Im not a smoker and never will be.

I work very hard keeping a fit body at nearly 43 and I
would bet that I'm in better shape than most my age or older
on this forum

Many here judge a person with a tattoo with bad character
And making a poor life choice.....but new topic


How about a smoker? How do you feel about a person who smokes?

.

Never done it myself, and never will. Where's the benefit? It's bad for your health, provides you with an odor that many people can't stand to be around, yellows your fingertips, excavates your wallet, and did I mention it's bad for your health?

A friend of mine is in the hospital right now dying of cancer. Guess what's being blamed. In his own words, "I just couldn't quit". He might be all of 55 years old. One day he was fine, the next he couldn't swallow. Medical tests revealed a tentacled tumor that was wrapped around his esophagus, as well as several other critical parts in his chest cavity. They can't use chemo on him because they say it will kill him quicker than the cancer will. IF he makes it out of the hospital (very doubtful at this point), he has MAYBE a couple months tops. He was diagnosed two weeks ago.

I'll repeat - where's the benefit? Contrast that thought with "what's the harm?". It has nothing to do with being judgmental or intolerant or anything personal.

Edited to add...

I'm almost 47. My mom is 83. I can remember when I was a kid hearing her say, "I just can't stand to see a woman smoke in public." For her, it was a character or moral issue or something. Whatever. My comment on seeing ANYONE smoke would be, "I just can't stand to see someone slowly killing themselves."

Stay clear of it and live. Smoke and die. What do you need to know?

I've seen more than one smoker who was at that age when one doesn't have to work as much or at all, has grandchildren to enjoy and then get the diagnosis of lung cancer which was to end their life shortly. It's just too bad one can't get a lot of the young to see the health issues, sadness, etc. that smoking and other bad habits will bring them later on.

STUPIDITY--is the correct answer.

My Dad was killed by Camel Studs, they gave him lung cancer. I think they should be illegal. Look how many people are on welfare and smoke. I hate smoking. Ron

If an adult, who has all the information on the subject readily available to them, and they make the decision to smoke/dip/chew, it is their damn business, not ours.

They know the potential risks yet they still do it.

Unless EVERYONE across America/The World is willing to see the use of tobbacco/tobbacco products, legislated as being illegal, things will not change.

How many of you want to see more unenforceable laws placed on the books???? Anyone care to answer that?

Also, keep in mind, if tobbacco is made illegal, how far behind will alcohol be.

i've never smoked ANYTHING in my life.. parents both smoked and i spent my childhood smelling like an ashtray.... nicotine is more addicting than most illicit drugs in the world.... like they said before there is no upside to tobbacco use...... BUT i think anything banned at any certain time might lead to other things banned.. (slippry slope) if an adult can see what smoking is and still get caught up in it i guess it's their problem.............. except i have to be exposed to the stink from time to time....... there's nothing cool about smoking especially when you have to smoke your butts thru a hole in your throat................................

I smoked for decades, quit on an operating table four years ago, never looked back. When I get the urge I remind myself that one will leave me just as addicted to them as I always/ever was.

My mother smoked and I hated it. My brother did, too. It contributed to his early death, he was 49. Both were were pigs about it. Ugly.

My mother is 95 and hasn't smoked for about three-four years, go figure

Now people look ridiculous to me with cigarettes in their mouths. I wouldn't date or get in a relationship with someone who smokes, now, I just couldn't tolerate it.

I blew smoke all over people for years so I don't make a fuss about it when I'm around smokers.

Smoking sucks, so does snuff, etc.

My grandmother dipped snuff

A pack of cigarettes costs over eleven dollars in NYC. When I first quit I couldn't figure out why I always had money in my pocket at the end of the week

We have little news stands and bodegas all over the city. When I quit I started to notice the signs they have, "candy and cigarettes"- right next to each other on the shelves and both in colorful packages- they like to get the kids early, I think.

It's within any adult's power to just quit, I believe.

When Saint Peter greets me at the gates I am going to say "non smoking area please."

Well I once heard someone say, its a medically proven fact that 100% of all non-smokers die!

We're all headed to the barn, its just a matter of when and how.

Unfortunately I was born with a gene that desires to do all the things my mom told me was bad for me. Sex, drugs, rock-n-roll music, tobacco, alcohol, gambling, cussing.

I smoked (make that bummed cigs) for a couple years in my early twenties. Then was tobacco free for 30 years. Dabbled with cigars and rolling additive free tobacco smokes off an on for a short period in my mid fifties.

Not much I like more than working my ass off all day long, then in the cool of an evening rolling me a smoke (tobacco these days) and having a beer. Or in the evening at the deer lease after a fine meal, sitting around a campfire and getting "mystified" (sierra mist and Jim Beam) while enjoying a decent cigar. Problem is, that mean ol' tobacco don't like me. A short stint of smoking and I start coughing up stuff. Consequently I smoke very little. None in the last year. But darn I sure like it.

