What should we do about smoking?

[triplefive]

being a smoker, i can completely understand why people would want it seperated in their restaurants and why it isn't allowed everywhere like department stores, malls, theaters, etc.
but since i live in a town where it's actually illegal in bars and club AND restaurants, i think that's just ****ing ridiculous. i think in bars and clubs it should be legal. and i can understand in restaurants, but there were many here that had seperate areas just for smokers, even behind glass, where it has been made illegal.
come ON PEOPLE!!?!?
don't you know you can't have a little drinky without a little smokey!?!


and **** everyone who wants to make smoking OUTSIDE illegal.

i hated when people could smoke in bars and clubs because it would take at least two shampoos to get the smell out of my hair.

i do enjoy the occasional cigarette on bar patios with a drink, but patio season here is pretty short. i think they're trying to ban smoking on patios too, in toronto. or something. it's still of no real consequence to me though, personally.

 

[Spider-Bite]

i hated when people could smoke in bars and clubs because it would take at least two shampoos to get the smell out of my hair.

i do enjoy the occasional cigarette on bar patios with a drink, but patio season here is pretty short. i think they're trying to ban smoking on patios too, in toronto. or something. it's still of no real consequence to me though, personally.

wait let me get this straight. you choose to go somewhere when you know people are going to be smoking and then complain because you come home smelling like smoke? so you want to ruin it for all the patrons, bartenders, and bar owners? I don't know a single smoker who could enjoy the bar if they aren't allowed to smoke there, and the overwhelming majority of people at bars smoke. You'd be putting bars out of business.

it should be up to the owner of the establishment. you have a choice where you go. and by allowing choice for the business men you create choice for the consumers. they end up with options.

 

[Spider-Bite]

You sound just like me ten years ago.

jag

but all those areas that you mentioned are effected by smoking are also effected by excercise. there is more than one way to take care of your body. I enjoy smoking. and by the time I'm old, think of medical science.

You can't live your life being afraid to do things you enjoy.

 

[Spider-Bite]

lmao.

can't wait till he gets cancer, now, can we?

just because I see somebody who doesn't eat right doesn't mean "I happily can't wait till they croake."

thanks for the death wish.

 

[Spider-Bite]

being a smoker, i can completely understand why people would want it seperated in their restaurants and why it isn't allowed everywhere like department stores, malls, theaters, etc.
but since i live in a town where it's actually illegal in bars and club AND restaurants, i think that's just ****ing ridiculous. i think in bars and clubs it should be legal. and i can understand in restaurants, but there were many here that had seperate areas just for smokers, even behind glass, where it has been made illegal.
come ON PEOPLE!!?!?
don't you know you can't have a little drinky without a little smokey!?!


and **** everyone who wants to make smoking OUTSIDE illegal.

those seperate walls and glass should be the windows where you look inside the building from outside. If I want to open a restaurant I should be able to say here is the smoking section. the inside. the non smoking section is out there in the parking lot. People should be able to offer their patrons a place to sit down and have a meal, and a smoke. Just like people are allowed to open non smoking restaurants.

 

[Majik1387]

Non smoker here. Just keep it out of restaurants and schools. Bars should be allowed to have them.

 

[Spider-Bite]

Non smoker here. Just keep it out of restaurants and schools. Bars should be allowed to have them.

schools? LOL!

if you want to go to a non smoking restaurant, then go for it, but you don't have the right to tell other restaurant owners that they can't smoke in their own building or that they can't offer their customers a place to smoke.

 

[heypapajinx]

those seperate walls and glass should be the windows where you look inside the building from outside. If I want to open a restaurant I should be able to say here is the smoking section. the inside. the non smoking section is out there in the parking lot. People should be able to offer their patrons a place to sit down and have a meal, and a smoke. Just like people are allowed to open non smoking restaurants.

hey man, i agree with you.
i LIKE smoking wherever i am.
and i can understand that people would like to all be able to enjoy the same restaurant and not have to smell smoking while they're eating. so what if i'm going to be on one half of the restaurant and on the other side of the glass?
but where i live, there is no smoking... anywhere.
so many bars, live music clubs and restaurant/bars have closed down because people just stopped going. it's ridiculous!! i think seperate? whatever? what do i care? but not at all!? this "go outside with that nasty cigarette every 5 minutes but NO you can't take the drink with you" attitude is just wrong.

