Call The Inquirer

Feb 09, 2009 18:40

Sadly, I have had a MAJOR about face on a really sort of public-policy issue in the last three months ( Read more... )

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Comments 11

namiko February 10 2009, 01:16:51 UTC
>>There's no excuse for allowing smokers to light up wherever and whenever they feel the urge.

And this is why most smokers are okay with walking out the door and around the corner, especially if asked nicely.

What bugs me about non-smokers, though, is when the smokers have gone out of their way to not be around non-smokers... And then the non-smokers *follow* the smokers and stand around coughing and waving their hands around, and sniffing their sweater the rest of the night.

We get it. You don't want to be around smoke. So we walk outside, stand around in the freezing cold and pouring rain, and grumble to ourselves about the weather, though pretty much all of us know why this is necessary. Just don't follow us ;-)

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drooling_ferret February 10 2009, 12:21:02 UTC
1) Yes, this.

2) The post probably deals more with the out-the-door-but-not-around-the-corner-down-an-alley-somewhere middle ground that most of us (myself often included, especially in the rain) stake out.

Dim and dingy as they are, at least airports (those in states without general prohibitions against indoor smoking) have those "smoking lounges". Which apparently public health laws forbid janitorial staff from ever entering? But that's another issue altogether. So often, there's just no place to go - even outside doesn't work well in cities.

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gm_avie February 10 2009, 13:33:34 UTC
My problem lately has been walking down the street in midtown manhattan. :-( I honestly can't fathom why somebody needs a cigarette soooo badly that they can't go find a clutch of other smokers and STAND STILL. Walking and smoking is the worst. Second Worst. dropping your still smoking butt behind a planter is the worst.

And I agree completely that somebody following the smokers deserves what they get!

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namiko February 11 2009, 20:29:30 UTC
I can't walk and smoke at the same time. I trip :p Same with chewing gum... >.> I never understood how people do that. Seems to ruin the point of smoking (for me, anyway), which is to stand in one spot and relax a bit :p I also agree with the dropping still-smoking butts thing willy-nilly. There are trash cans everywhere in a city, and if you really can't find one, it's not that hard to pinch up your cigarette and get rid of on-fire part. To my fellow smokers: learn basic smoker courtesies! They're not that difficult to master and it helps everyone live a little more harmoniously.

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gargirl February 10 2009, 15:33:27 UTC
I totally agree. I am all for allowing adults the freedom to be who they are and do as they will... but not when it starts infringing on someone else's rights.

Smokers should be allowed to smoke but, since their habit actually releases a toxic and horrible smelling cloud into the surrounding air, they need to not be smoking around non-smokers.

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drooling_ferret February 10 2009, 15:55:24 UTC
Perhaps if all non-smokers were outfitted with bright flashing lights and warning klaxons to announce their impending arrival, it would be easier to avoid treading upon their shadows? ;)

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gm_avie February 10 2009, 16:09:11 UTC
Do you _really_ want to arm me with bright flashing lights and a warning klaxon?

I mean, really.

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arwengalen February 10 2009, 17:55:09 UTC
But aren't you already..::ducks::

I sit on the fence on this one...cousins of mine grew tobacco for many years in the sandy soil near Tillsonburg and their livelihood was based on a carcinogen (hopefully the sp is correct).

Nowadays most of the product is sold to the Chinese and there and in Chinatown and Floooshing there are many as I call them free-range smokers.

I am sensitive to smoke and after being near people who smoke I tend to start coughing up a lung.....it is I guess to the point of does the livlihood of people as opposed to the person who can't be around smokers intersect and survive?

Just my Canadian deux centes worth.

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