Best

GWB

The question isn't do you or dont you? But rather...

How do you feel about those who do?

Let's see,
I don't like myself any less when I have a stogie.
I don't like other folks any less when they have one.
I have family members and friends I like an trust that are smokers. Conversely there are a number of folks I wouldn't cross the street to piss on if the were on fire from spontaneous combustion.

Now if they had tatoo's.............

well like I said at the beginning of the tattoo and piercing thread, tattoos mean, no burial in a Jewish cemetery. Sooooooo, just in case I should ever convert, I'll be sure to smoke.




Best

GWB

PS: I had a good friend that was a maximum security prison chaplin. He was rough as a cobb. He carried a business card in his wallet. When someone around him lit up, he'd hand them the card. It said, "you smoke and I chew, don't blow your smoke on me, and I won't spit on you!"

quote:

If an adult, who has all the information on the subject readily available to them, and they make the decision to smoke/dip/chew, it is their damn business, not ours.

That looks pretty self explanatory to me, it is their life and choice, not mine. If someone wants to smoke/dip/chew, it is their business.

None of my, your, or the government's business.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
The question isn't do you or dont you? But rather...

How do you feel about those who do?

I have professional objections to tattoo's so,........

I'm in a production business. No product no pay. If my employees are stopping to light or puff or stub out or throw away butts they're not producing for me and therefore I'm not profiting from their employment. I have advised the smokers working for me that break time is at 10, 12 and 3:00 so that is smoke time. I make no accomodation for butt disposal out of the ordinary trash can and ofcourse the smokers aren't allowed to burn my dumpster.

I smoked for 20 years and quit to marry my wife. As an employer, I believe your personal tastes and habits are your affair and not mine. Please don't make your personal affairs your employers problems with cosmetic attractions, oddities or interests like tatoos or piercings and intentional work stoppages like smoke breaks.

I started smoking at 13 and did it for 6 years. I also chewed quite a bit during that time. Luckily I was able to quit.

It's true if someone wants to smoke it's their business, have at it. But I still can't help to look at them smoking and think...what a stupid bastard

Never smoked. I have lost good friends that have.
Personally I'd like to see all tabacco products more heaviliy taxed.
I think chewing tabbacco about the most discusting habit imaginable.

As for smoking. If an adult wants to make themselves look an idiot, fine. Just don't do it around me.

Given what we know about the damaging effect of smoking on the smoker and anyone else who may live with them, I say it is impossible to be both a smoker and an intelligent person at the same time.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
If an adult, who has all the information on the subject readily available to them, and they make the decision to smoke/dip/chew, it is their damn business, not ours.

They know the potential risks yet they still do it.

Unless EVERYONE across America/The World is willing to see the use of tobbacco/tobbacco products, legislated as being illegal, things will not change.

How many of you want to see more unenforceable laws placed on the books???? Anyone care to answer that?

Also, keep in mind, if tobbacco is made illegal, how far behind will alcohol be.

I agree with you 100%, what bugs me is that tobacco is government subsidized.

If folks are not breaking the law I really don't care what they do. This to include smoking.

quote:

How about a smoker? How do you feel about a person who smokes?

The lyrics of an old song sum up my feelings towards smokers:
"A fire on one end and a fool on the other."

Yeah, dirty habit....HOWEVER, if you go to the death rates for lung cancer, compare smokers vs. non smokers, you will find that the death rates differ by something like 4 people PER THOUSAND!! That is non-smokers rates are something like 3 per thou, and smokers are 6-7 per thousand. So, the real difference is 4 out of one thousand.Yes the rate is double, like the scare ads say, but....I quit several times, just can't stand walking around, pissed off, every day, thinking gee, it would be great to have a smoke, now. I'm a grumpy old man enough as it is.

Adults can do whatever they want that is legal, no problems here AS LONG AS:

I do not have to subsidize their health care.
I do not have to date them and kiss the ashtray.
I can have a smoke free portion of the restaurant that is REALLY smoke free and not just a half wall between sections.
I don't subsidize their habit in any way.
They don't try to convince me Cuban cigars are legal...that's just stupid.

There is no one, NO ONE as self-righteous as a reformed smoker. Rude and tacky, they feel they have a right, perhaps a destiny even, to sermonize at any and all smokers. Whether friend or stranger. They will also at the drop of a hat, hold forth about their extreme strength of character in stopping. Some of the never-dids are almost as bad.

When I decided I would see how long I could go without smoking (around 20 years ago. IMO, you never really quit, ) I also decided I wasn’t going to be a total dick like so many of the reformed smokers. And, bless my heart, I have done that.

I don’t permit smoking in my truck nor my home. BUT, if a smoker is traveling with me, I try to schedule more frequent stops so they can smoke. If I am traveling in a smokers car, they can smoke their brains out without a word from me. I have the option of staying quiet or getting the hell out. I have a screened in porch on the back of my house that has a lighter and an ashtray on one of the tables.

