Why are non smokers so rude?

Question

Over the last few days, I have read a number of questions which spoke about how people who smoke are uneduated, ignorant, have no manners ect.

What I want to know is what do non smokers get out of slagging off people who do smoke? Ok, you choose not to smoke, fair enough good decision, but what is the need for all this bad feeling?

Why can't you just back off? We smokers put up with your rude comments, your bad attitudes, and your abuse, why can't you just leave it alone? Its got nothing to do with you why we smoke and what it does to our health

I'm not saying that non smokers should have to breathe our smoke, I don't believe other people sould be harmed by our habit. All I'm saying is that there is no need to be so horrible about it....

You are never going to get rid of smokers no matter what you do or say. We already go out of our way to make you non smokers confortable, what more can you ask for??

I vote we buy an isand and stick all the non smokers on it so they never accidentaly bump into an unreasonable smoker going about their own business (i mean, how inconsiderate is that?)

And another quick question..

Why is it that when a non smoker sstands next to a smoker and doesn't like the smell ect, its always the smoker who has to move? Ever heard the phrase 'if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen?

Answer 1

ugh, tell me about it. Here in Ireland, you cannot smoke in any work place, which includes bars, pubs, clubs etc, which means we have to go outside. The non-smokers don't have to breathe our smoke. Fair enough, BUT they still complain that we are smoking outside!!! Aaaagghhhhhh you just can't feckin win!

Oh and there is something worse than non-smokers. EX-smokers. Well done, you quit smoking, but you loved it once so get your head out of your ****!

Answer 2

Notice,(believe it or not)...That the EX smokers are most often the WORST complainers! They are the hypocrites. Some will go so far to say how stupid they were when they smoked for years and years! Their the ones who give that dirty look to smokers and say we are ignorant. I say " I hope someday I will be as intelligent as you are and quit."

Ex smokers are like formerly overweight people who had a gastric bypass surgery,that sees an overweight individual eating a big mac in mc donalds,and is disgusted at that persons "size"

VANITY! Thats what I say to the self righteous Ex smokers/overweight

Answer 3

Totally agree, and I don't smoke, although I have enjoyed the odd cigar in a pub. I find that people who aren't obsessed with their own health, and lefts face it anti smokers don't care about smokers health, are much more sociable and pleasant to be with. Pubs were meant for sociable people, not intolerant zealots. They are now working on demonising alcohol. What a way to spend your life. I have to say though, that I support the ban in most places.

Your last sentence will draw the response, "and what about passive smoking"? Well, it is grossly exaggerated, and is a load of old tosh.

Answer 4

As a former smoker, I am sick of smokers going on about its only their health that is effected. When you do it in a public place everybody there is breathing your smoke. I gave up so that my health wouldnt suffer and so I wasnt constantly going around smelling of smoke, but since the smoking ban has come into effect up here, everybody thinks its is ok to stand right outside the doors of places and blow it all over me as I walk past. Fantastic that I went through cold turkey and tried really hard to give up when I get this every day of the week.

I am friends with a lot of smokers and they dont do this but they are in the minority of smokers who have manners. Why should my health suffer because of your dirty habit. You would complain if a smack head shot up in front of you and you got the health effects of it wouldnt you? Just have manners not to be blowing your smoke in other peoples faces.

When I smoked I did it in the comfort of my own home and in smoking rooms where no non smokers were.

Answer 5

You said - "Its got nothing to do with you why we smoke and what it does to our health" But - actually - it does - a bit. There are lots of smokers who have no health insurance - and when they are hospitalized for smoking related illnesses - the tax payers (both smoking and non-smoking) are paying for their care. So - some non-smokers get ugly and mean about it.

I'm an ex-smoker - so I understand why a lot of people smoke and how incredibly hard it can be to break the addiction. I try to just stay away from smoking all together.

I do think there are certain demographics regarding smokers. But not all of them are uneducated or ignorant.

Answer 6

Very well said.

Something I've noticed in life is that often reformed smokers are among the most outspoken anti-smoking people. I'm sure not all ex-smokers are that way, but there are enough to make me think that in those cases, it is part of their way of distancing themselves from their old habit. Who knows, maybe they need to keep reminding themselves why they gave up so they won't be tempted again? Can understand it to some extent if so, but on the other hand, it's rather hypocritical in my book.

Around my area there are so few public areas left in which one can smoke, that the non-smokers are hardly ever exposed directly to smoke, which is of course the idea.

So why, oh why, then do non-smokers at work for instance feel justified in carping at smokers every single day about "are you still smoking?", and "Why don't you give up?" etc. And for the record, I'm not referring to smokers going on ciggie-breaks and annoying the non-smokers thereby, ok? I'm talking about when a non-smoker spots a pack of cigarettes in a smokers handbag, briefcase or desk drawer, and feels entitled to comment. Or worse, the ones who just raise the issue day after day after day hoping to wear out resistance.

To those people: Bugg*r off, would you? In those circumstances it has no impact on you, and it's none of your business. Do smokers hassle you to take up the habit? No? Well who gave you the right to impose your lifestyle on someone else? It's that whole "I'm right, you're wrong, you should change" thing.

