Writer's Block: Smoked Out

[author_by_night]

[Error: unknown template qotd] I'm not the world's biggest proponent of smoking.

But scorning people? Something someone else does is in no way any of my business.  I think some people believe that if you make a smoker feel like a bad person, they will stop. That's not how it works.

The only thing I mind is when smokers - and this is the minority - are inconsiderate of my right not to be exposed to it. I once visited my cousin's father (no, not my uncle), and the whole time I was there, he smoked in my face. Unable to find another place to sit, I had to deal with it. When I got back to my aunt's house, I felt like I had smoke in my throat and had to force myself to cough and drink a lot of water for an hour before I felt better. At least the other times I've seen him since, he's walked away (though still in talking distance) to smoke. But when it's not like that, it doesn't affect me, so it's none of my business.

Comments

[penmage.livejournal.com]

I rarely voice this opinion, because I have friends who are smokers and I would never dare tell them what to do or pass judgment on them.

But I get really angry when I see smokers.

If you want to overdose on drugs and screw up you life and health, or die, go for it. That's your own personal problem, and as long as you don't take anyone else down with you, I don't care.

But secondhand smoke kills. I could get lung cancer from breathing in the stuff you're breathing out. That's selfish and harmful and not okay.

It's not okay with me when people smoke. Anyone. I know it's an addiction, and I know it's not easy to quit, and I never, ever would say any of this to their faces, because it sounds as judgmental as hell. But it's simply not okay with me.

I don't want to get cancer because you couldn't kick your habit.

[mcgonagalls-cat.livejournal.com]

If someone dresses like Peves, that's none of my business. If someone choses to speak/write in a manner that shows their lack of competent use of the language, that's none of my business, though I frequently comment on it anyway. If someone choses to paint themselves "team colours" and scream like a bnashee, that is none of my business.

However, when someone choses to pollute my lungs with poisons I can't get away from, that IS my business. There is little I can do about suicidal people, but I can get really annoyed when they turn homicidal and try to kill me with their nasty habit.


Besides, it stinks and burns my windpipe.



I also take a dim view of people chosing to obliterate their "good judgement" with some sort of mind altering substance, then sit inside a several-ton piece of metal and try to not run over the rest of us.

Basically, both are the same general concept, one is just a bit quicker than the other, neither of which can I respect.... so ... yes, scorn is a word I might use toward such weak and foolish people.
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[kakeochi-umai.livejournal.com]

I agree totally. I don't care if someone smokes, as long as they don't expose me to it.