Back when I was still smoking, a lady (a total stranger to me) opted to tell me what a vile habit it was and that I was, by extension, a vile person. I asked her how would she feel if a stranger walked up to her and told her she needed to loose several pounds off of her fat ass and her obesity was sending her to an early grave. She pitched the expected fit, and told me her fat ass and obesity was no one’s business except hers. There’s a moral there somewhere, I’m sure you can figure it out.

As a smoker that has been a long time without a smoke, I can say it’s a dirty habit, it makes you smell (but you can’t smell yourself), and it is costly. It knocks me brain-dead when I see what a carton of smokes are costing today. But, I think it was Jesus or maybe it was Barry that said, “let yea that is without sin, cast the first stone”.

I think before long it will be a moot point. They will legalize marijuana--there are just too many politicians that are users and there are just too many politicians that have been elected by drug money-- and smoking tobacco will fade away.

I quit smoking 37 years ago.Once I quit, I could not find one good reason that I started.I really do not care what anyone else does in their own house,car or where ever.I just do not want to breathe it in.

I occasionally (like once a month) smoke cigars (good ones), and I genuinely enjoy it. I don't judge cigarette smokers too harshly, but its not something I have any desire to take up, and honestly, I think anybody who lets themselves get addicted to anything is a moron.

quote:

There is no one, NO ONE as self-righteous as a reformed smoker.

Just to clarify the above statement a little, if a person is a reformed ANYTHING. Smoker/alcoholic/whore etc. etc. etc., they are some of the worst people on the planet.

quote:

they are some of the worst people on the planet.

-that's some tolerance level you operate at.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:

quote:

There is no one, NO ONE as self-righteous as a reformed smoker.

Just to clarify the above statement a little, if a person is a reformed ANYTHING. Smoker/alcoholic/whore etc. etc. etc., they are some of the worst people on the planet.

My guess would be you've not had a lot of experience with addiction other than smoking.

I much rather a person be self-rigtheous than an addict any day of the week. That goes for smoking or any other addiction AFAIC.

quote:

Originally posted by tin can:

quote:

they are some of the worst people on the planet.

-that's some tolerance level you operate at.

Some people like to talk out of their hat.

I think the key word there is "reformed". I would tend to agree with the statement however. Have you never said, "goodday" to someone and had to listen to 5 minutes of "oh yes, Jesus has given us a beautiful day today. We should fall on our knees and give thanks. I do that every morning. Do you pray to Jesus when you get up............ etc."
I doubt anyone wakes up one morning and sez: I think I'll become addicted to coke today. Whether it's two sugar cookies before bed or a line or two of coke, very few people truly belive they are addicted. Until they try to stop.

I love these threads.....I gather a lot from them

Yup,

One of the best way to get info is to ask folks questions. Then sit back and let em rip.

I'd also speculate that "Walters" is a Target Rich Environment.

Best

GWB

Regarding women and smoking.
If she smokes, she pokes.

If you want to bypass your eyeball and mainline herion straight to your brain I'm fine with that.
I nursed my dad for 10 years with severe emphysema. The last three years if I added up what he received from medicare, medicaid and veterans and told you, most of you taxpayers would put a bullet in the ear of the next smoker you came across.
If you pay taxes, every smoker is stealing as much from you as any dead beat welfare rat.

quote:

Originally posted by brad may:
If you want to bypass your eyeball and mainline herion straight to your brain I'm fine with that.
I nursed my dad for 10 years with severe emphysema. The last three years if I added up what he received from medicare, medicaid and veterans and told you, most of you taxpayers would put a bullet in the ear of the next smoker you came across.
If you pay taxes, every smoker is stealing as much from you as any dead beat welfare rat.

That's bullshit!. Remember one thing: Medicare and veterans benifits are EARNED benefits. Just like SS. There's no freebies to them. At one time, your dad put himself in harm's way so's folks like you could make threats. You might want to remember, many of those folks you're threatening can shoot back.
When I was a kid, EVERYBODY smoked. A non-smoker was an oddity.

What every man needs is a good cigar and a place to smoke it.

quote:

My guess would be you've not had a lot of experience with addiction other than smoking.

Ler's see, in my short time on earth I have been around smokers/druggies/whores/alcoholics and a few with food addictions, and the sorriest bastards of all, InterNet Know-It-Alls.

Glad to see that one person at least has the basic idea of what I was getting at.

A true addict is never truly cured, and there really is a difference between cured and "reformed".

Absolutely. When I stopped smoking this last time, a friend of mine that was an achoholic, said at the meetings, they told you that you were never cured, you were just a drunk that hadn't had a drink in a long time. That little mantra really helped me. Even tho it's been over 20 years, I still think of myself as a heavy smoker that hasn't had a cigarette in a long time.