Help, I Can't Breathe!

[+ Lucky]

Can there be a more disgusting personal habit than cigarette smoking? My experience in the UK and Barcelona in this respect was absolutely appalling. People smoking EVERYWHERE, sucking for dear life on a dirty little stick. What's the point of looking good if you stink to high heaven? And what makes smokers think they can smoke anywhere and everybody is supposed to tolerate it?

Of course, on my way out of the station in New York, I immediately was surrounded by smokers on the sidewalk. Is smoking really the new black...literally?

[Will]

You picked two of the worst countries in Europe for us anti-smokers. How easily I forget that smoking, and attitudes towards smoking, in Spain and Britain are no different to what they were in New York less than thirty years ago. There are lots and lots of reasons to want to live in Europe. Fresh air and pleasant-smelling people are not among them.

[chrismac]

>Of course, on my way out of the station in New York, I

>immediately was surrounded by smokers on the sidewalk.

 

Lucky - did you return from Europe by train? That must have been quite an interesting trip. I was unaware of such services.

:+

[+ Lucky]

"Lucky - did you return from Europe by train?"

It seemed like it! Actually, I took the express bus from the airport (no limos for me!) to the bus station, whereupon exiting same I encountered the sadistic smokers!

[camshaft9]

I think that you should probably stay inside your apartment, and lock the door. I didn't realize that we had a new mayor. The old one took away my private civil rights too. Now you. I want you to think about all the germs in that bus from the airport. I hope you didn't touch anything. God knows what was on those seats.

Have a nice night.

[Rick Munroe]

I hate cigarette smoke (mostly because I'm allergic) but the odd thing is that sometimes I find it sexy to kiss a smoker. Isn't that weird? This isn't always or usually the case; it must just be certain brands. Maybe it's menthol? Or maybe sometimes the guy I'm kissing is just such a good kisser that I don't mind. Of course, I prefer minty fresh breath, but sometimes it's exciting to kiss a "bad boy." :*

[Flower]

>I think that you should probably stay inside your apartment,

>and lock the door. I didn't realize that we had a new mayor.

>The old one took away my private civil rights too. Now you. I

>want you to think about all the germs in that bus from the

>airport. I hope you didn't touch anything. God knows what was

>on those seats.

>Have a nice night.

 

You must be one of those smokers who feel defensive about your disgusting habit, while burying your head in sand to avoid dirty looks of others and to keep you from seeing evidence that your habit is killing you and INNOCENT OTHERS who have to inhale it since you are too crass to avoid them with your stinky, dirty weed. Instead, you plague people who neither smoke nor want to, nor want to be around those that do!

 

I have NEVER allowed people to smoke in my home, office or car--NEVER, EVER!! The only right smokers have, civilly or otherwise in terms of smoking is to smoke in a private area where it neither affects nor effects anyone who doesn't what to be--nothing more. There is no "civil right" (LOL--sorry, but that is so laughable it boggles the mind) to spew smoke in or around people, their homes offices, or pets--period. To claim such a "right" is ludicrous.

 

Several years ago I had a Christmas party and a friend gave me a bad time about not allowing smoking in the house and for asking people to go out in the rain to smoke if they really "had" to. The next week I stopped by his house and lit a "punk" (think that's what they are called) left over from the Forth of July fireworks--it was used to light the fire works and was the same size as a sparkler, but maintained a bright ember so you could light several fireworks over about 10 minutes without having to light a match each time--anyway, it gave off a neural smelling white smoke and when I went into his house with the lit punk, he had a fit and asked why the hell I'd do such a thing--that it stunk and would smell up the furniture and insisted I throw it out. I did so of course, but when I asked him how that was different than him lighting a cigarette in my home--needless to say, he couldn't articulate one difference--he was dumbfounded :+

 

The same thing would apply in the car or office. Who in the hell has the "civil right" to smoke near me or force me to inhale it? Smokers are demented for starting and more demented for continuing, although I realize it's suppossed to be more addictive than coccain--but I think druggies are demented for starting to use also.

 

There--I excercised a real CIVIL RIGHT }(

[trilingual]

Ugh! I NEVER like to kiss someone who's been smoking! It just tastes and reeks terribly.

