Friday, 10 July 2009

  • Smoking is Bad For Everyone, Sherlock - A Response

    This is in response to this post (not the poster themselves, just the general idea of the post).

    You know, there are a lot of rude people in the world. Self-righteous people that think their opinion is the only one that matters and that it is their civic duty to inform everyone of the correct way to live their lives. You are going to encounter people like this no matter what. I, personally, do not smoke, because I watched it slowly and torturously kill my grandfather, and I know how horrible it is for your health. However, if you choose to smoke, I'm not going to berate you or tell you you're stupid. You obviously know how bad it is for you, and don't care. That's your choice.

    However, if smokers want respect from me, they're going to have to give me respect first. On top of despising smoking after watching a family member die from it, I have had severe asthma (which is now, thankfully, mostly under control) most of my life. So when I'm walking to class and the person in front of me decides to light up, despite my campus being a restricted smoking campus, excuse me for being less than pleased.

    The whole reason I was incited to write this blog was because today, as I was working in drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A, a woman came through smoking a cigarette. As the smoke drifted through the window, I coughed, because the smoke bothers my lungs. She shot me a dirty look and proceeded to dangle her cigarette inches from the open window and blow her smoke in my direction. Excuse me? How unbelievably rude. I wasn't coughing to suggest she shouldn't smoke, I was coughing because her smoke was making it difficult for me to breathe. Excuse me for having a medical condition that lowers my tolerance to your "lifestyle choice".

    If you smoke, that's fine. I don't care. However, if you want respect from me and other nonsmokers, respect that we have the right to not smoke as much as you have the right to smoke, and give us the same respect you expect in return. To the smokers that do respect nonsmokers, thank you. The gesture doesn't go unnoticed.

    So what do you think? How often do you experience either side of the disrespect spectrum?


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Comments (19)

  • MangoWOW@xanga

    I love how everyone who smokes here follows up with "But I don't do so around others! I move away or ask first."
    I call bullshit. We like to make ourselves look better here online and I bet more than half of the people here are happy to light up wherever.

    But I will agree with with this author, as long as you respect my choice not to smoke I'll respect your choice to do so. Honestly I'm the type to not mind, if you asked me I'd totally be okay with you smoking next to me but at least have the decency and respect to ask.
  • KimisBarbie@xanga

    i always see people smoking when they go through the drive thru, and I think it's rude.  People working should not have to inhale their smoke.
  • killthoseclowns@xanga

    @KimisBarbie@xanga - I think it goes the same to every place imaginable. Thats why I love love love airports. It's fun watching them smoke each other in a small glass box. Mwahahaha.

    Though I have smoked before, I do so only when I'm alone, not in front of others - except for close friends who are smoking at the same time too I guess but I keep the smoke away from them. I personally don't like the smoke either honestly, I never liked it since I was young but eh, rebelling phase at age 21 now lol. Its weird but I go for months without smoking and I actually have a full pack of smokes that I bought from New York (when I was there like in late May - early June) haha.

  • black_lie@xanga

    i cough from reaction to the smoke before i even realize that i'm coughing due to smoke, i really can't help it. that woman was a bitch
  • kieri126@xanga

    this was well written. i like your style. much like mine :)
  • likenvrbefore@xanga

    i feel really awkward when i have to cough around a smoker... because a cough usually comes across as "geez asshole, smoking?" when i really have to cough...
  • TheLoveMuse@xanga

    @MangoWOW@xanga - Exactly!  If everyone moves away before they light up, then why are we still getting smoke blown in our faces?  Is it the smoke-fairies? :p
  • MangoWOW@xanga

    @TheLoveMuse@xanga - We're just imagining it. Assholes don't exist.
  • LonerB@xanga

    I agree with you 100%. It is incredibly rude and disrespectful (and plain ignorant) to behave like the individual that you described. That's why I mentioned in my post that I never light up amongst other people or around kids. I know that more than likely it will bother someone. But if I go to certain lengths to avoid bothering people then I would expect for the others not to bother me in return, wouldn't you agree? I mean, I find it quite unlikely that someone would be bothered by me smoking in some far off area, next to the ash tray, all the way across the street... I mean, even smoke-fairies don't travel that far. Health issues aside, is it wrong for me to wish to be left in peace if I am obviously not bothering anyone? And is it wrong if I get annoyed when someone chooses to walk all the way across a very wide street just so they can tell me that I am doing something wrong even if it's none of their business? *Shrug*
  • aiinos@xanga

    When it comes to smoking... I won't have the same respect for you as i would have if you didn't. If you're quitting, or trying to, thats another thing. 
  • niceBrice@xanga

    I don't think cows should be allowed to smoke because no one should have to eat cancerous beef.
  • alwaysBonny@xanga

    I have respect for smokers, but only selective ones. There are some really rude people on my campus that smoke, but I guess people are like that. I'm not going to raise nor lower my tolerance level for it when I can simply walk another direction. People are going to be rude and disrespectful, that's their personality. I don't really have a preference. Most of the people I know that do smoke, they'll ask for if they see some sort of negative reaction... it's lights out and done with.

