Smoking Rant

[telecom_goddess]

ahh another topic on smoking. Yes I smoke. I quit for a bit and went on electronic cigarettes, and I plan to do that again at some point soon. But for now I smoke. I used to smoke inside my house, I haven't done that for several years now after I saw the staining it did on the walls. I smoke outside and in the areas forced on me by work and other places. I leave people alone and don't do anything to deliberately annoy them. Luckily I don't run into too many people who do the fake cough/cover their face bit.

I have a sort of girlfriend who doesn't want me to smoke so I'm trying to get back on the bandwagon soon. But as it is I don't smoke around her or for a while before I see her.

As long as people don't bitch at me there is no problem

[crashhelmet]

Smokers are like Christians.

I'll say it again.

Smokers are like Christians.

Many punished and persecuted for the actions of a few.

Smokers have lost the privilege to smoke outside of our building here at work. They have lost their designated smoking section. Why? Because a handful of inconsiderate smokers don't know how to use the provided fracking ash tray and throw their butts on the ground. Handful of smokers + at least 4 smokes a day each = a shitload of cigarette butts on the ground EVERY DAY. Instead of policing their own, they lost their privilege. Now, the smokers have to either smoke in their car and leave their butts in their ashtrays or leave the property to smoke.

I don't smoke anymore. I gave it up years ago. When my coworkers whine and complain about losing their "right" I remind them that they should've appreciated what they had more.

[DrFaroohk]

Driving is useful and practical.

So is smoking! Do you know how many broken noses a cigarette has prevented?

Besides, not ALL driving is practical and useful.

[Greenday]

Besides, not ALL driving is practical and useful.

Just most of it.

[blas87]

If I wasn't able to get in my car on my lunch break and go out and smoke, especially in the past couple weeks at work, I would have been walked out the door by HR. I'm not even kidding.

[Giggle Goose]

I get the same crap for tanning, which is quickly becoming the new smoking. I don't tan at a Jersey shore level or anything like that, but I am not one of those people that looks good pale. And tanning from a bottle is expensive, time-consuming, and looks fake unless you go to a professional for $50 a pop or something insane like that.

So since I engage in a cancer-causing activity myself, I feel like I don't have any right to bash smokers.

[blas87]

I look absolutely horrid in my natural, nearly flourescent/translucent skin tone as well. I am not against being pale or porcelain, but yegads I can give Edward competition if I don't do anything.

I only tan once every other weekend, and it's just enough color so that I can wear the lightest shade of makeup.

During the summer, I will lay out and get quite a decent amount of color for as white of a person as I naturally am.

[Lace Neil Singer]

So is smoking! Do you know how many broken noses a cigarette has prevented?

Besides, not ALL driving is practical and useful.

Not the driving I used to see back when I rode a motorbike. Honestly, some of those drivers needed to get themselves to the nearest optician. -.-

Also, I walk in all weathers; rain, snow, hail, sun (rarely, this is England after all) and I can honestly say that I'm probably better off than people trying to drive in the snow. Also, driving probably costs more than smoking nowadays, what with the rising costs of insurance and fuel.

[AdminAssistant]

I probably look horrid pale, but I don't really care. Skin cancer isn't my idea of a good time. The pressure to tan is about to skyrocket, though, since I'm moving back to the Bible Belt in a month. I swear, you look at some of those people, it's like Jersey Shore with a Southern accent.

[telecom_goddess]

Except that's an apples to orange comparison. Driving is useful and practical. In bad weather, it's healthier than walking.

If it's so useful and practical how come I have been able to live all my life without a car and without driving? It IS possible to not drive. I walk or use public transport.

ETA: And of course that screws me over if i work somewhere where I have to "smoke in my car" cause I don't HAVE a fucking car to smoke in/leave my cell phone/etc. Luckily I don't work somewhere like that.

[Greenday]

If it's so useful and practical how come I have been able to live all my life without a car and without driving? It IS possible to not drive. I walk or use public transport.

ETA: And of course that screws me over if i work somewhere where I have to "smoke in my car" cause I don't HAVE a fucking car to smoke in/leave my cell phone/etc. Luckily I don't work somewhere like that.

I don't know where you are from. I've met people from places where no one drives. It doesn't make sense to me because in my area, there's little to no public transit and walking everywhere isn't practical.

[AdminAssistant]

It doesn't make sense to me because in my area, there's little to no public transit and walking everywhere isn't practical.

Bingo. I learned how to drive when I was 13, and so did every other kid in my area. I lived 5 miles away from the closest town. Walking's not an option when you're that isolated. Not driving someplace is rather foreign to me. For most of this country, outside of a few large metro areas with lots of buses, trains, and subways, you have to drive. I've never lived in a place that I thought I could actually get around by walking or taking the bus. I support public transit and I think more places should implement it, but I will be driving.

[bex1218]

Where I live, if you want a job, you have to get one a bit aways for walking. Though, the distance from my apartment to my job is the same distance I used to walk in New York when I lived there. Just a different feel. More practical to have a car. But if need be, a bicycle will do. Unfortunately mine got stolen .. Don't get me started on the transport here. I will not be riding a bus called "SCAT".

[guywithashovel]

To get back to the smoking bit, I sometimes wonder how anyone could even afford to smoke, given how expensive cigarettes have gotten. If I were drawn to smoking, I would think that a cost alone would be enough to deter me.

Of course, if you're a light smoker, it probably wouldn't cost that much.

When my grandpa was still alive and living with my aunt and uncle (they all smoked), they'd sometimes go out and spend $400 or more on cigarettes. I guess it's their money to spend as they please, but still.

[bex1218]

That bit depends on how I feel and how much my check was. Food and bills are more important for me than a cancer stick. But thats just me, plenty of people rather have the smokes.