Smokers. Honestly, why do you do it? And honestly, why did you start?

Question

Trying to get my housemate to stop smoking in the house, she makes everything stink! Is that rude, from a smokers point of view? Also would you sit down next to someone out side maybe at a bus stop without asking if they minded? I'm always having to get up and move! What is you opinion?

To the girl named kiwi...it's in the house contract that there is no smoking in the house. And if she doesn't want to be cold then she doesnt need to smoke. Do smokers have more right to smoke than i do to breathe clean air and to avoid lung diseases?

Answer 1

I just passed my two year anniversary of having quit, but I can tell you how I felt when I did smoke.

As far as why, I started in College. I was part of the editorial staff for our news paper....and EVERYONE smoked inside the office. I first tried a cigarette as a stress reliever. It became one a week. A year later I was a two pack a day smoker. I smoked for 11 years. Averaging about 2 packs a day. I finally said enough is enough and stopped.

When I smoked, I thought people exagerated how much smoking bothered them. I felt that the infringement on my rights as a smoker was greater then my infringement on their rights. Especially outside...at a place like a bus stop. My attitude was...if it bothers you that much, move.

As a non-smoker....I have a somewhat different point of view. I suppose they say there is no greater preacher then a convert....and I now don't understand how I ever felt that way. Smoking around other people...in public or not, is almost like an assault.

A smoker's rights end where my rights to not have to breathe it begins. I was shocked at how much it actually does reek. I was at a bar (there is a smoking ban in my city) last night, and people began smoking. It wasn;t stopped. I woke up this morning with a raw, sore, throat. My clothes smell. There were several points in the evening that I had to go outside just to get a fresh breath of air.

I'm not sure if you made it clear that your house was a smoke free environment when you began living with these people, but I'd make sure that you made that clear in your next living arrangement. I'd tell them exactly how much it bothers you.....and respectfully ask that they smoke outside.

If I am ever in a Bar again where there is a smoking ban, I will not be afraid of being rude like I was yesterday. I will ask them politely to put it out. If they don't, I'll ask once more, forcefully. After that, I tell the bartender. If that doesn't work, I report the incident to health authorities. I also might take the step of violence depending on their reaction. There is no reason for me to wake up with a sore throat because someone else doesn't have the will power to quit.

I apologize to all non-smokers that I smoked around in the past.

Answer 2

I can understand your point. I usually try to make it so my smoking doesn't bother other people. Your roommate should respect you enough to smoke outside, or at least in her own room. I started smoking as a teenager because I had low self confidence. I needed something to make me look "cool"... So I started to smoke, even though it made me sick on numerous occasions. I continued to do it until I got used to it. Twelve years later, I'm still smoking. Partly because I enjoy it and partly because if I don't have cigarettes with me I start to panic. Sounds stupid but only someone with an addiction could understand. It's harder than you'd think it would be.

Answer 3

I started smoking when I was 18. thought it would make me look more grown up. Smoked for 42 years before I managed to get quit.

If your housemate pays equal rent and equal bills, then I think he/she has equal rights in the house. Why are your rights more important? Fair is fair, after all. It's winter, isn't it? Why force that person into the cold and wet? ... Can you find a single room inside where that person could get a comfortable smoking area set up?

You move when someone smokes OUTSIDE? Geeee! I'd move if they were upwind and it was blowing into my face, but that's it.

Answer 4

In happened during my senior year in college. I was taking a journalism class, where the teacher actually smoked low tar cigarettes in front of the class. This combined with knuckleheads at work smoking, I tried smoking. Became addicted after a few months. Looking back on that experience, I now realize how rude and selfish that teacher was. Didn't know then. Too young and dumb.

Answer 5

Uhh, I think they do it because they're addicted. Imagine that. I think the addiction excuse is a weak one though. I've tried smoking and found it repulsive. It certainly wasn't addictive for me.

Sugar and sweets are addictive, however a person can stop consuming that junk. Where is the control people have over their own mind? I used to drink a lot of sodas, then I stopped because I didn't like what it was doing to my teeth (damaging them) and it was causing me to be hyperactive.

