h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have read a lot of comments by non-smokers bemoaning the fact that billowing clouds of smoke come pouring their way and that it is disgusting to have to breathe someone else's smoke. I'll agree with that statement... but of course, at least you can see a smokers breath when he/she exhales, and are at least given ample opportunity to dodge it. When a non-smoker exhales, Lord knows where his/her germs are going! Frankly, there is nothing worse than breathing in a strangers carbon monoxide... yuck. I say while we are at banning smoking we should also ban belching and boofing as well. That's pretty narley stuff too, you know?

Seriously though, smoking inside seems to be a bit silly these days, knowing what we know about smoke and the dangers of second hand smoke. It's gotten to the point that second hand smoke is so dangerous that people who want to stay away from it actually have to take up smoking themselves... I can see it now. Wouldn't the tobacco companies love it?

I don't know why "Big Tobacco" doesn't do more to make smoking a safer habit... Just in the interest in sales alone... I mean if they kill off their entire market, who will they sell the cancer sticks to in the future?

I digress. Smoking should really only be allowed in bars and the great outdoors. I say bars, because quite frankly,if you are guzzling booze you really don't have much interest in your health anyway... and I say outside, because that is where I tend to smoke. I haven't had a smoke indoors in over 10 years (with the exception of bars and then only infrequently). It's not that big a deal to be considerate and try to blow smoke when no-ones around and where no-one is going to be offended. I also, for the record, always pinch out my butts and take them with me to be disposed of in an ashtray or garbage can.

I quit smoking for over a year, and have to say that it never bothered me when someone else would light up, because I generally only hang around with considerate people. Thpppt.

Lars,
"...nothing worse than breathing in a strangers carbon monoxide... yuck.."

I think you'll find that this is the "Earth Edition" of the Guide, so we should really only be discussing human metabolic by-products...

"...if you are guzzling booze you really don't have much interest in your health anyway..."

But as I've already posted in several threads, this isn't just a health issue. I don't really care about the health aspect. Smoke smells disgusting to me - walking round a corner into the "plume" from someone smoking in a doorway makes me feel physically ill. It stings my eyes and nose, to the point they are still sore 24 hours after being in a pub. I'm diabetic, so I don't drink without having something to eat first, and trying to find a smoke-free corner in the average pub to eat a toastie is a farce worthy of a Benny Hill sketch, even if it were possible to order one from the bar without the person queueing behind you choking you with their smoke. Oh, and of course, there's always the smoker who holds their cigarette at arms length along the back of their seat while they chat to their friends, so it's about a foot from the face of the person next to them. What's with that? Do they think it's somehow "sophisticated"? Do they see that the person next to them doesn't have a cigarette of their own, and think they are being generous by "sharing" theirs? Is it just that continual exposure to nicotine reduces the IQ?

Aberdeen briefly had a non-smoking bar. It wasn't successful, so it was closed down. People point at that as "proof" that non-smoking bars are unprofitable... No-one seems to remember that they had an all-day door policy of "no jeans, no trainers, no baseball caps", with a bouncer on to enforce it. I walked three miles to go there, with a friend who was trying to give up smoking, just for us both to be barred from entry because I was wearing jeans and he was wearing trainers - at 1pm! The fact that two people were willing to walk three miles to find the closest non-smoking bar suggests that it would be a successful idea, if they would just let the customers *in*!!!

There are other bars with non-smoking areas, but I have yet to find one where it's possible to come in from the street, spend an afternoon drinking and leave without smelling cigarette smoke. You always have to walk through a smoking area to get to the non-smoking area, to get to the bar, and again to use the toilets.

Rant over...

Well, right, okay, point taken about it "not being a health issue" etc... (despite the fact that you go on to moan about the watery, stinging eyes that are sore even 24 hours later... and the nausea you feel just at the smell of smoke-- which all sounds decidedly health related... but I'll give you it on the basis that it matters not one fetid dingo's kidney.) :Grin:

You are, as I'm guessing, in the U.K. where smoking is taken to a different extreme. You should actually count your blessings, because the U.K. has not taken being "politically correct" to ridiculous extremes yet, and hence the problem with the over smoked pubs arises.
Well, the cure I guess is to get politically correct and make everyone jolly well conform and take away everyones personal freedoms. I mean, the smell of a pint of beer makes some people go week in the knees. Yeah, as a matter of fact, Alcoholics can't even go into a restaurant because booze is being served there... the smell must drive them mad... so, let's stop selling booze in restaurants and pubs, so that everyone can enjoy the smoke free, booze free environments! Oh, let's not forget the vegetarians... You know the Vegans that can't even eat meat or dairy by products... better stop serving meat and poultry in restaurants and pubs too... wouldn't want to offend the Vegans! What about people allergic to perfumes? Should we allow people to even where perfumes? But then what about the people that are sickened by the smell of other bad smelling people? What do we do to compensate them? Politically Correct, and don't forget... don't call that short guy, "Short Guy" anymore... now you have to call him "Vertically Challenged".

