Are people too hard on smokers?

[Pedro The Hutt]

here's a repeat from a previous topic regarding smoking (with a couple of minor alterations at the end)

consider that the exhaust fumes from cars and burnt petrol is at least 10 times as toxic/poisonous/damaging to you than 2nd hand smoke, those that live in the city are effectively surrounded by such fumes and breathing them in on near constant basis, and there are far more car users around then there are smokers

to which i ask, why are there never any demonisation about the use of all internal combustion engines (cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles, lawn mowers, chainsaws, hedge trimmers, portable generators, etc) in public areas despite the apparent increased health danger compared to standing too close to a smoker? and yet smokers are treated like lepers? just a thought.

Easy, people like to get to places fast, it's handy to not have to walk two days to the nearest city and instead spend half an hour on a bus. And measures are being taken to make cars cleaner, if not perfectly clean (like the ones that can drive on hydrogen), smoking however serves no practical use, hasn't taken us to places fast, up into the sky or to the moon, and is just a coping mechanism for people too frail and weak minded to handle their own problems and developed a very unhealthy tick of lighting a cigarette and deluding themselves into the idea that this helps ease their woes.

And some people are indeed just damn inconsiderate about it, just earlier today I saw a young mother waiting on the train and smoking, when not inhaling she was letting the arm holding the cigarette hang limp, conveniently pretty much in her young daughter's face, I probably should've gotten off the train to punch her, but hey. (Also, Belgium's train network is entirely electrified. No loud, polluting diesel engines here )

Mind you, I've befriended a few smokers, most of which have cut the habit by now, good on them, buuuut on that note I do say that I'd never, ever date a woman who also is a smoker.

On a final note, I could just as easily invert this whole thing and ask why many smokers simply love to victimise themselves. =p

 

[Stilkon]

Hicks might've stated your sentiment best:

 

[Merkavar]

i dont think they are hated that much. like smokers arent spat on or beaten up.

but smokers do stink alot, damage theirs and everyone around thems health and smell. also smoking is one of the stupidest habits.

you smoke to releave the effects of your withdrawals from smoking. it creates the problem and offers the solution in one handy tube.

the reason i dislike smokers is partly cause they smell (have i mentioned that?) and partly because it is so pointlessly useless. with drinking you drink and feel all nice and warm and stuff(positive effect). with smoking you smoke and fell all normal and stuff cause all smoking does is get rid of the withdrawal effects(removes the negative effect that it creates).

 

[BringBackBuck]

It's not about the habit, or writing someone off because of one weakness, I could never be with a smoker because the smell and taste are disgusting. If you are a non-smoker it is just impractical to date someone who you would not be able to kiss until they had showered, changed their clothes, washed their hair, left their smelly apartment, and taken a breathmint.

As I earlier, I am not a smoker myself, and I've never found this to be an issue. I've dated plenty of smokers and was never bothered by the smell or taste after 15 minutes are so. Perhaps some people are more sensitive too it than others?

To ignore the health effects and be bothered be the smell or taste seems to me like not wanting to date an athlete, or someone who excersizes regularly because they have BO

I agree with you. I wouldn't date someone who worked up a sweat a dozen times a day and stank of BO. That would be really quite unpleasant (and time consuming on their part). A friend of mine dated a guy who installed car windscreens and was always complaining about the smell of glue on him, under his fingernails etc. It didn't work out.

There is a reason why the multi million dollar perfume industry exists: smell is a very important thing when choosing a partner for many people, probably a lot more than you realise on a subconscious level. Also I think you are right when you say some people are more sensitive to it than others. Familiarity has a lot to do with reaction to any smell, eg: people live next to rendering plants and are seemingly immune to the smell. Have you ever been to Rotorua?

Personally I don't have any friends or family members who are smokers. Since they banned smoking in bars a while back (and I don't go out much these days) I have found I am actually more bothered by the smell now than 10 years ago when I used to spend lots of my time in smokey pubs.

