Now if you are a smoker try not to get your shorts into a bunch by the following post. I will be quick to say that this is not designed to be all inclusive of all smokers. Just as it would be ridiculous to say that a few people in any given group represent the entire body.
OK, now that that little disclaimer is out of the way, on with the rant.
In Oregon smoking is prohibited in just about every public building, and the law further goes on to say that there will be no smoking allowed within ten feet of an entrance (door). Being a non-smoker I obviously have no problem with this. I personally could care less if smoking were banned everywhere outside of ones home. What I do have a problem with is that at nearly every doorway now, some ten feet and one inch away sit or stand a group of displaced smokers puffing away. In order to get through the door I must navigate my way through a thick cloud of nicotine infused air.The other thing that irritates the crap out of me are all of the inconsiderate pigs that insist on making the patios and sidewalks their own ashtrays. Why is it so hard to actually put the cigarette butt in an ashtray or sand filled container? It tends to look like a sty outside the doorways. Little yellow and white butts everywhere and black marks from stepping on a discarded smoke are more and more common. "People, the world is not your personal toilet, please stop shitting on it at every given opportunity!"
While I'm on the subject, my same lack of love is extended to any of the oink masters that can't use the ashtray in their own cars to discard the end of their cancer sticks. Why do they insist on throwing them carelessly out onto the road? Is it because they are "just a little thing"? BS I say. It is littering plain and simple.
If you are a smoker you may be saying, "Yeah, but we have rights." I'm not disputing that at all. Yes, you do have the right to smoke cigarettes and I'm sure you are more than irritated that your legal areas to do so are shrinking. What my real gripe is, is nothing more than being considerate to those around you.
That being said, I realize I'm biased. I hate cigarettes. I think they are nasty. I think they have the ability to turn the most gorgeous woman into the ugliest one just by seeing her take a drag from one. They have the ability to kill more than four-hundred thousand people every year. They have the ability to grab a hold of people of all ages and never let them go. I see nothing remotely sexy about them, nor do I think they make anyone look cool.
Time to check your shorts. Are they wrinkled and bunched? Let me reiterate, if you're a smoker I do not hate you. I hate that foul, lit smog machine hanging from your face, nothing more
19 comments:
You can smell a smoker a mile off! I absolutely hate the smell & it is a terrible addiction.
What really gets me is when I walk past the city hospital and see patients linked up to drips and with obviously serious medical conditions, dragging away on their cigarettes. They are obviously not allowed to smoke in there.
We are ex smokers since about three months ago and we're glad we are! The ronald had been smoking for nigh on forty years before we gave up! I found it incredibly easy.. just stop.. in my opinion and I am the worse ex-smoker. The smell makes me feel physically sick, ashtrays make me want to puke, the smell from a smoker is nothing short of putrid! I can't believe we used to go around like that. Living here in Ireland smoking is a dying habit, it is banned from all pubs, shops etc and a packet of cigarettes cost about nine euros for twenty! That was the nail in the smoking coffin for us, we just couldn't afford it and we say cheers to the government for putting the tax so high!
Consideration of others goes a long ways....smoker or not.
lets go camping....life is much nicer in nature then in "real life"......
Well as a smoker that is trying to quit I do have some sympathy for you with this post. And that's the people being abig and not using the ashtray's provided And throwing the butts outside the car window disgusts me as well. But as far as you having to navigate your way in to a place through a group of smokers. Too Bad. We were forced there. Wasn't our choosing. Talk to the law makers. Yes, you can smell a smoker from a long way away, but I can smell other people that stink from body odor, too much perfume and/or cologne and eating something like garlic. Try drving a city bus through China town. It's a real treat. It's a bad habit I will admit. And I make no excuse for it. I am the type of smoker that you will never see that smog machine hanging from my face. That disgusts me as well. As for other smelling and foul stenched objects being far worse, what about the semi's and diesels that drive our highways and biways daily. Oh but I suppose that's okay to smell that...Commerce is what they call it. Great post and I hope your shorts aren't too bunched now. I'm a very considerate smoker
I'm a smoker and yet I couldn't agree with you more!
I'm an extremely considerate smoker and will only smoke in my own home. And even if a friend is visiting and they don't like cigarette smoke...I won't smoke.
I only smoke in the evening and never while I'm at work.
Living in a city I see cigarette butts flung everywhere in the streets - it's disgusting.
If someone is going to smoke...smoke. But be considerate.
AMEN!
Ok...I'm done venting now, so I'm gong to go light up a cigarette.
bwhahahahahahaha!
Cigarette smoke really bothers me too, Jeff. And we have the butts here on the sidewalks too. Butts in both senses of the word.
Maggie May- That speaks to how addicting those damn things can be. I'm very fortunate I never started.
