Why do most smokers don't give a goddamn s**t about non-smokers? Where are their manners?

Question

Buses, offices, restaurants, you name it, they are everywhere, blowing that second-hand dangerous smoke in our non-smokers lungs...If you object, some of them respond rudely, very few are gentlemen and put out their cigarettes. My opinion is that smoking produces bad mannered people, dirty and un-hygienic...sort of...Comment?

Answer 1

Have you tested the levels of pollutants that bus or car is putting out? How about the water you drink? Or the mountains of waste produced by the office you work at? How far away do you live from a chemical factory? Or a nuke plant? Where is all the garbage going that you and your family produce? How about the food colorings and additives?

And you're worried about some cigarette smoke?


PULLLLLEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSEE!!

Peace.

Answer 2

I haven't known of a bus or an office that you could smoke in for at least the past 10 years, and in restaurants, smoking is only allowed in certain sections. As a smoker, I try to be very respectful of non-smokers when I am smoking in an outdoor area, etc., when I am not in a designated smoking area, but in an undefined area. However, there are very few designated smoking areas out there and they are constantly diminishing, and I don't believe that non-smokers should harrass smokers for smoking in these specified areas. For example, most areas have even posted non-smoking notices within several feet of public buildings, etc., and I respect these areas by not smoking, as well. I understand completely the designated non-smoking areas, and try to be very respectful of them, but I don't understand non-smokers harrassing a smoker by being in a specifically-designated smoking area. I have not recently been in a restaurant that does not have a smoking/non-smoking section, and if a waitress asks a customer if they want to accept a table in the smoking section rather than wait, they should wait if they are offended by smokers. It is an option. PS - Even as a smoker, it truly upsets me when smokers or otherwise bring their small children into the designated smoking sections of restaurants, and I will limit or completely stop my smoking when small children are present. If I had children of my own, I would completely kick the habit. It's not safe, and they don't yet have the power to choose to be around it.

Answer 3

I'm a smoker, but smokers are loosing the war. I read an article yesterday in USA today, the whole state of Hawaii past a law that you can not smoke in or standing within 20 feet of a public building of any kind. CA has already done so and I'm sure there are others. Maybe it's time we smokers wake up and smell the coffee.

Answer 4

Smoking does not produce rude people. Think about it for a minute, these people have a dependency on those little cancer sticks. They feel that they need them in order to survive. How upset would you be at someone if they asked you to quit breathing because they did not like the way your breathe smelt?
Now I know that funky breathe is no where near as dangerous or harmful as second hand smoke and I am not trying to stick up for the rude people, but it is starting to seem that in order for a smoker to practice this harmful habit, they have to find a designated smoking area that is located somewhere between Jupiter and Pluto.

Answer 5

Well hey I am a smoker of some 20+ years and I think I am respectful of nonsmokers. I do not smoke around my grandchildren, I voted against smoking in public places, I don't smoke in restaurants (seeing there is no protection for the nonsmokers), I don't throw my butts down, and I am not "bad mannered". And yes it's gross but it's a strong addiction and should be illegal! There is now evidence of "third hand" smoke.

Answer 6

Hi there,
I do not think that smokers particularly want to be rude to you...
And yes it is a bad habit, I concur...
However, it is within the last ten years that it has become an agenda of the Politically correct to dictate what is socially acceptable.
I am a smoker and frankly wish that I never started but, I am addicted.
I grew up watching all the icons of the screen and my parents too, they all smoked.
James Coburn, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin etc...
They were the tough guys...
Anyways, I started sneaking and doing it when I was a kid, and now over thirty years later I've just got to have that smoke..
I do reserve the respect for persons in closed quarter who do not smoke but, it is obnoxious for people to try and change others who have indulged in long-term practices on a whim.
Just as a smoker can go outside, so can a non smoker...
To me its just as bad as when a person breaks wind in public, I leave the vicinity.....
Try not to take it so personal...
With that temper of yours, I'd watch out for an aneurysm.

Answer 7

I am a non smoker but do not believe they should be segregated the way they are. They can't light up anywhere nowadays.

What next are they not gonna allow people to where cologne on a bus or plane because someone doesn't like a particular brand or even eat garlic bread at a restaurant unless they carry a toothbrush and brush immediately after eating it. Too many laws are controlling society do we really want a police state or country?

Answer 8

Dear Indian,

I am a smoker, and I care about non-smokers. When in the company of non-smokers, even in a restaurant that allows smoking, I actually go outside to have a cigarette so I don't disturb others. I never smoke at other people's homes unless they explicitly give me permission. I have never lit up in a non-smoking area.

