Inconsiderate Non-Smokers

[BlaqueKatt]

Well, then, pollute the shit out of the atmosphere! Why be the first ones to make an effort to do anything about pollution (even though smoking is easily the easiest one to stop).

no, not being dependent on a vehicle for trips under 5 miles is.

But a surprising number of car trips could easily be made by bike. Nearly half of all trips in the United States are three miles or less; more than a quarter are less than a mile.

so that's around 75% of car trips.
3 miles by bike=15 minutes
1 mile=5 minutes
my two mile previous commute was around 10 minutes, by car due to all the traffic for my coworkers that lived within a block of me-20-30 minutes.

My current 6 mile commute(one way) takes me 30 minutes, by car it's 25-so wow I spend an extra 10 minutes getting to work my exercise *every day.


in the US there are now 752 motor vehicles for every 1,000 people
A vehicle produces 20 POUNDS of CO2 for every gallon of gasoline burned.

Most ozone pollution is caused by motor vehicles, which account for 72% of nitrogen oxides and 52% of reactive hydrocarbons (principal components of smog)

Most cars on the road carry only one person. In fact, we have so much extra room in our 140 million cars that everyone in Western Europe could fit in them with us." If every commuter car in the U.S. carried just one more person, we'd save eight billion gallons of gas a year.

and here's some info on how much fuel is used between motorcycles, cars, and trucks/SUVs per year(it's a pro motorcycle website)

*20 minutes if aerobic activity 3x per week is the minimum recommended, for basic health-I get an hour each day, and I don't have to pay a gym membership, nor do I have to worry about "not feeling like it", or being "unmotivated/too tired"-I don't do it I don't get to work, period.

[kibbles]

I hate the pitchfork toting ex-smokers more than non-smokers.

Don't pretend you never smoked and you never once smelled like an ashtray, and act like you're better than people who smoke because you quit.

They are even more dramatic with the coughing and wild arm flaring than the average non-smoker.

I had totally forgotten about that blas but I totally agree. I think it's great if someone can quit, but because someone was able to quit in x amount of time is not necessarily the same timetable for everyone and if smokers are being respectful than they should be shown respect as well.

[AdminAssistant]

My current 6 mile commute(one way) takes me 30 minutes, by car it's 25-so wow I spend an extra 10 minutes getting to work my exercise *every day.

Personally, I prefer to not exercise in temps that are below freezing or in excess of 100F. Sure, I could walk to campus. It would take 30 minutes. Or 5-10 minutes by car. A bike might be a bit faster than walking, but most of the hills there are too steep to bike, which would mean walking the bike.

Sorry, I'd rather drive. You wanna get serious about pollution? I mean, *really* serious about pollution? Go over to India and China where the factories are belching out tons and tons of unfiltered smog.

But I guess that's hard. Much easier to be an environmentalist snob who looks down on people who take advantage of modern conveniences.

[blas87]

While we shouldn't ignore pollution, I think the main thing about smoking is that it is stinky, it is toxic fumes, and for people who don't smoke, I can understand that they don't like to be around it. And that, I cannot fault them for.

My only issue is people who throw a fit about people who smoke outdoors, or people even being forbidden to smoke in their cars. It's not like they are hurting anyone but themselves if they are all smoking together or alone in their car.

[Greenday]

BlaqueKatt, I'll try to remember all that when I get home next year and it's snowing out and I need to go get food at the supermarket. I'll walk the two miles instead of driving (driving would take maybe 3-4 minutes. Walking would take much longer. Then after, I get all the food for my parents, my sister, and I, I'll have someone watch some of the bags while I make the trip home back and forth to get everything.

I do blame people who use their cars to drive a block down the street from their house. That's really no big deal. But I don't live in a city where everything you need is right around the block.

[Ginger Tea]

BlaqueKatt, I'll try to remember all that when I get home next year and it's snowing out and I need to go get food at the supermarket. I'll walk the two miles instead of driving (driving would take maybe 3-4 minutes. Walking would take much longer. Then after, I get all the food for my parents, my sister, and I, I'll have someone watch some of the bags while I make the trip home back and forth to get everything.

Well I don't think anyone would be expected to do a weekly shop and just cary it home, being a non driver I would walk there and taxi back if I was getting a crap tonne of food for the month, but as I live in a shared house I have limited freezer space* but as I cycle to work (never took driving lessons) I cannot carry too much from the supermarket I pass each way, but I can make many smaller stops every odd day.

