To some people, that cigarette smoke smell is as disgusting as the rancid beer farts of a lactose intolerant geriatric the day after he got so drunk that he drank a gallon of milk on a dare.

Health-conscious people like Rogan who have a distaste for 'weakness' will hate on you because it's not 'good' in their minds to be that 'weak' or to be that blind to the health effects. For that kind of person to self-identify as a good, health-conscious person, they literally need a target that they can use to recharge that self-identification. They have to manifest this outwardly or those images of self-identification can't persist in the mind. So they need a target and sometimes you're that target.

Not everyone has a dislike of smoke or smokers for the same reasons. I can think of a few more reasons I've seen people hate on smokers off the top of my head, but it's not the same for everybody.

Even if you're standing outside smoking it can still effect people that are out there. It still drifts towards people. Most heavy smokers get used to the smell and forget how strong it is. It stinks up peoples clothes, makes some people cough. I'm pretty conscious about where i'm smoking and which way it's going, I know people hate it so i try and keep it out of everyone's face.

It's almost like watching a slow suicide. The idea of having to watch someone close to you consciously (or not very) harm their bodies and all those in the vicinity of their smoke halo is very painful.

It's good here on the other side: our lungs work.
we don't hack up shit.
we still see the humor in Bill Hicks.

If you need that relaxation or flood of endorphins, go run or do yoga.

media memes, status quo

at one point smoking was considered the cool and in thing to do with the help of how advertising presented it.



Duncan on the podcast with Natasha said something about people overweight/fat feeling like shit about themselves when they are out in public. Fuck ya, thanks to the advertising shunning people who appear that way which leads to bullying and criticism.

When food was scarce fat was seen as wealth or being able to eat, i'm sure people felt quite proud of themselves but now because society has deemed this appearance as shameful and in most cases unhealthy its no longer "in" and when you see a fat person there's a trigger that says fuck him he's not appearing or doing what the status quo demands of him like the rest of us, that son of a bitch attack attack attack bully bully bully.

Yes, extreme obesity/fat is unhealthy but a little body fat is not yet there's a certain look pushed on men and moreso women to appear a certain way or they just aren't part of the "normal" human race.

why does it offend you?

i don't drink alcohol, do any recreational drugs, i don't smoke but other people do. I'm not offended that they do...its their bodies let them do what they will with it.

it is a strange peer pressure put out on how people need to behave or look, its subtle but effective in making people shun those who do not follow along.

Nah, I survived cancer at 18 and all my little friends still smoke. I kinda enjoy the smell honestly. Plus it covers the weed smell when the cops roll by :)

I have a somewhat strange opinion of it. If I see someone smoking cigarettes, I generally think they are disgusting, especially if they are just normal big tobacco cigarettes. If someone is smoking a cigar, hookah, or pipe tobacco, I don't have much problem with it.

Maybe it doesn't make much sense, but if I see someone truly enjoying a quality tobacco, I don't mind, but chainsmoking marlboros or whatever chemical covered shit tobacco bothers me.

ladychef said:

@Hamsterfist- excellent call. I also find cars very objectionable, on aesthetic grounds, so I've arranged my life so that I don't have to be a slave to that nasty compulsion, either. You might not like my talk, but you can't say I don't walk it.

Isn't that all we can do? What's in our best interest, without judging others.

We disagree on this issue, but from what I've seen from you on this forum, I respect you very highly. I'm glad you didn't take our disagreement personally. :)

Did you listen to Rogan's latest cast with Michael Ruppert? Sure Rogan gave him shit for smoking, but he allowed it. Why? Because a little bit won't hurt you at all. Basically as the thread of that show said, Deal With It.

The one thing we're all forgetting here is how goddamn cool that smoking cigarettes makes you look. As repugnant as the smell may be, smoking still leaves an overwhelmingly positive impression on those around you, because you look so cool doing it.

@Khan

I mostly agree, and yet I don't. I'm not trying to be a cunt about this at all!! But I still think cars add up. Ever walk through a parking lot? Or sat at a cafe (at least where I live the are generally in a parking lot or street side.) then you have breathed in an equally addictive product. Sure cars, oil and the damage they create are not necessarily on the individual level (outside of the possible cancer and death through wrecks), but cars are an addictive parasite on a societal level. Americans eventually would live without cigarettes, yet take away the overall worse cars and watch anarchy ensue. Because of this, doesn't that also highlight a personal and societal addiction?

Maybe I'm just seeing this wrong, and its because I just don't care 1% if someone does something that realistically doesn't change anything about me. I'm extremely liberal, but this seems like a plague on well meaning, good hearted, liberal people. Telling others what to do and making moral judgments about it, so you can protect their best interests. This same thought led to marijuana prohibition....

Maybe its just the anarchist/libertarian deep within. :)

@Steve Me too. People want to judge; let em. I'm very much used to it. They're not gonna stop me from enjoying a nice Parliament.

It has a recessed filter.

Whenever I read something like this

showdeepflow said:

I cant help but think oh so your retarded then.

I can't help but think, "No, YOU'RE retarded!"

