And now this is really setting myself up for attack but...at the end of the day I think us smokers and heavier-than-the-norm drinkers are a lot more fun than the ones tip-toeing to death anyway!
Discuss?
Ok, so as a smoker, I respect other people's problem with passive smoking, but in an open public space if I am sitting down waiting for tram etc. and someone sits beside me (and I am there first) and then they throw looks at me for smoking...Well tough Sh*t. If I am there first, to be honest it is your own fault for sitting beside me.
may be.
Unless it's a woman, esp. pregnant. Or elderly person, or any other people who have priority to take a sit at public places due to their health condition.
basically, the same in public transport. Polite people give a sit to certain categories of passengers, even if they have taken it first.
I smoked for a lot of years, and tried to be as polite and considerate about it as possible. The problem is that not all smokers are considerate.
I hate it when the second the crowd is stepping off the train, people start lighting up. Especially when you have to follow those people through a tunnel or narrow stairwell. My 5 year old has almost been burned by cigs on several occasions because people with lit cigs in the station are swinging their arms carelessly as they walk (she would have had I not pulled her out of the way or stopped the person's arm myself) .
Smoke if you want, it's your right. Just try to be considerate and aware of your surroundings!
There is nothing to discuss. You have summed up your position, and sadly that of many smokers, with "Well tough Sh*t".
And what a sad statement to post on a public forum: Time to grow up...
I love smoking. Drag in drag out. Yummy.
If it is a nice, sunny, breezy day and a smoker is sitting down under the shelter at the tram / bus stop, I'm perfectly happy to leave you to it while I go and stand upwind.
If it is a rainy day and a smoker is sitting down under the shelter at the tram / bus stop. . . I'm sure you see where I'm going with this, and what the difference is?
I agree with you there, Peg.
I smoke occasionally and a few months ago when I was going through a really hellish time in my personal life, I went through a fair few packets. I remember one day in particular it was absolutely pissing it down, really windy and cold. I was waiting for a bus and lit up. About a minute later, someone came along and sat down on the bench next to me and didn't light up. I moved out from underneath the shelter because I didn't know if they were a smoker or not. I suppose that's me smoking from the perspective of a non-smoker.
Aha, exactly what I mean by non smokers! Anyway, sorry to bother you, I'll let you get back to your knitting.
Smokers are so cool!
This is the 1950's, right?
WOW. Are you for real!!!!!!!
I smoked for 15 years. Usually id stand up for the smokers and explain to people a little about the addiction of smoking and the ignorant attitude that can sometimes accompany it. And to be fair to non smokers they are usually very understanding. Also, alot of smokers try to be considerate!
I understand your arguement and to some extent agree with it... eg if there are other places to sit people shouldnt sit beside you but i think your attitude is appalling.
At the end of the day YOU are polluting the air people are breathing. The person who sat beside you is not affecting your health but you for sure are effecting theirs.
As for the comment about smokers and drinkers...... I completly disagree with it but if that makes you feel better about being a smoker then ok.
Being a non-smoker, and pregnant, with a small child... I have a very hard time going to the pool on a beautiful day like this and finding a spot without being completely surrounded by smokers... even worse is running after my kid as he runs around looking in all the ashtrays sticking out of the ground
Dont be such a SQUARE . .. . .
I am not even going to read the replies before responding...
Are you kidding? Really? I guess A) the wind never blows your smoke into others, and B) only if you sit first is it tough shitake?
I am certain with this post you just want to provoke... by merely speaking in such a manner, you probably will get a 20 page rant of back and fourth.
Just do me a favour, let me know the days when you are in and around Basel so I don't make the fault of sitting next to the smoke stack stinkiness
Smoking or knitting, you really think those are the two choices?
Meanwhile, you can chose from these:
All non-smokers should not discourage smokers.
On average they pay more taxes, live shorter lives and don't drain the health or the pensions systems.
Long live smoking!
Well, everyone has the right to be a smoker or non-smoker.
As I tried them both and decided to continue as non-smoker since 8 years, I still understand the people who wants to smoke. This is a choice.
However, especially when I'm with my kids I expect smoking people to be more understanding. If one is with kids waiting for a bus or tram, and it is crowded around, and difficult to move with a buggy, a bike, etc, then there is this smoker coming with a cigarette and it is impossible to move away from him/her.
So, I guess the best is not to smoke in this kind of crowded public areas especially when there are kids (also happened a few times that the cigarette was almost touching my 5 year old to burn.. )
I can see where the OP is coming from with this to be honest, as expected some might say :-D. My stance on passive smoking is pretty well known in the other threads I think so I wont go into detail here and merely say most of the uneducated non smokers here have no idea the risk of passive smoke and their only true complaint can be it is an irritant by its smell and ability to potentially sting your eye or make you cough if you get a thick enough cloud of it in your face, much the same as buckets of perfume and hair spray, car fumes, BBQ smoke, bonfires, etc etc. Otherwise, it is no worse than anything else. Granted, most of the latter are not around you as much.
But I make you somewhat right. I am from the UK and you are not allowed to smoke under bus shelters anyway, so I tend to stand away from them out of habit. But sure, sometimes I sit down and am the only one there and if someone comes and sits next to me, whilst clearly seeing I am enjoying my legal right to smoke outside, and they give me the stare, then sure, they can piss right off about thinking I will move or stop for them. They can put up with it for the few minutes it takes, stand away for the few minutes it takes, or do whatever they want I truly do not care. The only exception being, as someone mentioned, if a pensioner or pregnant mother came by, then I would apply that person a bit more appreciation. Not because I believe it will harm them, their old age or their baby, but just out of this tendency to afford a bit more respect to elders and pregnant mothers.
We all have to put up with lifes pollutants and annoyances, whether they are deemed to be as health damaging as people believe passive smoke to be or not. Smoking has been around a long long time, it is not going to go away, so why people still bitch about it I dont know. Its out of pubs and restaurants now, the taxes on it collect plenty of revenue for the government, the health management costs do not outweigh this no matter what spin people put on it, so it really is one of those never ending debates that will always rumble on and will never be settled.
I'll take the smoker's bait then.
How fricking stupid do you have to be to try and defend your addiction? Think about your logic for smoking. Is there any? It's a habit, because you're bored or you feel that you need the rush that you think your brain gets when the nicotine kicks in, the same sensation as sugar intake apparently.
There is no way to justify or make yourself feel good about smoking, it simply has no merits or plus points. everything about it is negative unless you feel that subsidizing massive corporations like PMI or Imperial Tobacco is a charitable gesture? It isn't cool, it's not a way to get into the "in crowd", it's a simple chemical addiction.
The facts is, smoking stinks, causes cancer, stains your skin, teeth, fingers and damages organs to the point of destruction. Now if you were getting some mighty erection or orgasm whilst smoking, I might, just might see an angle why you feel that you would need to feed the addiction, but that doesn't happen. Spare me the "'it's your right to light up crap", smoker's behavior is, in my eyes, akin to heroin light, it's just that tobacco won't kill you quite as efficiently.
Please feel free to enlighten me about all the plus points that I've missed out on.
Actually the taxes on it are way too low, we should at least double or triple the tax on cigarettes (and make sure the prices are increased in the same levels) and use this to reduce the taxes on motorists so fuel prices can be reduced