 

As for Europe, compared to California or (now) NY, it's still pretty grim for non-smokers. In all fairness, though, I think things there have improved over the years. When I first visited Europe in the 70s, going to the bars and clubs was a real ordeal. The smoky haze was thick, and being highly sensitive to smoke it didn't take more than an hour before my eyes would start watering so badly that I had to leave. Once out of the bars/clubs, it would take quite a long time for my eyes to stop tearing, and in the fresh air the smell of smoke in my clothes was very noticeable.

 

In recent years things seem to be much better. People still smoke, but not nearly as many, from what I could see. For the most part, the murky haze in the bars/clubs is gone. I've been able to spend a pleasant evening in bars/clubs without choking (I've developed asthma in the past ten years or so) or having eye problems. I'd love it if smoking in public places were banned altogether, of course, but the improvement is noticeable. Of course, some of it is the product of social engineering, in which cigarettes have been made so prohibitively expensive that people have been forced to cut down on their smoking. Elimination of intra-EU duty-free shopping has undoubtedly contributed to that. No more cheap cigarette runs across the Channel or nearest border! Hopefully the trend toward cleaner indoor air will continue!

[Guest Utopia]

Move to California no one smokes. A relative of mine from back east commented we have gangs, freeway shootings, air that we can see, but we don't smoke. She isright I think we have the strictist anti-smoking laws of any state and more often than not they are followed closely. I smoked for many years 2 packs a day and quit many years ago so I can have a view from both sides. But when I did smoke I never intentionally lit up where I thought I was bothering others.

 

So California is the place you want to be ... we are nearly smoke free and I like it.

[Trixie]

Well my dear, I guess you really shouldn't leave the antiseptic US ever again, because I think you'll find that just about every country in the world has better things to worry about than people smoking in public. The anti-smoking frenzy that has enveloped the US is a ridiculous public paranoia generated within a self-conscious middle class. The same people who feel it is just to sue McDonalds because the coffee they spilled on themselves was too hot (mind you, I think there's plenty of reasons to sue McDonald's, but that's surely not one of them.) It has become a tradition to make a mountain out of a mole-hill in this country, and I think it's because we don't have enough real problems to think about - or, more correctly, we don't want to think about the real problems.

Now don't get me wrong...as a smoker, I really wish I could quit. But if I do ever quit, I hope I do not become as unpleasant a person as those peope I encounter here in California who feel it is their right to tell me what to do. I'd rather die 20 years younger than behave in such an ignorantly self-righteous manner.

As a smoker, I hope the next generation of youth completely abandons the desire to smoke, the world over. But I know that will not happen. As my doctor once told me, "nicotine calms the mind more effectively than any drug I know of. Too bad it's so bad for you."

I am a polite smoker. I do not smoke indoors, ever. Even in my own home. If with a group of people (who do not smoke) I always step away to avoid bothering them. I try to be courteous of other's sensibilities (which is more than I an say of many militant non-smokers). I do not expect or coerce anyone to be intimate with me if they tell me they are offended by the smell of cigarrette smoke.

I myself am offended by the automobile. This dirty habit is fouling the air, and creating outrageous noise and light pollution. It is the most probable direct cause of global warming. It is directly responsible for urban sprawl, the current war in the Mideast, and more deaths per year than smoking, AIDS and guns combined. Yet, you are not indignant that the automobile reigns supreme in US culture? People have been smoking one thing or another for millenia, and civilisation goes on. Yet, less than 100 years after the initial mass-marketing of the automobile, the earth is facing rather horrific consequences.

So, I'll make a deal with all you rabid non-smokers out there. I'll give up my nasty habit, if you give up yours!

La Belle Trixie

[jackhammer91406]

Lucky,

I am sorry that you have such a negative opinion of all of us smokers. When i met you this past February, i tried to be mindful of you by walking a respectful distance behind you so that you would not come in contact with the smoke. I also tried to be respectful in places where smoking was allowed. Sorry if I made you so disgusted my friend. If quitting were easy, everyone would probably do it.

[Flower]

U smoke in non-smokers' faces, yet you call us"rabid???