*Our old fridge/freezer broke and hardly anyone was using the fridge half as we had a separate fridge so I asked the land lord to get a full size freezer instead, nope he got a fridge/freezer and this one is smaller than the last and it's meant for 6-7 people to share.

[Racket_Man]

Why diesel vehicles in particular? On-highway engines meeting the 2007 North American emission standards can (in some smoggy areas) give off exhaust that is cleaner than the air they take in, and things were tightened up even further for 2010.

I was not espessicallly picking on desiels but when I did have to sit in rush hour traffic the desiels WERE the ones putting out all that black and smelly smoke giving me a MAJOR headache

even today sitting in rush hour bumper to bumper traffic is not fun. and not all big trucks adhere to up to date standards.

my point with my post was the hypocritical nature of the "I HAVE A RIGHT TO FRESH AIR" type persons. they want all of the conviences of our modern world like plastics, cars, sufficent energy/electricity, NIMBY, etc. BUT refuse to really participate in the cleaning up of the air and water and land. they just find some conveniant scapegoat like smokers to blame.

what about all of the illness, sickness, cancer and death that has been caused over the last 150 years by all of the chemicals, polluntants, greenhouse gases, toxins, etc. dumped into the air water and land by HUMANS and oh by the way the smokers have only cause a mere small fraction of that nasty stuff in the air land and water (execpt for maybe in enclosed spaces like buildings and airplanes)???

What about the MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of TONS of toxic crap that are already there. that is ONE HUGE clean up that wil NEVER happen cause we as humans like our cheap and convient stuff and cheap stuff comes at a price we constantly ignore until it is too late.

[Boozy]

This thread has veered off-course quite a bit.

Let's get it back on the topic of inconsiderate non-smokers, please. We can start another thread about cars and the environment.

[Skunkle]

I'm so glad I'm not like this. I'm a considerate smoker, and I'm a social/non-addicted smoker. I smoke a pipe, but generally only outdoors and in the warm months; same for some cigars I like; I bring my hookah to parties. When I AM smoking a pipe or cigar, I am: Outside, away from doors, windows and air intakes, away from non-smokers and, in most cases, either standing and talking to other smokers, walking or hiking. I don't bother non-smokers, nor do I harp on addicted smokers.

On the rare occasion that a non-smoker comes near me and coughs to make their point, I take ten or so steps away and keep puffing. If they comment at me directly, I tell them I'm not forcing them to be near me and, again, I then move away from them. In both cases, this gives them fair opportunity to buzz off. If they approach again, I have a reasonable suspicion that they're the sort CS is full of: people who simply aren't satisfied unless they have something to complain about. If they approach again, I call them on it - I ask them point-blank why they feel the need to come close enough to sell the smoke, repeatedly, and complain about it.

Since I smoke for flavor and not effect, I also have a vaporizer AKA 'electronic cigarette'. It looks like a glossy black cig, has a blue LED on the end that glows when I puff, and the result is clouds of fog-machine vapor (prpylene glycol fog). I use this where smoking isn't allowed, but I ask an employee of a location before using it; some places don't allow them because they may send a "You can light up in here" message to smokers. Seattle, which has already banned smoking in all indoor locations, is currently moving to ban these as well, for the reason stated above: they may entice smokers to light real cigarettes. I don't agree with the ban but, at the same time, I can see their point too. I do notice that Disneyland (I was just there last year) officially allows their use anywhere in the park, and several CMs I smoke with have seen people using them.

But yes, to follow-up on another's statement, when smokers get "tetchy"... They have a craving, both physical and psychological, that can manifest in one or more ways including general twitchy nerves, allergies acting up, nervousness, irritability, etc. One of my friends, a smoker since childhood, had nasty allergies to a number of things commonly in the air, but no longer has them---except when he tries to quit smoking. After a few days of no cigarettes, they get so intense that he can't leave the house.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I'm normally a considerate smoker, but there's just something about a fanatical non/ex smoker that just pushes my buttons and turns me into a bitch. I've puffed out smoke in people's faces when they just barged into my personal space (ie, sitting deliberately next to me on a bench in a park, when there were empty benches both sides of the one I was sitting on), just cuz their holier than thou attitude hacked me off.