 

[Majik1387]

if you want to go to a non smoking restaurant, then go for it, but you don't have the right to tell other restaurant owners that they can't smoke in their own building or that they can't offer their customers a place to smoke.

True for private owners but if it's a chain restaurant and the majority of their customers want no smoking they oblige so they can have business which is basically what we have now.

 

[triplefive]

wait let me get this straight. you choose to go somewhere when you know people are going to be smoking and then complain because you come home smelling like smoke? so you want to ruin it for all the patrons, bartenders, and bar owners? I don't know a single smoker who could enjoy the bar if they aren't allowed to smoke there, and the overwhelming majority of people at bars smoke. You'd be putting bars out of business.

it should be up to the owner of the establishment. you have a choice where you go. and by allowing choice for the business men you create choice for the consumers. they end up with options.

If smokers were the majority of the population, then I would agree with you; I should go elsewhere.

But they're not. And my smoking friends deal with going outside to smoke, even if it's -20 celsius, and even if it's pouring rain.

However, the smoking ban law, where I'm from anyway, was actually created largely to protect the staff at restaurants and bars. A life-long waitress and spokesperson for the cause recently passed away from lung cancer due to second hand smoke.


ETA: And I used to go to the bars even when people smoked; I'm not ruining ANYONE'S fun, I didn't create the law. I just benefited from it.

 

[Spider-Bite]

True for private owners but if it's a chain restaurant and the majority of their customers want no smoking they oblige so they can have business which is basically what we have now.

that's up to you as a consumer to say if you want my business you better accomidate me.

 

[heypapajinx]

accomidate me mother *****er!!!!!

*wipes muddy boots on silk table cloths*

 

[Spider-Bite]

If smokers were the majority of the population, then I would agree with you; I should go elsewhere.

If it's your building that you own, then I should go elsewhere. If it's my building, than it should be my rules. Simply don't come here if you don't like what's inside.
when I was a waiter me and my fellow wait staff took a drop in income of 30% because of the smoking ban. months later the place went out of business. that was the smoking ban. ruining livelihoods.

However, the smoking ban law, where I'm from anyway, was actually created largely to protect the staff at restaurants and bars. A life-long waitress and spokesperson for the cause recently passed away from lung cancer due to second hand smoke.

I'm sorry. I don't believe that. You get more lung damage from pollution than second hand smoke. How do they know it was from second hand smoke? that is never, ever, ever, proven to be from second hand smoke. You can get cancer from never having breathed smoke in your life. some people have a genetic pre-disposition to it. I'm allergic to dogs. Does that mean that at a law should be passed that before you can bring your dog to the vet, you must first give it a bath to protect the vet?

no I wouldn't become a vet if I'm allergic to dogs.

ETA: And I used to go to the bars even when people smoked; I'm not ruining ANYONE'S fun, I didn't create the law. I just benefited from it.

most suffered, and most people who had no choice in the matter. you can choose which bar and which restaurant you go to. for some people they work there or they lose money because of it.

 

[MrScissorhands]

"I now realize I smoke for simply one reason, and that is spite. I hate you non-smokers with all of my little black ****ing heart, you obnoxious, self-righteous, whining little ****s. My biggest fear, if I quit smoking, is that I'll become one of you. Now don't take that wrong.

How many non-smokers do we have here tonight? By round of applause, non-smokers. A few of you. Good, 'cause I have something to tell you. I do. I have something to tell you non-smokers, and this is for you and you only, because I know for a fact that you don't know this. And I feel it's my duty to pass on information at all times, so that we can all learn, evolve, and get the **** off this planet. Non-smokers, this is for you and you only, ready?
...
Non-smokers die every day. Sleep tight !
See, I know you entertain some kind of eternal life fantasy because you do not smoke cigarettes. May I be the first to pop that little ****ing bubble of yours, and send you hurtling back to the truth? You're dead too. Have a good evening ! And you know what doctors say, "****, if only you smoked, we'd have the technology to help you! It's you people dying from nothing that are screwed." I got all sorts of neat gadgets waiting for me, man. Oxygen tent, iron lung-it's like going to Sharper Image!