 

[Lokithrsourcerer]

People who hate/ shun smokers are as bad as racists or homophobes.

while its perfectly reasonable to be annoyed by a smoker smoking "on You"

shunning someone because of a lifestyle choice even a bad one is prejudice.

 

[Zyntoxic]

I suppose it is based in that most people consider smokers disrespectful.

you are standing in line, waiting for the bus and someone in the line lights a cigarette without any regard for the other people in line, that, while perhaps not considered so by the smoker, can feel pretty disrespectful.
and frankly if you try to point that out to the smoker it is not unusually you get a rather rude and dismissive response.

I, myself have rather serious asthma because my parents wasn't careful with their smoking when I was an infant.
I am more damaged by their smoking than they themselves ever was, and that is because of their heedless actions.

and on top of that, of all the smokers you know, how many of them thoroughly extinguishes their remaining cigarette butt and actually but it in the dumpster?
I know of no such smoker, they just fling it away, tossing it to the ground, and many smokers smoke several cigarettes per day, think of all these filtered butts that cant be decomposed in nature just being strewn about.

besides, smokers are considered rather expensive for society aswell, there has been a lot of argument here in sweden about whether or not smokers should be allowed health care at the expense of the rest of society, since they are much more likely to become seriously ill.
while of the smokers defend themselves with the fact that they pey more taxes than other since cigaretts have such high taxes, but then the other side claims that sum is not nearly enough to compensate for the hospital costs and so on and so forth.

there are more respectfull alternatives, that's all, for example, if you really need your nicotine there is always snuff.
other don't get harmed when you use it, only you but that is your choice.
I don't know what it is like elsewhere but in sweden, snuff boxes have like a mini stash in the lid where you can put the used snuff so you can dispose of it later.


now as a finnish, I actually don't hate smokers, there are many downsides to smoking, but I suppose if you are ok with that then smoking is your choice.
so it's ok as long as you show me the same ammount of respect by not smoking in my direct vicinity.
BTW. don't smoke when walking down a crowded street that is like THE most stupid thing you can do, pretty much 2nd hand smoking as many people as possible, I'm always amazed at these kinds of acts.

 

[6037084]

Yes, if we want to trade minutes of our lives for stress relief it's OUR FUCKING BUSINESS unless a smoker is an asshole and smokes around you even when you politely ask him to stop I see no reason to hate them, hell I see people showing burgers down their throats at mcdonalds all day every day, slowly killing themselves but they get much less hate than smokers. You could argue that second hand smoking is killing you and everyone else around smokers but car exhaust does that anyways + the tax on tobacco probably results in enough money to cover all the medical expenses of smokers, second hand smokers and many many more people.

 

[Merkavar]

People who hate/ shun smokers are as bad as racists or homophobes.

while its perfectly reasonable to be annoyed by a smoker smoking "on You"

shunning someone because of a lifestyle choice even a bad one is prejudice.

yeah cause your race amd sexual preference are a choice you make just like the choice to smoke

 

[Cerrida]

Here in North Carolina (a state with tobacco farms as far as you can see), they recently outlawed all smoking indoors. It gets into the food and the air and causes health problems to people around them. I have no problem with smokers outdoors, and while I have been friends with smokers, I could never be with one.

--Male smokers, even if they smoke outside and change when they come in, are more likely to be sterile
--If a baby breathes in smoke from your clothes, the risk of SIDS is increased.
--As people mentioned before, the smell gets everywhere. Have you ever stayed in a smoking room at a hotel? Gotten into a smoker's car? Some people are highly allergic.
--I agree with "kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray," as well as the other physical drawbacks people have mentioned (leathery skin, yellow or brown teeth, lung cancer)

 

[Peteron]

Well, I think it is a disgusting habit to be around, so I hate on it a lot. Its unhealthy, addicting, unattractive, and smelly. There is no reason smoking should still exist.

 

[gbemery]

I was recently reading a thread that asked the question: "what are your deal breakers?" I noticed there was a very large amount of people who claimed smoking was an instant deal breaker, no matter the person, some even going as far as saying they would not even befriend someone who was a smoker.