 

> The anti-smoking

>frenzy that has enveloped the US is a ridiculous public

>paranoia generated within a self-conscious middle class.

 

Give me a break--you've combined words that sound like a sentence but don't make a coherent thought--they make no sense whatsoever!

The

>same people who feel it is just to sue McDonalds because the

>coffee they spilled on themselves was too hot

 

I must have missed the study that is the Genesis of this ingenious conclusion--please share your source.

It has become a tradition to make a

>mountain out of a mole-hill in this country, and I think it's

>because we don't have enough real problems to think about -

>or, more correctly, we don't want to think about the real

>problems.

Real problems like spending BILLIONS for medical treatment of smoking related illnesses; real problems like watching parents or siblings or dear friends die of cancer or have their life severely curtailed by having one (if they're lucky) lung removed as a result of smoking related cancer; not being able to go for walks with your grandparents due to their smoking related emphysema--these aren't "real" enough for you? And these are also casued by SECOND HAND SMOKE--so you aren't just putting yourself at risk, but many others as well.

>Now don't get me wrong...as a smoker, I really wish I could

>quit.

THEN DO IT--you're just making excuses for yourself now. But you have to want to bad enough, and having read your posts here, I think you have the capability to quit--so do it:)

But if I do ever quit, I hope I do not become as

>unpleasant a person as those peope I encounter here in

>California who feel it is their right to tell me what to do.

You and yours still don't get it do you--we couldn't care less what you do--just so you don't do it in a way that affects other people--think about it--what right have you to blow smoke in my face or even onto the sidewalk I have to walk on and am forced to inhale your (the general your)?

>I'd rather die 20 years younger than behave in such an

>ignorantly self-righteous manner.

 

Easy to say now sweetie, but when you're gasping the last breaths I bet those 20 years look pretty damn good But more to the point, your last years are likely to be spent on public-assisted medical treatment paid for by who?--you guessed it--TAX-PAYERS.

>As a smoker, I hope the next generation of youth completely

>abandons the desire to smoke, the world over. But I know that

>will not happen.

 

Certainly won't as long as people keep smoking and supporting the cigarette makers who in turn need to turn on the youth of tomorrow since their present customers are dying off.

As my doctor once told me, "nicotine calms

>the mind more effectively than any drug I know of. Too bad

>it's so bad for you."

Percodin, Codeine, Morphine and Heroin do a pretty good job too, but you don't see delivery systems for them sold over the counter.

 

>I am a polite smoker. I do not smoke indoors, ever. Even in

>my own home. If with a group of people (who do not smoke) I

>always step away to avoid bothering them.

 

I'm sure you make the effort, however most nonsmokers are offended even walking out the door of a public building and having to inhale the second hand smoke from all the nicotine junkies huddled nearby.

 

The only truly "polite smoker" is one that smokes away from not only others in his group, but away from where people are likely to walking by. There is NO reason why nonsmokers should have to walk off the sidewalk or take other building exits to avoid smoke. As a practical matter they just put up with it, but they should NOT have to.

>I myself am also offended by the automobile. This dirty habit is

>fouling the air, and creating outrageous noise and light

>pollution. It is the most probable direct cause of global

>warming. It is directly responsible for urban sprawl, the

>current war in the Mideast, and more deaths per year than

>smoking, AIDS and guns combined.

 

I also find car exhaust offending, but there have been great strides made in cleaning that up. However, the automobile in it's many forms, has GREAT UTILITARIAN VALUE, whereas the cigarettes has none--it's a nuisance without redeeming qualities except for temporarily satisfying the addiction of the addicted. It doesn't transport people to jobs, hospitals or shopping--it doesn't plow fields, transport hundreds of thousands of people across country or carry produce to market to feed smokers and nonsmokers alike. It does however, cost people their early deaths, create a tremendous amount of medical jobs and suck billions from the pockets of taxpayers that could be going for Aids, cancer, Sickle Cell, etc., research and cures. So don't even go there, as you have NO convincing arguments.

>So, I'll make a deal with all you rabid non-smokers out there.

> I'll give up my nasty habit, if you give up yours!

You just might be able to do it, but 99% of your smoking brethren won't, so not much of a deal.