Well done for raising the subject, and thanks for allowing me to vent. LOL.

Answer 7

There is a certain amount of mindless critism of smokers. But I have to say that it is much ruder to make people smell like crap and give them cancer.
Even when I was a smoker (For 20 years) I felt that we had too much freedom and got off too lightly. Non-smokers seem to me to have the moral highground. Though I find it hypocritical of people who critisise smokers then polute the atmosphere with their car, but not see a link between the two things.
I never critisise or moan about people smoking as I used to do it all the time. And I think that there are so many restrictions on smoking now, that we have probably reached good point of balance. So there is much less inconvenience and unpleasantness for non-smokers and thus less justification in being critical.

Answer 8

Now that I am quite a few years away from smoking, I feel differently about it all. I can tell at 10 paces if a person is smoking cigarettes that have been around too long. The smell is horrendous and I guess I am more sensitive to it than someone who has been a non-smoker (never smoked).

I think most non-smokers (never smoked) just do not want the smell around as much as the health issues.

I find smokers, as a group, do at times and depending on a person's existing personality, go out of their way to blow smoke on people who say something. That is a bit childish and it does not apply to everyone, but there are enough people out there that do it, it reflects badly on all.

The fact smoking is a choice also factors in. If I am a non-smoker, as I am now, I think it is rude that you subject me to your smoke when I have made the conscious decision not to smoke.

I now find it annoying that to get into an office building, I have to walk through a cloud of smoke that is not of my creation to get to my workplace. I may smell nice and clean up until that point, but then I smell acrid smoke in my hair for at least the next hour. As a worker, I find it damn annoying that the smokers where I work get 3 to 4 times the amount and length of breaks I do so they can go smoke. They are not supposed to, but who wants to deal with a coworker who is 'nic-ing' out? That is not exactly fair to those who do not smoke.

I also fault the restaurants for making such a joke out of not controlling the flow of smoke in an establishment. I think this may indeed be the crux of the problem in food service and what angers most non-smokers.

Answer 9

I have taken part of an answer that I gave earlier to a woman who was asking about going through withdrawal from passive/second-hand smoke.
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I am a smoker for well over 25 years, and I've been battling with quitting for quite a few months now. I'm on again/off again, because I had started dating someone who is a non-smoker and I've been concerned with his having to deal with my addiction.

I find I've been isolated an awful lot when it comes to being out with him or his friends and family to "step out to have one."

The fact of the matter is, that second hand smoke can do just as much if not more harm to a person who is ever in close contact/proximity with a smoker for extended periods of time.

Forgive the harshness of the comment please, but as I have read and understood it- its as if the smoker by direct contact, has taken in the initial smoke, and his/her lungs have now filtered that smoke, and on the exhale, it's as if spitting a much more toxic smoke out into the air, that the non-smoker is now exposed to.

There are multiple places to read on the net that will tell you some of the pitfalls of being exposed to "second hand" or "passive" smoke...

Here is just a small exerpt of one that I found:
******************************...
Second Hand Smoke is a combination of exhaled smoke and the smoke produced by the end of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. It consists of more than 4,000 different chemical compounds, including nicotine, carbon monoxide, ammonia, formaldehyde and arsenic.

More than 50 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer. Others are known or suspected mutagens that are capable of mutating or changing the genetic structure of cells.

Higher concentrations of these toxic chemicals are found in second hand smoke compared to the mainstream smoke inhaled by the smoker. In fact, second hand smoke contains:

-Over 3 times the amount of tar
-Up to 5 times the carbon monoxide
-Up to 6 times the nicotine

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Now, having that said...
Smokers are experiencing now, the same "shame" as drinkers did during prohibition (note how long that one stood the test of time)...
Non-smokers are entitled to their fresh, obviously chemical and pollution free air if they so choose. (Ha!)

I have forever gone out of my way to try to stay clear of, or be respectful/mindful of non-smokers as best I can. I'll walk on the curb of the side of the street when smoking to try to avoid blowing it in anyone's face.

When I stand outside at work to have a smoke, I stand well off to the side of the building and out of the flow of traffic....and yet still, inevitably, there is always someone that will come up and tell me...what a stinky, dirty, nasty 'habit' I have...usually people I've known for a bit...

I just counter with this:
Yes...addiction can be a pretty bad thing...and now, let's talk about YOUR vices...

Most times they will hush up because they know I just caught them with a cocktail on their breathe or something coming back from lunch.

People will always need to get into other folks' business and express an opinion whether wanted or not.

We ARE health hazards to the non-smoking public...but then, these days, so is breathing the 'fresh' air, drinking water, most of the things you eat...the list can just go on and on...

Answer 10

I agree with you a 100% I am a non-smoker but would never pick on anyone for smoking. We all have things that we find hard to kick and having friends and sometimes complete strangers sticking their noses in doesn't help. I don't know why it's socially acceptable to pick on smokers? If most people saw a person calling an overweight person 'fatty' and telling them to ditch the chocolate most of us (hopefully) would intervene. Yet smokers get ganged up on. I'm not saying that smoking is a good thing but I don't agree with bullying especially when it usually comes from a bunch of ex-smoking hypocrites! Plus I've never been physically threatened by someone full of nicotine!