Watercats- I've often wondered how high of a tax has to be imposed to deter the use of tobacco. Good for you for quitting and from what I've heard, consider yourself fortunate that it was easy to do so.
Mel- It does indeed. . . in all things.
Teamster- It does seem so doesn't it?
Thom- No worries. My shorts are adjusted just fine. I'm sure the law makers thought they would be doing us non smokers a favor by passing that bill, but all it did was create a gathering just outside of nearly every doorway where smokers congregate. I don't think anybody has come out in a "winning" position the way things are now.
Ron- Your consideration is appreciated!
On the flip side, I don't give any smokers the stink eye as I pass by them, nor do I berate them for dropping a butt on the ground. I just don't see any point in being vocal or obnoxious to them, especially when I can do that here on the blog instead.
Bwahahahaha
San- The smoke smell gives me an instant headache. The hard part of this whole thing is there doesn't seem to be any middle ground in which everybody is happy.
I'm not a smoker, but my Libertarian leanings cause me to have many problems with the anti-smoking laws. Primarily the laws that allow a state or local government to tell me how I can run my own business. If I want to allow smoking in my own business, I should be able to do that. It's mine after all, and smoking is legal.
Also, if the government can pass laws mandating a place have separate bathrooms for women and men, it can pass a law mandating a smoking "room" for businesses or buildings of a certain size or bigger. If a business would provide a well ventilated room for it's smokers, then they wouldn't be standing around the front doors.
But, since they outlawed smoking, and they refuse to provide a smoking room, we end up with people leaning against the building near the front door smoking.
Of course I'm going to agree with what you say, given that I have a heart/lung condition. Breathing can be a chore for me at times. Anyway, what the smokers who discard their cigs out the car window don't consider is that they can start serious fires with that butt, and around dry parts like ours, it presents a very real danger.
Hate the smoke, love the smoker...As long as I don't have to smell one...
Thanks for your words about my writing! I have had an impossible time keeping up with blogs this past few months! No worries! And thanks again.
My shorts aren't in a bunch (lifelong non-smoker) but OH's would be. He feels like a pariah these days, and I have to say, even as a non-smoker whose lungs and throat are seriously irritated by quite small quantities of smoke, I do feel the laws go a little too far in some ways.
I am, however, mightily relieved that I can go to a restaurant, pub or theatre and still breathe at the end of the evening. ;)
I am an ex-smoker, my partner is a smoker.
I can't defend the dropping butts on the ground when an ashtray is nearby, but the tossing out the car window thing I can. Sort of. Most new cars don't have ashtrays. Mine is a 2006, it doesn't and my partner's is a 2004 and it doesn't. Now they do sell at Walgreens and automotive stores, a ashtray cup holder, so it's not like there isn't an alternative. The other day my partner and I switched cars and I was happy to see the ashtray cup holder in her car.
Jay- I can see your point. More often than not, laws can look good on the outside, but be very controlling or counterproductive when viewed on a large scale.
Being a non-smoker, I wouldn't care if it was banned altogether. If I was one who enjoyed to light up though, I know I would see things very differently.
Songbird- My dad and oldest brother both worked in the fire dept. (CA State) They would whole heartedly agree with you about the fire danger a lit cigarette flung out a window poses.
TTWC- I think you got the point of this rant perfectly. The only smokers I don't care for are the ones who insist on littering. The smell of the smoke I don't like at all, but not the person behind the cloud.
Jay- The laws are definitely a two edged sword. A select few they help tremendously, another group they succeed only in irritating the crud out of, and for the majority of us, they don't have much value at all.
Lola- I have to disagree with you about the "out the window". Like your partner has done, if the car doesn't come with an ashtray, then buy one. My truck didn't come with a trash can, but I don't throw my fast food wrappers or cups out the window. (This could be a whole other rant for me.)
I can't stand cigarettes either and I won't go out if it means I have to be in a bar full of smoke. I'd rather stay home.
P.S. WHY do I want to breathe their carcinogens? It should be outlawed in public everywhere.
Working in the courthouse, we are blessed with man a heavy smoker coming in to pay their DUI tickets. They smell really bad! I understand that smokers think they have rights, but non-smokers have those same rights. Personally, I'm happy to be able to sit down to a nice dinner without the smoking section making its way to my table.
Mimi- Outlawing it all together would be just fine with me. Seriously doubt that'll ever happen, but we can wish right?
BJ- I remember having to smell all that nasty smoke in restaurants. Don't miss that at all!
some smokers really are rude...some nonsmokers are as well.
I know what you mean about ducking through the smokers to get into a building...I hate when my hair picks up the smoke...it stays for a long time.
I don't smoke...never have. However, I do think some non-smokers get a little self righteous and controlling to smokers.
There are other less-than-healthy vices which are legal that are coming under fire these days. I worry that our laws and rules towards smokers will provide precedent to limit other freedoms.
Post a Comment