Here in the U.S. where I live, it is virtually impossible to smoke anywhere without feeling a sort of "Felons Guilt" syndrome. Every time you turn around there is someone clawing at their throat or pantomiming the lack of oxygen in the area, just due to this little bit of smoke coming off a cigarrette butt. Sometimes it is hard to resist the urge to clobber these fools over the head with a two ton heavy thing. These same clods are the ones that chase fire trucks to watch other peoples houses burn down, and stand in the smoke and soot for hours going "oooohh... ahhhh!", you know?

Not to mention joggers in New York City or, heaven forbid, somewhere like Los Angeles! How these people can still be fit is beyond me... They suck in more Carbon Monoxide from spent automobile fumes than someone who smokes 2 packs a day! Yet, they too will bemoan the evils of smoking. I used to be a runner myself, and would insist on having a jolly good smoke as I ran. I used to finish first, running cross country races, with a Marlboro hanging out of my mouth. Of course, I was young then and stupid... don't know what my point was.

I smoke (despite having quit for over a year) because I like to smoke. I like doing what I do when I smoke, which is, pacing and thinking. Smoking is my excuse to pace and think, and despite it actually killing brain cells at a minimal rate, it is quite enjoyable to me. The smoking in itself doesn't help me to solve problems, the pacing and thinking does though.

You know, in the State of California, it IS illegal to smoke in a restaurant or bar, unless it is a specially designed bar for smokers only (or some silly thing like that). Now, perhaps you have never been to California, but it is absolutely packed with restaurants. You can't flick a cigarrete butt without hitting one. So, the premise that No Smoking bars and restaurants wouldn't work is a silly one, unless, like you mentioned, they don't let people actually go into them. That tends to be pretty poor business management, and nothing to do with the actual "not smoking" bit.

My own father is one of those guys that always goes into wild fits of gagging and coughing whenever he's in a bar/pub where smoking is the norm. Yes, especially if any one he knows is actually doing the smoking... well, almost anyone he knows. If it's perhaps a young, sweet thing, with pretty eyes and (someone censor me here, please) etc... She could easily blow a pack of cigarrettes in his face in smoke form and that would be just lovely. Many men suffer from this same illness. It's called selective whining. I too have been stricken by this many times myself, but usually it has naught to do with the smoking... I don't think I'll elaborate on that.

Forgive the rant, but I type at the speed of my thoughts which is really a bad habit because things come out way too fast and totally bypass the filter, so to speak. It's the way I talk though, so it adds a bit of realism to the conversation (one sided as it may seem).

Best wishes,
Hope you find a place to breathe easy!
Lars

Thanks!

Actually, I'd like to raise a point here.

I'm normally the nominated driver for my group of friends (we don't all live in the big city! ). Generally this is because:
a) There are VERY few alcoholic beverages that I can stomach drinking (it's probably just me, but wine tastes like something rotted and feotid, most beers taste distressingly and don't start me on spirits and alcopops </grrr&gt; and b) I have a slightly larger car than many of my friends, so we can all fit in more comfortably.

Therefore I don't drink when we go out.

I also know alot of others, particularly at dance clubs, who don't drink alcohol. The net result is that we get gassed with the biproducts of the burning of specially modified and chemically doctored leaves.

Not good.

Best suggestion - have smoking rooms, where those who wish to can light up, and leave the larger space for those who either don't smoke, or are between fags.

Ouside it's another matter. It's a nusance when you get trapped downwind of a smoker, but politeness should be able to deal with this ( who am I kidding. If you ask many kids these days to stop smoking you'll either get spat on, verbal abuse, or in the case of one girl I know, hospitalised because they took the request as a challange and beat her up. Welcome to the UK.</cynical&gt.

Probably the best suggestion that I can come up with is that smoking related diseases not be treated on the NHS, and people who need the care pay for it themselves. If they can't afford it, well, it may sound harsh, but it is their choice.

Now people who have tried repeatedly to give up smoking (my dad was one, he just left it too late and it got him just after he had finally quit) need help. I can't belive the cost of group sessions and support come to that spent on treating the chronic sicknesses.



Maybe the tobacco companies could run a health scheme - you buy their products, they pay for the health care... dunno, just an idea. It might save litigation and alot of time. They could also add something that tastes foul, so that part of te urge is removed.

Actually that's a good idea. Publically available tobacco should be doped to make it ataste foul, but tobacco bought from and smoked on specially licenced premises could be undoctored. It's kind of like heroine and methadone.

Anyway, to make the point I was trying to make before I side-tracked myself:

Smoking should probably not be banned in total, but should be much more heavily controlled. Definite ban in public buildings, although rooms / outside areas might be designated as OK.