Major rationalizations. We live in such a weird culture, man.
Does anyone remember this, when Yul Bryner died, and came out with that commercial after he was dead?
"I'm Yul Bryner and I'm dead now."
...
What the ****'s this guy selling? I'm all ears. "I'm Yul Bryner and I'm dead now, because I smoked cigarettes." Okay, pretty scary. But they coulda done that with anyone. They coulda done it with that Jim Fixx guy, too, remember that guy, that health nut who died while jogging? I don't remember seeing his commercial!
"I'm Jim Fixx and I'm dead now. ... And I don't know what the **** happened. I jogged every day, ate nothing but tofu, swam five hundred laps every morning, and I'm dead. Yul Bryner drank, smoke, and got laid every night of his life. He's dead. ... ****! Yul Bryner's smokin', drinkin', girls are sitting on his cueball noggin, every night of his life! I'm running around a dewy track at dawn. And we're both ****ing dead. Yul used to pass me on his way home in the morning, big long limousine, two girls blowing him, cigarette in one hand, drink in the other. "One day that life is going to get to you, Yul." "
They're both dead. Yeah, but what a healthy looking corpse you were, Jim. Look at the hamstrings on that corpse! Look at the sloppy grin on Yul's corpse! Yul Bryner lived his life. Sure, he died a 78-pound stick figure, okay. There are certain drawbacks.

People'll say the stupidest things sometimes too, "Hey, man, if you quit smoking you get your sense of smell back." I live in New York City, I don't want my sense of smell back. (Sniffs) Is that urine? (Sniffs) I think I smell a dead guy! Honey, look, a dead guy! Covered in urine, check this out! Someone just pee'd on this guy, that's fresh. Just think, if I'd been smoking I never would have found him! A urine-covered dead fella, what're the odds? Thank God I quit smoking, now I can enjoy the wonders of New York, honey, look!
I'm Bill Hicks and I'm dead now because I smoked cigarettes. Cigarettes didn't kill me, a bunch of non-smokers kicked the **** out of me one day. I tried to run, they had more energy than I. I tried to hide, they heard me wheezing. Many of them smelled me. (Sniffing sounds) "There he is, get him!" (Pants) "Oh, he's hardly ****ing moving, this is pathetic!" (Pants) "Look, he's still trying to get away, he's like a roach, step on him!" (Pants) "Squash him!" "Let's kill him and pee on him. Yeah!"

- Bill Hicks

 

[heypapajinx]

^^^^
*sniffles*
that was beautiful
a round of applause!!!

 

[redmarvel]

wait let me get this straight. you choose to go somewhere when you know people are going to be smoking and then complain because you come home smelling like smoke? so you want to ruin it for all the patrons, bartenders, and bar owners? I don't know a single smoker who could enjoy the bar if they aren't allowed to smoke there, and the overwhelming majority of people at bars smoke. You'd be putting bars out of business.

it should be up to the owner of the establishment. you have a choice where you go. and by allowing choice for the business men you create choice for the consumers. they end up with options.

Before the smoking ban in Toronto I never found a single solitary bar with a non-smoking section that I would want to go dancing in. Granted there were only 3 bars in my neighbourhood that I would even dream of entering and only 1 that played the music and had the kind of crowd I liked. The price of enjoying an evening of dancing was having to shower as soon as I got home and shampoo my hair twice and it still smelled a bit of smoke.

I absolutely love the smoking ban, because there were NOT any dance clubs that I knew of that had a "no smoking" policy. Most restaurants would have a smoking and non-smoking section, but the same air circulated through the entire restaurant. Only 1 donut chain had a no smoking policy (Tim Horton's) and that was the only place I would go for donuts or muffins because if you bought them at the others they always tasted a little like cigarettes.

 

[redmarvel]

I'm sorry. I don't believe that. You get more lung damage from pollution than second hand smoke. How do they know it was from second hand smoke? that is never, ever, ever, proven to be from second hand smoke. You can get cancer from never having breathed smoke in your life. some people have a genetic pre-disposition to it. I'm allergic to dogs. Does that mean that at a law should be passed that before you can bring your dog to the vet, you must first give it a bath to protect the vet?

no I wouldn't become a vet if I'm allergic to dogs.