I also once had a crazy old bag screech at me, "If you don't stop smoking, you'll never have babies!" once outside a hotel, where I was attending a party. I just blew smoke into her face and replied, "Good. I don't want them." For the record, I was nowhere near the door; I was sitting outside on a bench designated a smoking area. She had no reason to be bothered.

[blas87]

See, I don't blow smoke in people's faces, but I'm awfully tempted to when people start preaching at me.

Especially when this one woman in particular told me that I was going to become really ugly if I kept smoking. She was smoking, herself. I asked her why isn't she more worried about herself smoking, and she played it off "Well, I'm old and it's too late for me."

Come to think of it, I hate the guilt trips, or the backhanded compliments that I'm too pretty to smoke or too young to be doing something so gross, or when people say "Don't you want to live a long, healthy life?" and it's just to tempting to be like "Don't you want to mind your own fucking business?"

[guywithashovel]

But yes, to follow-up on another's statement, when smokers get "tetchy"... They have a craving, both physical and psychological, that can manifest in one or more ways including general twitchy nerves, allergies acting up, nervousness, irritability, etc. One of my friends, a smoker since childhood, had nasty allergies to a number of things commonly in the air, but no longer has them---except when he tries to quit smoking. After a few days of no cigarettes, they get so intense that he can't leave the house.

I get cravings for things my body needs, too. When I get busy at work and can't take my lunch on time, I get pretty hungry, and my body's craving for food sometimes makes me get a little irritable. However, I don't take it out on other people. I just suck it up. Now, I'm sure some critical thinking enthusiasts could draw some distinctions with that analogy, but I think the general principle applies.

Maybe I sound unsympathetic here, but most of the smokers I've seen who do this use their smoking habit as a means of making the world revolve around them. If a meeting is being planned, we can't have the meeting until they've had a chance to smoke because "we don't want to deal with them when they haven't had a cigarette."

Also, please note that in my initial post I didn't talk about someone who has had to go the entire day without a cigarette. I meant someone who has had to go a few hours without one. There is a big difference there. I just can't buy the notion that going two or three hours without a smoke is such a big chore. I've gone several hours without food or drink, and that doesn't make me "tetchy."

Which reminds me, why did you and Andara put the word "tetchy" in quotes? It is a real word. Let me show you.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tetchy

[Boozy]

I've gone several hours without food or drink, and that doesn't make me "tetchy."

Nicotine has a half-life in the body of about 30 minutes.

For light smokers, that's not a big deal. But heavy smokers can usually only go a few hours tops without getting twitchy.

That's absolutely not an excuse. I just don't think you can compare it to food or drink in the way that you have.

[BlaqueKatt]

I meant someone who has had to go a few hours without one. There is a big difference there. I just can't buy the notion that going two or three hours without a smoke is such a big chore.

does food actually cause your brain to produce chemicals that reduce pain, anxiety, and increase alertness, smoking does. so yes you become dependant and can't function on lower levels, you actually PHYSICALLY NEED the nicotine. I only eat one meal a day, jeez you taking time out of working for lunch, I just don't get it.(yeah in an 8+ hour shift I take 3-4 5 minute breaks, so 15-20 minutes, everyone else takes 30-60 minutes to eat, and then they're tired after eating)

smoking delivers a jolt of nicotine that reaches your brain within 7 seconds... faster than any other delivery method.

Now there's your brain, stimulated to produce powerful chemical messengers, chief amongst them norepinephrine, which regulates alertness and arousal.

Then there's dopamine, which is part of your brain's pleasure mechanism, also achieved by many other ways, including exercise.

And don't forget beta-endorphin, to lessen anxiety and pain.

All in all, you are in the addictive grip of a series of repeated pleasure "hits." Sort of mildly smiley, unworried, alert relaxation.

[Ninja_Sushi]

Im never an inconsiderate smoker. I do my thing away from doors and windows. Never really had anyone fake cough or anything though. But yes, going a few hours without my smoke I will get irritated. Ive gone a day without food before. I can deal. Going a day without a smoke.....Bad day...For me and others. I hate life without a smoke every couple hours. By life I mean people speaking irritates me. Getting a phone call irritates me. Sun too bright? Irritated me. Hahaha

And oh man, if I get cut off while driving....Hahahaha......

But yeah, its a physical need. I cant help it. I cant just suck it up. Even when I was doing Army training I snuck off and smoked. Quit? NEVER!!! Slow down? NEVER!!