 

I've never understood the self-righteous attitude of smokers when they call nonsmokers "fanatics" or "rabid" or the like. After all, it is the smoker that is blowing smoke in OUR face and causing us to inhale, not the other way around! We really don't give a damn if you smoke or not--just do it in a way that we aren't exposed to it and pay for your own long-term health insurance so when you start having your smoking related illnesses, the taxpayers aren't paying your bill.

 

And lastly LaBelle, you sound like a really cool person from the many messages on here I've read. For your own good, I'd like to see you stop smoking, but that's your deal not mine.

 

When I have used the words "you" and "your" above, I wasn't getting personal to you, but was really talking to smokers in general and not trying to offend you personally. :+

[+ Lucky]

But, jack, you are a saint among smokers! You actually did try to show some courtesy, as California smokers have learned.

But then again, being a saint, you should quit this bad habit and show some courtesy to your own body too!

I smoked for many years until I found the Schick Clinic in Pasadena. They used aversion therapy to get me to stop in 5 days. At the end of the five days, they said if I smoked a cigarette all of the way through, I could have my money back. I didn't touch it and haven't for 24 years now.

[Guest Les]

Was that you Lucky?

 

Was that you Lucky? I too was at the Schick Center in Pasadena 24 years ago. There was a somewhat cute guy with dark hair and blue eyes I kept flirting with...Could that be you? LOL... Stranger things have happened...I suppose.??

Unfortunately..it didn't work for me.

Why is it reformed smokers are the worst bigots when it comes to others enjoying tobacco?

In defense of my habit, I can offer no real medical argument(In fact my best friend is dying of oropharyngeal cancer. He quit 30 years ago.)

and most people these days

seem to actually be offended by smokers. Cigarettes are most definately

addictive and absolutely unhealthy. They do, however, provide some of the

most enjoyable moments of my day. I'm not sure if it is the nicotine

speaking, but my post-dinner cigarette is usually more satisfying than the

meal itself. A quiet smoke in an isolated place is the ideal arena for

productive contemplation. I have honestly resolved almost every personal

dilemma in the recent past while enjoying a cigarette and watching the

smoke rise to form its graceful arcs and twists. Sunday mornings find me

and my closest friends on the back patio of our house, smoking, drinking

coffee, and re-hashing our weekend sexscapades.

I am dreadfully

sorry if my second-hand attacks you. I take great pains to

keep my habit to myself and will continue to do so.

[+ Lucky]

RE: Was that you Lucky?

 

Les, see first two lines of reply to jackhammer! But, no I never had blue eyes. I only had the blues.

Since the Schick Center used aversion therapy, it might probably cause a deeper psychological response in me to be around inconsiderate smokers, which of course is all of them except you, jack, and the two other smokers here who have yet to reply!

Serously, the problem is much worse in the 2 countries mentioned, as Will points out. I simply stayed out of the bars, but on the streets and the restaurants, in the subway and the airports, a man has to breathe, don't you think?

[camshaft9]

Stay in your house........

 

and shut your mouth. Don't preach to me, flower. As far as I'm concerned, you're stinkweed. Go suck on an exhaust pipe.

[Flower]

RE: Stay in your house........

 

>and shut your mouth. Don't preach to me, flower.

 

Moi??? :+

 

As far as

>I'm concerned, you're stinkweed. Go suck on an exhaust pipe.

http://www.notobacco.org/photos/large/photo04.jpg

[Guest Norm De Plume]

( Of course, I'm using the "Royal We" and the "Royal I")

 

You asked me to stop smoking in your car -- I did.

You asked me to stop smoking in your home -- I did.

You asked me to stop smoking in your office -- I did.

You asked me to stop smoking in your store -- I did.

You asked me to stop smoking in your bar -- I did.

You asked me to stop smoking in your public building -- I did.

You asked me to stop smoking in my car -- I did.

You asked me to stop smoking in my office -- I did.

You asked me to stop smoking in my home -- I did.

 

Now let's flip the coin....

 

I would like you to stop wearing that "fragance"...You know the one that one

that turns my eyes bright red because of the allergy reaction.

 

I would like you to stop drinking, the smell that permeates you after just a few

drinks causes nausea.