I just like smoking, I like the taste, I like the feeling and after a bit the smell goes... If you don't like it fuck off :). I'm not hurting anyone else so therefore it shouldn't piss others off. Some people need to re-asses their view on life haha.... Take it easy life's too short to worry about money and living that extra 5 years, just have fun and enjoy life

Cigarette smokers should switch to smoking pipes, they smell so much better and look much more fashionable (ok that last part is questionable). When I was a kid I remember there was this old guy who would smoke pipes at the lake I would swim at and I just loved that smell. I've always disliked cigarette stench.

Let's combine the issues

ladychef said:

Obviously, on a human being to human being level, empathy is the thing. I don't think smokers are bad people, I personally just want to surround myself with people who have made it off the lowest rungs of the self-control ladder. Being a functional person takes skill, and being a slave to compulsions- especially ones that negatively affect other people- reflects a lack of skill at the game of life.

I think that it's pretty rough to say that people have little self control and are bad at life because they are indulging in an activity that you don't like or agree with. There are plenty of people out there who are functioning and smoke.

So after having the ability to not smoke, what defines your idea of self control? I'm wondering if i have any of them. I smoke and i always thought i was a person who had self control and decent life skills.

PS- This might be me taking a generalization personally :) Fuck it, lets talk about it.

It doesn't annoy me. Its much better that we've been convinced cigarettes are the devil, as opposed to when we were brainwashed into thinking they were cool, but most people who make a big deal about it are being mildly brainwashed nonetheless.

I was upset when my brother was a smoker, because I felt it was a poor decision, but as far as dealing with the smell etc I don't really care. Second-hand smoke wafting down the street is not a significant health hazard, and I believe other people have a right to smoke.

edit: There is one aspect that I find annoying, thegenerally accepted littering. It appears to be part of the smoking culture (in general) that for some reason the notion of not throwing your trash on the floor doesn't apply to cigarettes.

Q: Does other people smoking cigarettes annoy or affect you if your a non smoker?
A: Of course it does you selfish ignorant (choose your own disparaging attribute) fuck! You fuck face! You ass-hatted disgusting fat fuck! I don't know if you are fat but if you are good, i hope you fucking die. Fuck you!

Let me start/bring back 'round/clarify this Family Hour friendly rant by first pointing out that all my formative years were spent with smokers all up in my grill. I mean, all the way from pool halls and my parents' back deck to freshman year dorm room and party basements to rental properties and my car with the windows closed; its a way of life if you want to roll with heshers.

I don't remember anyone offering/encouraging/provoking me to smoke, it was always just, i guess, available, but i never partook. I never partoke. I learned i was allergic to smoke (also, bees, dust, shellfish) but these never bothered me much, and through it all, I learned to deal.

So here i am now, trying to be the best wage slave i can, and when a coworker i still revere confided in me she used to be at least a social-smoker, i said "of course you did...because you're a female, and you're weak, but that's cool" because that's how i feel about it. It's such a disgusting and pathetic habit, and every smoker knows it too but they're satisfied with the idea "it's just a habit", and i guess i agree, but that's not the question.

And while i reserve the right to call you names on the internet, in life i'm not really bothered by it. It's mostly sad. It's so fucking pathetic, and I truly want better for you, you're better than that, but I don't hope you die man. I take that back, but i must state i do/did have asthma (brought on by smoke? it's gone away now that i don't blaze and am not around smoky environments, so there's that).

I haven't read any of this thread yet (just felt like ranting), but if i didn't nail your position above, i'd like to predict your arguments and blast them:
"it's not that bad"
yes it is. fuck you.
"it's a personal choice"
so is killing drifters, but you know what they have in common? harming others.
"we all have our vices"
but the rest of us are trying to squash every last one of them, starting with the ones we have the power to control.
"i'm an adult"
all the more reason you should be responsible/brave/strong enough to quit that shit.
"who are you to tell me what i can/can't do"
when it fucks with me.

(here's a pdf of professional arguments, i'm just being belligerent)

In summary, brother/sister, if you want to improve yourself...that wasn't the question, my bad.

Does other people smoking cigarettes annoy or affect you if --you're-- a non smoker?

Yes, very much so, on both accounts. One intrinsically, i feel ill, but i can deal with it, extrinsically it says a little something about you. Not much. Not enough to overcome our friendship. Not enough to do anything really, but it's just one more medal of honor/shame to judge you by, but....

This brings me back to my overall point, which is that i try to/say i/honestly want the best for everyone, but not enough to do anything about it. As you age life will continue to become more difficult, and if i love you i want you to have every opportunity to achieve and better yourself, and if you've allowed the government to convince you that you should be proud to poison yourself, then good for you. Great for you. Hurry up and die.

No Fear? or Too addicted to care about myself!
-either way

P.S. I appreciate you asking this question. i didn't mean to be a dick but this seems to me like such a no-brainer you need to get yelled at. And you might know it is too. Point is, smokers suck, and people are making fun of you, and you might/will die a more horribler death, and why wouldn't you give yourself the best chance possible. i'll go back and read the thread now, but it signals to me at least you are conscious of other people.
P.P.S.I've only known one smoker to quit: my grandpa when he returned from the pacific theater and had a bevy of kids and grandma said "smoking has to stop", and he went cold turkey. "THAT'S A MAN!" but i don't know how deep his addiction was, but fuck he was an ARMY construction worker. 50's smokes had FAR FEWER addictive chemicals than they do now.

@Shoey just to get your attention