If people ask me to put it out politely and for a valid reason (even if I happen to be in a designated smoking area), I do it. It's the self-righteous militant non-smokers who annoy me deeply, and with these people I admit I'm more than happy to stand my ground. One guy came up to me in a restaurant once (where smoking was allowed) and, referring to himself and his date, simply yelled at me "we don't smoke!!!" over and over again, as if high volume and repetition could somehow make up for the complete lack of logic in his invective. He never said "excuse me" or otherwise displayed the tiniest modicum of civility.

So I looked at him coolly and said "this is a smoking restaurant and I have a right to smoke here. If you object to it that much, you can go somewhere else." I could tell he was fuming but he just stormed out, muttering under his breath: "prick" (never having the courage to say that to my face, you understand). I don't know what you think, but in this case it sure wasn't the smoker who displayed the bad manners. If he had asked nicely, I probably would have stopped smoking even if I was in my full rights to do so.

I have met many such inconsiderate individuals in my life. The key principle here is respect for others, and non-smokers are just as bound to it as anybody else. Smokers are no ruder than any average person, and no, there isn't any magic molecule in tobacco that automatically turns people into petty-minded trolls. Smoking is legal, so I believe it is time to stop the persecution and allow smokers their habit (in the proper deisgnated areas) without always making them out to be spiritual disciples of Heinrich Himmler.

Regards,

Answer 9

I am not a smoker, and I have rarely had real problems with those who do smoke. There are exceptions, though, and they make all smokers look bad. When I was pregnant - at the obvious five months plus stages, I was amazed at how many smokers were careful to move away from me, or at least blow smoke away from me when the couldn't move away. I lived in Nevada at the time, where smoking in public places is still common, and as I said, most people were very polite.
Then the exceptions. I was outside of a show in a casino, waiting for a friend. I was about seven months pregnant at the time. It was a fairly wide open area, where it was easy to step away from groups of smokers. My friend came out, chatting with one of the performers. A woman came up to talk to him, smoking. No biggie, except she made a point of blowing the smoke in our faces. The performer pointed out that I was pregnant, and the woman said, "So? It's legal to smoke here." And blew smoke in my face. Classy, eh? (By the way, bless you Scotty for telling her to bug off.)
I think many smokers, especially the minority who are rude about it, are in denial about the dangers of second-hand smoke. They act like they're all but harmless, when in truth, the new report from the U.S. surgeon general shows the massive dangers of second-hand smoke.
For example:
"Breathing secondhand smoke for even a short time can have immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system, interfering with the normal functioning of the heart, blood, and vascular systems in ways that increase the risk of heart attack. "
"Even brief exposure can trigger respiratory symptoms, including cough, phlegm, wheezing, and breathlessness."
"Infants who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are also at greater risk of SIDS. "

So for those of you who are sure a little bit of your exhale isn't dangerous, I recommend reading the report.

Answer 10

First, I'd like to say that I am NOT a smoker, nor to I advocate smoking. In fact, quite the opposite, I'd like to see more and more smokers quit for their own health as well as mine. I don't like smelling smoke either.

That being said, I also recognize that I live in a free country and cannot expect people to put out their cigs around me just because I don't like them. If they are in an area where smoking is allowed (it's not allowed everywhere where I live), then I don't have any business asking them to put out their cig, and I certainly don't have any business passing judgement on them for not being willing to do so. You cannot stop people from smoking because it's bad for you breathing it in any more than you can tell people on the road to stop driving so you don't breath in the polluted air from their vehicles.

If you are passionate about this subject, I suggest supporting anti-smoking campaigns. Power in numbers. My state made smoking in restaurants, offices and public transportation (amongst other things) illegal. That's the way to win your battle, lobby for change.

Answer 11

t seems that political groups are doing everything they can to make smoking illegal except stopping the sale of tobacco products.

Yes smoking is bad for your health... but this being a free society we are aloud to treat our selves in the ways that we see fit.

If smoking is so bad for everyone then why don't they ban the sale of tobacco.... because that is where most politicians receive a lot of their money

be careful about what u ask for...... sure u could get smoking banned...... but what about that perfume that u are wearing.... I know people that are allergic to perfume, so should we ban all people from wearing perfume?

Smoking is a choice.... it is a legal choice..... if you dont think smoking should be allowed then out law tobacco...... not the people that choose to smoke