    But I must say, your encounter is a bit more than just rude. If I were in your shoes, ehhh.

  • my_secret_diary_xx@xanga

    i hate people smoking around me!
  • TrueBritt@xanga

    I still care. I watched my mom die a painful and terrible death- not just from the lung cancer but from her friends who treated her as though "she did this to herself"- at the young age of 56. I smoked for years too, but thankfully quit. I absolutely refuse to sugar coat the issue for those who choose to pollute their lungs with poison. They may not like my opinion, but its the truth, it's real, and maybe they'll 2nd guess their decision- or worse: they'll remember my prophetic words when it's too late. Regardless, I don't feel one iota bad for telling it how it is.

    HOWEVER... (that was my rambling- now to comment specifically on your post) in their defense, I have found that most smokers- but NOT all- are courteous about their choice to smoke. When I used to smoke, I would ask people around me, strangers, friends and family alike, "Do you mind if I smoke?" If even one of them said yes, I'd go do it elsewhere or wait until I was alone. It's almost as if they are finally realizing how much everyone dislikes it, or how dangerous cigarette smoking is, or that they need to be courteous, and are acting accordingly. But like I said, not all- and I'm sorry you ran into one of the exceptions. I hope you gave her extra ranch for her Chik-Fil-A cause if the smoking doesn't kill her, maybe congestive heart failure will! lol

  • direwolf005@xanga

    Everyone knows how bad smoking is, but do they realize JUST how bad? I'm a respiratory therapist, so most of the patients I work with are former or current smokers. The first time I see a patient, I have to ask about their smoking history. I guess about 90% of them say they either recently quit or would like to quit. Obviously knowing the disease state they are in now, it finally hits them how terrible smoking is. When we're young, we think we are going to be that exception or that we're going to die of something, so why not cigarettes? Some people even think they'll just quit after they get sick and that will make them all better. But it isn't just the death. It's the pan and agony that it puts you through first. Once you have a chronic disease like emphysema or lung cancer, it's a matter of when, not if, it is going to kill you. And it will take a long time. When you have emphysema, your lungs slowly degenerate. You gradually start to feel like you're drowning. At this point, quitting smoking is kind of a lost cause. It's a little too late. Smoking-related lung illnesses like emphysema and most cases of lung cancer are not curable. Quitting smoking may slow down the process and help patients feel better temporarily, but not cure them. So please, I ask all the smokers to quit BEFORE you develop a chronic illness, not after it is too late.
  • x__RainOnHerParade@xanga

    @kieri126@xanga - Thank you. :)


    and to everyone saying how rude the woman was--trust me, i'm used to it, chickfila for 3 years = PLETHORA of ill mannered people. :) i'm glad to see so many people agreeing.
  • DarcKleer@xanga

    Thank you for writing this. I had an aunt who died of lung cancer that she got from second hand smoke. Her husband smoked like a chimney and she never lit up a day in her life. It sucks that some of us have to suffer b/c of another's addiction. A few of my friends smoke and they're respectful about it. I'll joke around with them calling cigs cancer sticks and they have a sense of humor about it.
    Personally, I think it's a gross, disgusting habit. It yellows you teeth, makes your clothes and hair smell bad, your skin gets gross. There's nothing attractive about it to me at all.
  • anonymous

    I agree, that was extremely rude. But do you blame everyone who drinks because of the few rude drunks? Do you blame all black people because you saw a black man arrested for murder on TV? Before "giving respect" do you demand respect from soldiers because few of them raped and murdered civilians?  What you said makes no sense whatsoever.  There are good people with good manners and common sense, and then there are assholes.  Chain smoking tobacco addict or buff health nut makes no difference in determining person's character.  Next time spend some time thinking before reciting some old anecdotes. Maybe you should have a cigarette. I heard it may calm your mind.
  • hotyorkpitgeek@xanga

    i completely agree.
    it seems to me, though, that this is just a pointless topic to argue. the answer is simple...
    people who smoke: be respectful.
    people who don't: be respectful.
    really, it's not that hard.

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