Thread: I'm Glad I'm on the Downhill Side of This Life

Originally Posted by ursus

I disagree and I do believe that tobacco smoke is harmful.
HEALTH HAZARDS OF TOBACCO
World No-Tobacco Day

I think the whole point is offering the freedom to smoke-free environment and frankly, adding tobacco to environment is whole lotta easier than taking it out... And we aren't talking about a total ban - you can still go outside to smoke if your landlord has requested you not to smoke inside.
=)

I respect your beliefs and would not smoke near you nor would I smoke in a house I rented from you if you so requested. I do not even bother asking if people mind if I smoke nowdays, I just go and find a quite spot by myself and enjoy my pipe. I do wonder what ever happened to tolerance. I personaly don,t like alcohol but I am not going to run around telling everyone else not to drink.

PS Last week I was at a park sitting and having a pipe,a woman and her child walked past.The child said "mum that mans filthy he,s smoking" The mother made the fake coughing sounds while waving her hands in front of her face. Now should I have gone to the carpark and explained to her that in one hours use her car would churn out more pollution than 15,000 cigarettes and there was nothing I could do about it.No I thought she just would not see the hypocrasy in it. So I hopped on my little bike and went for a ride in the forest wondering where the tolorance of society had gone.

Originally Posted by AussiePostie

I respect your beliefs and would not smoke near you nor would I smoke in a house I rented from you if you so requested.

Thank you for this.

Society is indeed losing some of its invaluable values. Tolerance and consideration go hand in hand.

No such thing as rights, just physics.

I was completely straight-edge (unavoidable pun, sorry) for the first 24 years of my life. No alcohol, no drugs, no smoking. Then, on a whim, I drank and smoked cigarettes heavily for six months, just to see what it was like. I realized it didn't deserve the importance I had given it all my life. I quit (too expensive, lol), but I still have a drink and a cig every now and then just to keep me balanced.

I have certain friends who don't like being around smoke. So I don't smoke around them. It's not because I'm trying to respect their philosophy, it's because I'd rather hang out with them and smoke some other time. And they don't care if I am "a smoker," because they always know they are going to have a good time with me. I don't see the point in smoking around them like I got something to prove, you know?

Smoking isn't the root of the problem, imho. It just has the misfortune of being an issue with two well-define sides in a culture where everybody wants to carry a torch. I blame over-population a little bit, but even that is just the tip of the iceberg. It'd be nice if the smokers could go start their own village, and the non-smokers could go start their own village, and the people who need to make a big deal about it could be run out of town.

Originally Posted by AussiePostie

I do wonder what ever happened to tolerance.

Tolerance is definitely still about, how ever, nowa days smokers have to tolerate the fact that non-smokers don't want to be subjected to smoke where ever they are, instead of non-smokers tolerating being subjected to smoke where ever they are.

Originally Posted by gregs656

Tolerance is definitely still about, how ever, nowa days smokers have to tolerate the fact that non-smokers don't want to be subjected to smoke where ever they are, instead of non-smokers tolerating being subjected to smoke where ever they are.

It is completely understandable. I've smoked since I was 14 and although it used to anger me that I couldn't smoke where and when I wanted to I've come to realize that it is an imposition upon non-smokers.

We used to have both smoking and non smoking eating and drinking establishments around here, then a couple of suburbs banned public smoking altogether, now the smokers go to other towns to eat and drink and the authorities in a recent newspaper article are wondering why there are increasing deaths due to DWI. Heres a hint fellas, the smokers have to go outta town to be themselves and then they have to drive more miles while intoxicated to get back home, so much for this crap being in the public interest. If an establishment wants to cater to smokers so be it, if not so be that. The govt imposing its will on your lifestyle is not only wrong but stupid. Im with Jimmy, I really dont want to see how far this self righteous stupidity can go. What really galls me is that we as Americans(individualists) are buying into this or are not facing it down.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

We used to have both smoking and non smoking eating and drinking establishments around here, then a couple of suburbs banned public smoking altogether, now the smokers go to other towns to eat and drink and the authorities in a recent newspaper article are wondering why there are increasing deaths due to DWI. Heres a hint fellas, the smokers have to go outta town to be themselves and then they have to drive more miles while intoxicated to get back home, so much for this crap being in the public interest. If an establishment wants to cater to smokers so be it, if not so be that. The govt imposing its will on your lifestyle is not only wrong but stupid. Im with Jimmy, I really dont want to see how far this self righteous stupidity can go. What really galls me is that we as Americans(individualists) are buying into this or are not facing it down.

Yes but you will. We all will. I do have faith in my fellow man though. My only concern is when will my fellow man justify my faith.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

We used to have both smoking and non smoking eating and drinking establishments around here, then a couple of suburbs banned public smoking altogether, now the smokers go to other towns to eat and drink and the authorities in a recent newspaper article are wondering why there are increasing deaths due to DWI. Heres a hint fellas, the smokers have to go outta town to be themselves and then they have to drive more miles while intoxicated to get back home, so much for this crap being in the public interest.

They chose DWI, the government didn't force them to drink and drive... or did their personal responsibility die the second somebody told them they couldn't impose their smoke on others in the area?

What does their choice of DWI and long distance DWI tell us about them? How many other people were taken out by their "harmless to other" personal lifestyle choices?

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

We used to have both smoking and non smoking eating and drinking establishments around here, then a couple of suburbs banned public smoking altogether, now the smokers go to other towns to eat and drink and the authorities in a recent newspaper article are wondering why there are increasing deaths due to DWI. Heres a hint fellas, the smokers have to go outta town to be themselves and then they have to drive more miles while intoxicated to get back home, so much for this crap being in the public interest. If an establishment wants to cater to smokers so be it, if not so be that. The govt imposing its will on your lifestyle is not only wrong but stupid. Im with Jimmy, I really dont want to see how far this self righteous stupidity can go. What really galls me is that we as Americans(individualists) are buying into this or are not facing it down.

When most of the pubs and restaurants in Europe went smokeless, I saw a man interviewed in the telly going "oh won't somebody please think of the children" because his kids were being harmed by his smoking because he couldn't smoke in the pub anymore. The story doesn't tell why he couldn't smoke outside.

Is driving under the influence allowed in where you live? I hazard a guess that it is not. So I understand where you are coming from, but I'm afraid I see absolutely no justification in DUI because somebody feels that smoking ban is against their freedoms. They shouldn't be driving at all, whether they smoke or not. Is breaking other laws justifiable because somebody thinks that some arbitrary rule "restricts their freedoms"? How many convicted criminals will claim that smoking bans made them do it?

I see where your coming from, and understand that you want to continue doing the thing you've enjoyed doing so far. I respect that. In return, I expect that you understand that non-smokers have the right to be able to live without smoke. Smoking outside is always an option that enables the coexistence of rights and it seems to work well here, despite the sub-zero climate during winters.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

If an establishment wants to cater to smokers so be it, if not so be that.

It would be great if that were possible. I am not sure it is at the moment where people are employed.

I don't know about you, but I am not aware of a local pub that does not keep half a dozen ash trays under the bar for when the places 'closes' and the doors are locked. An excellent excuse to order another whiskey and light up.