Becoming a vet is a lot more difficult than becoming a waitress. Most waitresses do not have much other choice in career due to financial problems. I suppose that they could become dog walkers... but prior to the smoking ban there were very few jobs here in Toronto where you could be sure you wouldn't have to breathe cigarette smoke. Whereas there are thousands of places where you can be sure you won't have to deal with animal allergies. (Most restauarants don't allow dogs or cats, the exception is "seeing eye" dogs for blind people).

 

[MrScissorhands]

Will everyone PLEASE stop saying 'shampoo'.

Shampoo is not the issue here !

 

[redmarvel]

But what about the money? You know how much America will loose?

Smoking will never be illegal.

The same with drugs, booze, prostitution, etc, etc, etc.

I thought Drugs and Prostitution were illegal... I know they are here in Canada.

As far as booze goes, in moderation it actually has health benefits... smoking has none.

 

[redmarvel]

Yeah, after the last few months that I've been off cigarettes, I can smell it sometimes while I'm walking past a smoker outside. No it doesn't smell good. But you know what? it last for a fraction of a second and it's over.

Unless it's pouring rain and you have to share the bus shelter with a smoker waiting for a bus.

Or you're waiting for a cab in front of the airport.

Or you're waiting outside for the mall doors to open.

And if you're walking along the street and every 10th person has a cigarette, don't you think there is a cumulative affect?

There are times and places where you have no choice but to share outdoor space with other people... unfortunatly smokers never ask the folk around them "mind if I smoke" unless they know them.

 

[MrScissorhands]

So maybe we should make bad breath and body odor illegal while we're at it.

 

[redmarvel]

Will everyone PLEASE stop saying 'shampoo'.

Shampoo is not the issue here !

The advantage of the shampoo argument is that it is an undeniable affect. Unfortunatly a lot of smokers still refuse to believe that second hand smoke is actually harmful to the people around them. They use the excuse that it's only for a moment and that if it bothers those folk, they can move away. This allows them to give themselves permission to smoke in line at a bus stop even when they see a 2 year old in line (or a pregnant women, or an 80 year old, or frankly any other none smoker).

 

[MrScissorhands]

This allows them to give themselves permission to smoke in line at a bus stop even when they see a 2 year old in line (or a pregnant women

I draw the line there. Smoking near small children or pregnant women is just rude and irresponsible.

I also don't smoke when I'm walking on the street. When I'm outdoors, waiting for a bus or something, I do sometimes smoke, but I usually make sure I stand at a small distance from anyone else and always make sure I exhale away from their direction.


Dang, it's almost been a week since my last cigarette and all this talk about smoking is making me want to light one up... AND wash my hair for some reason...

 

[jaguarr]

but all those areas that you mentioned are effected by smoking are also effected by excercise. there is more than one way to take care of your body. I enjoy smoking. and by the time I'm old, think of medical science.

You can't live your life being afraid to do things you enjoy.

Sorry, but if you think that all you risk in terms of your long-term health is a bit of a diminished lung capacity from smoking because you exercise and eat right you are either naive, deluding yourself, or stupid. You cannot willfully ingest poisons into your body for years on end and expect that you'll get off that easy. Even when I was a smoker I knew that, but not to the extent that I do now. So, smoke. Smoke your little heart out for all I care. But don't kid yourself that exercise and nutrition (and I know more about those subjects than most personal trainers these days) will counteract the long term effects of smoking on your body. It doesn't work that way.

At any rate, it's not about living life being afraid to do things you enjoy. It's about living life smartly so that your quality of life will be extended well into your later years. Personally, I don't want to be strapped to an oxygen tank and forced to take a buch of medications when I'm older because I did something I enjoyed in my earlier years. I want to be able to enjoy my retirement, not suffer through it until I die.

jag

 

[jaguarr]

Will everyone PLEASE stop saying 'shampoo'.

Shampoo is not the issue here !

Shampoo.

jag