What I don't get is why smoking cigarettes is something a person would want to get addicted to. It's a rude habit cause smokers blow smoke everywhere and don't care if they blow it in your face. It destroys your health, not just your lungs. They make your breath stink (ever kiss an ash tray?) they make your clothes stink, it's a gross habit having to look at all those cigarettes butts all over the place and cigarette smokers are litter bugs

Answer 6

I started smoking when I was 16. I had a boyfirend who smoked and all of my junior/ senior friends did- it was the thing to do... I then smoked through all of high school, all of college, and now. Why? As bad as this sounds, because I like to... especially driving in the car. I do not and have never smoked in my house, and I do not like to smoke in restaurants. I do not like the smell of other people's smoke either... and I could very easlily quit (I buy a carton about every 2-3 weeks) but my fiance refuses to quit- and he's always making trips outside.. so it's a social thing and a habit... but for me it's a habit like biting my nails.
Tell your roomie they're making your stuff stinky, and to please smoke outside. It's not rude at all.

Answer 7

My Mom smoked during her pregnancy with me, my brother & my sister.
I was given my first cigarette at age 8, by a close relative.
By 13, I had a pack a day habit, and by age 20, I smoked 2 pks. daily.
I smoked until last year, quitting only when I was preggers or breastfeeding my kids.
I hated smoking, but I could not stop permanently.
I felt ashamed of the smell and the appearance of a lady smoking.
Virtually everyone hassled me about my smoking, and I moved it outdoors, cut down on the number of cigarettes a day, tried the patches, did almost anything to quit.
I finally got down to 2 cigarettes a day, at night, after my kids went to sleep.
I felt like a junkie sneaking a fix.
Then when I was ready, I just quit.
I smoked for 40 years, if you don't count my in-utero smoking!
Be kind to your roomie, ask her to be thoughtful of your feelings, & ask her to smoke outdoors only.
Smokers should be respectful of non-smokers feelings, but they are addicts, and addicts behave in ways that feed their addictions, period.
Good Luck!

Answer 8

My parents smoked, their parents smoked, my teachers smoked, in school, and even my doctor smoked. There were cigarette machines everywhere. My sister gave me a "puff" of a cigarette so that I couldn't tell on her for doing it. We snuck them from our parents, spent our lunch money at the corner gas station on them, and shared them with our friends. We could go outside to smoke between classes and at lunch time. There was no prohibition. People smoked at work, and restaraunts, and in public. It was unusual for me to meet anyone who had a problem with it, except asthmatics. By the time I realized that it really wasn't cool, I was addicted. I've tried to quit alone, and I've tried all the gimmicks, including hypnosis. Nothing has worked. I don't smoke in the house, and I don't smoke near other people, unless they are smoking too. My kids don't smoke, because I never tried to make smoking glamorous to them. I told them I was addicted, and I hated it, and they saw me try to quit, numerous times. They saw me going through withdrawl symptoms, and they had to bear my irritation, my emotional outbursts, and my irrational attitude. If there was something that would remove the addiction, I would never, ever, pick up another cigarette.

Answer 9

i have smoked for almost 15 years. i do it because i am addicted. i have tried to quit 6 times now, they say it usually takes at least ten trys so i like to think i'm more than halfway there.

i started because my friends did it, because shopkeepers didn't care enough not to sell to kids, because my parents smoke and never smelled it on my clothes so they could kick my *** for it, because cigarette companies really do market to kids (like grown ups care about being "kool") . . . .

as far as smoking around people that don't smoke i really do try to be respectful, but sometimes having a smoke matters more to me than being polite. it's nothing personal and we smokers are not trying to bother you. in fact, i know no one over 18 (ironicly, the legal age to buy cigs in the u.s.) that hasn't tried to quit at least once.

Answer 10

i smoke and i love it. can't explain why.. keeps me from being pissed off at work mostly, very relaxing.
and yes it is very rude of your housemate to smoke inside if you dont like it. i don't really smoke in public places (like the bus stop) because i know a lot of people don't like it. i do find it rude if you don't ask if someone minds if you smoke next to them.