I think thats because most of those people don't like the smell that follows them around. I'm friends with plenty of smokers, I don't smoke myself, but their car, their house/apartment, and just them in general smell of stale cigarette smoke. To a lot of people that smell is just horrible and repulsive doesn't matter the person. It can even make some people sick and give them headaches.

 

[kasperbbs]

Maybe on the internet, but in real life nobody ever complained to me about the matter except my asshole neighbour who quit smoking 3 months ago and now hes giving me crap for smoking in the same spot that he used to do it since i was five, but whatever, i agreed, now i use my balcony where it only bothers mosquitos.

 

[MrCherry]

In my personal opinion, this hate towards smokers got alot worse after Smoking indoors was banned (At least in england)
Think they smell bad, then they don't look after themselves, it's not hard to carry around some spray or gum to sort that out (And it 100% can).

Angry because it's dangerous? Drinking nightly like alot do is actually alot worse..

but eh

 

[succundo]

I hate the sneaky bastards, you think your clear of the horde and then all of a sudden a smoker grabs you and tries to choke you to death with its tongue, I would take a sledgehammer to all of their heads if I could... bastards killed Bill *tear*

 

[MartialArc]

I was recently reading a thread that asked the question: "what are your deal breakers?" I noticed there was a very large amount of people who claimed smoking was an instant deal breaker, no matter the person, some even going as far as saying they would not even befriend someone who was a smoker.

Now I don't smoke myself, but am I the only person who thinks people are way too harsh on smokers? I find it shocking that so many people are willing to shun someone over one habbit. It seems to me smokers are one of the relatively few groups people are willing to openly hate.

What are your thoughts on the topic?

No, its not too harsh. Smoking is a habit that impacts others. Smokers smell, all the time. Their homes smell, all the time. And they taste like ashtrays when you go to kiss them. I've tried dating them, its unpleasant.

So is it okay to treat someone who wears too much cologne all the time that harsh?

and I suppose eats too many onions or something for the taste hahah

People DO hate on and avoid folks that wear too much cologne, or have awful breath, or that don't shower. Go eat a few sprigs of garlic and try to spark up a conversation with some stranger, see what happens.

If you smell unpleasant it changes how people react to you. Doesn't much matter how you arrive there.

Point taken. Its nice to see someone put it bluntly that they are unpleasant to be around, as opposed to judging them on their decision making ability.

I ride a motorcycle, I skydive and go white water rafting. My right to judge others judgment went out the window so long ago XD. If you really get enjoyment from it and are at peace with the consequences, go for it.

But yeah, its not like all smokers smell either. I dated a girl that smoked once, I honestly didn't know she smoked when I met her. Chewed lots of gum and always washed her hands after she said. Her choice of cigarette might be a factor too?

In any case, if you can manage to keep yourself from smelling like an ashtray and make reasonable effort not to smoke where it will bother others then nobody really has a right to judge IMO.

 

[Vault101]

well I feel sorry for them

I get the impression its only a matter of time before they outright ban it here in aus

 

[Tim Cr810]

As someone who's only recently stopped smoking I can say that people who are hard on smokers are dillholes
yes it's a disgusting habit I get that but ragging on me isn't goign to make me stop. it's only going to make me call you a dillhole and blow smoke in your face for being a dillhole

 

[Lenin211]

Smoking is an obvious sign that the person either does not care about their health, or is too stupid to realize that it is harmful. I can see how it would be an instant deal breaker for some people.

 

[Tim Cr810]

I would spit on the ground, put it out in the spit (quicker than just tapping it against the ground) then toss it in a trash bin

 

[Tarmon'gaidin]

Well alot of my friends are smokers but for me smoking is in fact a dealbreaker I just can't stand the smell so I won't even consider lying in bed next to someone who smokes.

And apart from the smell it's the same problem as drugs or (too much) alcohol, just a waste of money and time.