 

I would like you to stop smoking pot. My THC-sensitive roommate may have to

go to the hospital because of the reaction just having it on your clothes can cause.

 

I would like you to stop using poppers, it dilates my blood vessels to the point

where it's possible that I'll die.

 

I would like you to stop drinking coffee, the smell is horrid, the grounds are

disgusting,. and the sludge in the bottom of your cup is turning green.

 

I would like you to ban Football, Wrestling, and Raves because obviously they

promote violence.

 

I would like you to stop wearing stripes and plaids, everybody knows that they

don't go together.

 

I would like you to get a sex-change, there's a 49% chance that your the wrong

sex.

 

I would like you to change your skin color to orange. We have to get ride of

all those lesser races.

 

I would like you to get circumcised, it aids in hygiene and reduces head cheese.

 

I would like you to convert to my religion because it's the only one that is truly right..

 

But

 

I'll give up all of my [bold]demands[/bold] if you'll embrace diversity. If you'll accept my faults, the same way that I accept yours. If you make a reasonable accommodation for my life-style choices just like I do for you.

[+ Lucky]

"If you make a reasonable accommodation"

 

But, when you are subject to smoke without a choice, where is the reasonable accomodation? This isn't just a lifestyle chocie, it is a health hazard to the people around it, plus, IT STINKS!

[camshaft9]

Bravo Norm De Plume.

BTW---LOL the marlboro graphic.

[woodlawn]

>"If you make a reasonable accommodation"

 

>But, when you are subject to smoke without a choice, where is

>the reasonable accomodation? This isn't just a lifestyle

>chocie, it is a health hazard to the people around it, plus,

>IT STINKS!

 

I would like all HIV positive men to stop having sex. The number of new AIDS cases in America increased 2 percent last year. This is a health hazard to the rest of the population.

[+ Lucky]

Even better, let's make all straight men stop having sex! Then no new smokers would be made, right? It sure would solve a lot of problems. If only woodie's parents would have thought of this first...

[woodlawn]

>Even better, let's make all straight men stop having sex!

>Then no new smokers would be made, right?

 

And no new non-smokers. In fact, no new anyone. So who's going to wipe the drool off your chin when you land in the nursing home?

 

>It sure would solve

>a lot of problems. If only woodie's parents would have

>thought of this first...

 

If only you had paid attention in English class when your teacher explained the correct use of "would have," you wouldn't have made such a stupid mistake. Just think of all the deserving young people in the Third World who would have loved the chance to go to school but didn't get it, while you were sitting there oblivious of the lesson because you were picturing your male classmates naked. Perhaps it is not too late for us to exchange you for some immigrant who would actually make some contribution to this country. I'll look into it.

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Would They, Could They: The Sad Tale Of Little Woodie

 

An investigation has disclosed that Woodie's biological mother was a Southern Belle, left financial ruined and destitute by her Father's love of Jazz, Women and Liquor and thus, to survive, become a courtesan at the turn of the century. However, poor timing and bad luck found Woodie's mama impregnated by a man who showed up very late, did not look at all like his oil portrait and "forgot" to pull out when he promised to do so. All her "friends" and co-workers would not help, making it impossible for her to raise a little child, much less Little Woodie, in this environment, leaving her with no choice but to abandon Little Woodie, for once, looking remarkably innocent and pure, wrapped snugly in a blue blankie and placed inside a woven straw basket on the doorsteps of a Pentecostal church in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

 

It was this upbringing, coupled with the knowledge of his maternal forbearance, which defined and helped formulate Woodie's hatred of sex and sex workers. Middle age women living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience helped Little Woodie become the man he is today.

 

It was also the teachings and beliefs they indoctrinated in Little Woodie's half formed brain and perpetually broken heart that we find reflected in his frequently voiced need to always inflict the most proper and opportune rectitude on this board and to point out the obviously clear magnitude and extent of error amongst us remaining sinners.

 

And thus Little Woodie lives happily ever after, as he calmly and serenly walks, wearing only, of course, sensible and comfortable shoes of, into the dark and stormy night at the edge of the horizon. . . .

[Huey]

Welcome Back Lucky ... Missed you lots :*