I make less money, because people, likely, will buy less booze from me. And you know what? That's what I get for selling people something they technically don't need and that has been shown to be bad for everyone when someone abuses it. I'm OK with that.

 

Now, I have my beefs with the NC ABC, but not because they tax the product I sell, but because they're the agency in charge of protecting us from the evils of booze and in the business of selling booze at the same time. But that's another topic entirely

[delusions of grandeur]

mostly, people just dislike the smell, and play the stupid "you're giving me cancer" card because they can, not because it has any merit whatsoever.

That's exactly right. It is a very small minority of smokers who still think they should be able to smoke inside where ever they want, because most realize that it's putting others at unnecessary risk, breathing their smoke in. But even after all smokers are moved outside and away, you still see the cancer card being played here in this thread.... I can assure you that no one has ever suffered negative health-effects by smelling (or god-forbid getting a brief whiff of air/lung-diluted smoke) smoke in open air...

 

So now the truth has come out that it's just as much about the fact that it annoys people noses, kind of like how I used to never be able to study in the university library and student center because of people yapping and talking on their phones, abusing my ears and mind even more. I don't think that Taz was coming in here asking for some big sympathy (even though I do think it's valid that he even admits he'd like to quit and goes out of his way to not bother folks so much, which shows that many smokers are not always being purely selfish like lots of other people who are oblivious to others around them; plenty of smokers like me and Taz are just trying to get by going to a non-crowded area outside to annoy as few people as possible with that poor decision we made and are still trying to overcome, yet still get criticized and looked down upon constantly regardless). So while some of have taken this thread to make it a point that smokers don't deserve sympathy, the point of the thread is that there are many things in this world you don't like, so lay off in piling it on smokers who are reminded every day by their pocketbook and health how poor of a decision they made (in many cases when they were young and oblivious).

 

But again, I don't think Taz is asking for a pity party any more than I am. I don't like going into places smelling smoke and bothering folks, I'm very aware of that, but to think it's just as simple as, "you're doing something that bothers other people, so you deserve all the criticism you get, and should stop", is incredibly close-minded. If it was as easy as just quitting cold turkey, or even going without a smoke when in public, we both would have done it by now... Believe me when I say that there is nothing that bothers me myself more than being out with non-smoker clients and colleagues, and having to be the unprofessional guy who's fixated on stepping outside to get a stinky nicotine fix. Far from playing the victim, I just want people to realize that it's not the way most smokers would like to live their life as slaves to nicotine, and bothering other people with our personal addiction....

 

So that's it, no sympathy required because we really don't deserve any for our own bad personal choice, but keep in mind that this group that annoys you is largely far more self-aware of that than any of the other hundreds of pet-peeves we all encounter, where the people are completely oblivious to others around them. Most of us already get that you don't like it, and I truly hope we can all get will-power to improve your quality of life along with ours. I really do...

[Clubfoothead]

I think he was accurately describing you as a piece of trash.

 

That was after I asked the question dumba$$. And to be fair he said I smell like a bum who urinated on himself.

[Azazello1313]

I think there is a large distinction between prohibition era banning of alcohol and a smoking ban in public areas. One says you can't do it anywhere, the other says you can't do it in places where other people have a reasonable expectation of a safe atmosphere - be it workplace, restaurant, whatever.

 

except that it's not stopping there. there are the exorbitant taxes, and the bans are starting to extend to outdoor public places, even into homes and cars.

 

if there is a large distinction, to me it is in the fact that this time, the "progressives" are taking a more incrementalist approach. which I am good with on some level, as I view smoking as a disgusting habit and I hate the smell. but I don't care for the basic tactics of using the law to coerce temperant behavior.

[detlef]

except that it's not stopping there. there are the exorbitant taxes, and the bans are starting to extend to outdoor public places, even into homes and cars.

 

if there is a large distinction, to me it is in the fact that this time, the "progressives" are taking a more incrementalist approach. which I am good with on some level, as I view smoking as a disgusting habit and I hate the smell. but I don't care for the basic tactics of using the law to coerce temperant behavior.

She doesn't exactly sound like the courteous smoker that DoG would like us to believe so many are... (and DoG, I'm not saying that to debate your claim that so many smokers are as you describe)

 

she has lit up in restaurants and bars, airplanes and trains, and indoors and out, all as part of a two-pack-a-day habit that she regrets not a bit.

 

Mostly, however, there's tons of things that you can get away with in a detached, single family dwelling that you can't get away with in apartments. This is, however, and yet again, not something I would push to make illegal.

 

Oh, and thanks for the warning of impending doom about smoking in your car...

 

No law forbidding all smoking in cars is on the horizon in the U.S..

