Smoking question - what would you do?

Question

So, I'm walking along a road in traffic polluted central London smoking a roll up when a woman behind me with a buggy asks if she can go ahead of me. Thinking she must be in a hurry I move out of the way, but as I'm a fast walker and she's not I end up overtaking her, so she gets all pissy with me saying 'I need to walk ahead as you're blowing smoke in my baby's face!' which is just rubbish as the child is protected by the hood on the buggy and we're surrounded by car exhaust fumes anyway - what would you do in that situation?

Well, I pointed out she was in London traffic and told her she was a pathetic woman!

Answer 1

Obviously we all try to protect our children from harm full things smoking being one of them. But unfortunately we cant so you smoking when a mother is pushing her child behind you is not your problem. Mothers need to realise if your baby is near a smoker and you don't like it don't go near them simple as. Whats society coming to.

Answer 2

I have read some cracking answers there for you skiddoo. I find that the worst offenders for this are the reformed smokers. They are the ones who complain the most(strange as it may seem). As someone else has pointed out, if the woman was so concerned she should have avoided you not the other way round. After all she was coming from behind you and noticed that you were smoking. So unless you had eyes in the back of your head, it is most unlikely that you would have seen her. She was in the wrong.
She had no right to tell you to walk behind her either if she was walking so slowly. I would just ignore her. The smoke would have been nowhere near her child unless you are very small.
Why they had to delegate the streets to smokers is beyond me. It is not nice to see when you walk by pubs or restaurants and see people standing smoking. They have rights to. So OK, in some eyes it is not pleasant but it is legal. They should at the very least have designated areas for smokers. It is an infringement of THEIR European rights to cast them out onto the streets.


Awe, have a star

Answer 3

Having forced smokers out of pubs. these self righteous prigs think that they have the right to have a go in the open street as well. She is one of those obsessives using her child as emotional blackmail to help her pursue her nasty little agenda.

Not only is she trying control your legal behaviour, but she is also trying to dictate the pace at which you walk. If I had been in a good mood, I might have pointed out that prams are a health and safety hazard on the street. If I was in a bad mood, I would have smoked two cigarettes at the same time after having told her to mind her own damn business.

She was probably a lefty academic. She is not alone either, check some of the responses you have got to your question.

Answer 4

I really cannot abide people who walk right in front of me smoking. I used to smoke and didnt feel the need to inflict my habit on everyone else around as so many smokers feel they have to. Bet you would be the first to complain if someone was smoking a joint in front of you.

Yes she is surrounded by car exhaust fumes but why add to the fumes, she is obviously concerned about her baby passive smoking. I would have moved out of her way and stood and smoked rather than walked.

Answer 5

I would have observed the rain cover on her buggy for a few seconds then looked back in her face and said "Oh Feck off you stupid old dragon, he'll probably grow up and end up on crack anyway".. and huffed off.

Too many uptight freeks in London.

Answer 6

There's so much pollution in this world and you can't protect the kids from everything so, my advice is everyone should use birth control. Even here in America, they stopped people from smoking inside bars. THAT'S STUPID! Now they have to smoke right in OUR faces. It would be much better contained inside the bar so they could breathe in their own disgusting stink. Just because people smoke outside, it doesn't mean we can't smell it. I have asthma really bad and If someone has a cigarette way up the other end of the mall, I am affected by it.

Answer 7

That is a trfile odd, you can't protect your baby from smoke on the street - everywhere else yes.

Why didn't she cross over the road?

My oh my, she'd hate my local sainsburys, you can't get to the entrance for the crowd of staff smoking outside since it was presumeably banned in their staff room.

Answer 8

I would have simply ignored her. This is taking things to the extreme. In any event it is not yet illegal to smoke in the street.

Answer 9

Oh dear, Oh dear. You were both in the wrong: she shouldn't have criticised your smoking and you should have had more consideration. The baby is probably the only one to come out of it with honour.

Of course, how you are supposed to know that this is a problem for her without her pointing it out is the essential dilemma of civilised behaviour.

Answer 10

When someone is rude to me I ask them if they are on medication or been drinking.If that doesn't work I say in a loud voice to either man or woman " are you trying to proposition me ", they normlly run away at that.

Answer 11

accept it as being another one of the loon's that walk around London, i meet some strange characters at night in London in my job as a car glass fitter, i have seen naked men singing there heads off whilst walking down the road, i have seen teenage girls kissing tramps passionately, i have had people come out of there house and ask me to move my van as they don't think people have the right to have tradesmen in the street after 10:00pm. i have had people come out of there house and offer me a meal with there family's because they ordered to much takeaway, there's loads of strange characters in London, but that makes up London