Edited December 9, 2011 by detlef

[delusions of grandeur]

She doesn't exactly sound like the courteous smoker that DoG would like us to believe so many are... (and DoG, I'm not saying that to debate your claim that so many smokers are as you describe)

I realize your not, sorta, but I think it's worth mentioning that there are plenty of selfish a-hole smokers who smoke anywhere they can, litter their butts and cause wildfires... It's just the way it's used as a characterization for all smokers that bothers me, when there are just as many oblivious selfish a-holes who don't smoke, they just choose a different method to annoy you with no regard.

[Azazello1313]

She doesn't exactly sound like the courteous smoker that DoG would like us to believe so many are... (and DoG, I'm not saying that to debate your claim that so many smokers are as you describe)

 

Mostly, however, there's tons of things that you can get away with in a detached, single family dwelling that you can't get away with in apartments. This is, however, and yet again, not something I would push to make illegal.

 

the point really is that the people who don't like the whiff coming under the door or through the vents or whatever....those people certainly aren't exposed to any appreciable health risk. and yet, the "public health advocates" are right there trumpeting the cause.

[detlef]

...fine enough points...

It should be noted, that this whole thing started with Taz venting about people making a pretend cough sound as they walked past. That, in his anger, he yelled at the woman that she was free to go totally out of her way and cross the street to avoid his offensive habit. And then you started in with the fact that people wouldn't go berate a drug addict.

 

Does anyone actually "berate" you? Or does someone just make a snooty gesture as they pass by, like Taz is pissed off about. I mean, that's how we got started, with Taz's outrage that more and more people simply and briefly remind him of his bad habit and the fact that he was sharing that bad habit with them. The lady didn't stop and lecture him on the evils of 2nd hand smoke or any such thing. She made a fake coughing sound.

 

And that's how it came to be where I'm having to argue that "it's your habit, and one of the consequences is that people will think you're sort of gross for doing it." Sorry dude, but that's the truth. People think your habit is gross. Some enough so to say "cough cough" as they walk past you.

Edited December 9, 2011 by detlef

[detlef]

the point really is that the people who don't like the whiff coming under the door or through the vents or whatever....those people certainly aren't exposed to any appreciable health risk. and yet, the "public health advocates" are right there trumpeting the cause.

Fair enough. The extension to which people take it does go beyond the public health risk, well not in the case of cars, like you pointed out, because apparently that's not actually on the docket.

 

But I do think you underestimate the bars and restaurants deal.

[electricrelish]

Let's face it, the reason that smokers are bothered with the "coff, coff" is because it is a reminder to themselves that they should take that cigarette out of their mouths and never smoke again. No one wants to be reminded of that. It's ruins a perfectly good smoke. Why do you non-smokers have to ruin everything?

 

Btw, do any ex-smokers have difficulty watching "Mad Men" or any other show or movie where they smoke a lot? Does it make you want to smoke again or not so much?

Edited December 9, 2011 by electricrelish

[cliaz]

For the record, can you all go back to the whole Liberal/Conservative/Democrat/Republican arguments instead. This one is pretty boring and pointless because it is all a matter of perception. One side thinks it is right because of their view based on their perceived reality as a smoker or non-smoker.

 

Also, i remember smoking sections in restaurants and thought they made about as much sense as a peeing section in a pool.

 

 

Let's talk about Josh Gordon instead. How many people here get hizzle?

[detlef]

For the record, can you all go back to the whole Liberal/Conservative/Democrat/Republican arguments instead. This one is pretty boring and pointless because it is all a matter of perception. One side thinks it is right because of their view based on their perceived reality as a smoker or non-smoker.

 

Also, i remember smoking sections in restaurants and thought they made about as much sense as a peeing section in a pool.

 

 

Let's talk about Josh Gordon instead. How many people here get hizzle?

Used to a bunch, now maybe once or twice a year.

[cliaz]

Used to a bunch, now maybe once or twice a year.

 

 

Oh snap, we need to talk then

[detlef]

Oh snap, we need to talk then

I can be in charge of the grub.

[Bier Meister]

I can be in charge of the grub.

 

 

.....just need to though out some funions and hawaiian punch.

[cliaz]

I can be in charge of the grub.

 

Good. I gots the good stuff.

 

.....just need to though throw out some funions and hawaiian punch.

 

Pretty much this (and I corrected it for you, sweatpea)

[Bier Meister]

Good. I gots the good stuff.

 

 

 

Pretty much this (and I corrected it for you, sweatpea)

 

[rajn] you auto-complete me [/rajn]

[detlef]

Good. I gots the good stuff.

 

 

 

Pretty much this (and I corrected it for you, sweatpea)

I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be able to have this conversation on Yahoo.

[CowboyGal2011]

I can be in charge of the grub.

 

When high, does anyone really crave toast?

[cliaz]

When high, does anyone really crave toast?

 

French toasts