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MystBunny

(bitchy journal) Why are cigarette smokers typically inconsiderate/dumb

There's hardly a member of my family that's not a smoker, and not one of them seems to be in the slightest bit interested in making any kind of compromise. The smell of a cigarette makes me nauseous, and being around it for a prolonged amount of time literally makes me sick, and makes my eyes burn, but I can't say anything about it or I'm being rude.

Smokers get pissed off when a public building bans smoking and throw a hissy. My college didn't allow smoking in the building, but smokers piled up at EVERY entrance to every building, so I had to expose myself to a thick wall of smoke to get in or out. Filed a complaint with the Dean (probably a smoker too) about it and was dismissed with "there are no designated smoking areas at the entrances to the buildings." Gee, then what are those "Smoking Area" signs doing there, I wonder? Sarcasm?

Yesterday I came home after my cousin had been here helping my grandmother with something, and found a lit cigarette burning in a thick patch of dry leaves and pine needles right next to their camper. Didn't even bother to snuff it out, just dropped it in the leaves and left. Once again, if I say anything about it, I'm being rude.
Viewed: 38 times
Added: 10 years, 11 months ago
 
Tycloud
10 years, 11 months ago
beat his ass and rub his nose in it until he learns not to pee in the house! >:3
EvilDog
10 years, 11 months ago
" Tycloud wrote:
beat his ass and rub his nose in it until he learns not to pee in the house! >:3
um... what?
Tycloud
10 years, 11 months ago
its how you train Dogs not to pee in the house. Thats the punch-line, smokers are dogs and needed to be treated as such.
MystBunny
10 years, 11 months ago
I'm confused, but X3
RollerCoasterViper59
10 years, 11 months ago
I think I get it sorta <3
EvilDog
10 years, 11 months ago
you're not the only one whom get sick at the smell of cigarettes
MystBunny
10 years, 11 months ago
but they don't get sick (yet) and they wanna smoke anywhere they feel like. Hell why can't I fuck wherever I feel like?
RollerCoasterViper59
10 years, 11 months ago
sounds just like some people I know *mother, brother, cousin, and even my nephews* They just don't get it they give us the Stop Smoking b4 it's too late commercials for a reason!!!
MystBunny
10 years, 11 months ago
I'm sure they get it, they just don't want to hear it.
RollerCoasterViper59
10 years, 11 months ago
witch is why ignorance is never bliss <3
SatyrWorkshop
10 years, 11 months ago
I'm a cigar smoker but I totally agree with you. I always smoke away from my house and ask if those around me are ok with it. I don't understand why so many cigarette smokers feel entitled to just do whatever the hell they want. Other people have to deal with their crap too.
MystBunny
10 years, 11 months ago
furry smokers do tend to be a bit more willing to compromise, I've noticed
AphroditeDraco
10 years, 11 months ago
Sounds like a lot of your family members are old enough to remember when smoking wasn't a gigantic issue and wasn't banned in every public place imaginable.  Also sounds to me like you kind of have it coming, and here's why...

Most anti-smoking laws are not based on medical sciences, but rather are based on hype, moral panics, and paranoia.  Most smokers don't like being treated like scumbags because they have an addiction.  It's one thing to have smoking banned from one or two businesses, because then they can go somewhere else to do business, but it's quite another to have smoking banned literally everywhere they go (and in some parts of the world, this includes the privacy of their own homes).  

Furthermore, most of the cost of a pack of cigarettes is taxes.  You have people who are addicted to the stuff being forced to pay out the yin-yang to be able to keep from going through withdrawals which, depending upon the individual smoker, can be violent in nature (my step-father was a heavy smoker for thirty years, then was forced to quit smoking cold-turkey due to heart problems... living with him was a veritable hell for the next few years as a direct result of his withdrawals).  And most importantly, the people who are addicted to nicotine are being punished for the crimes being perpetrated against them and everyone else by the big tobacco companies.  

Finally, you said in your journal that you complained to the Dean of your university about people smoking in areas that have "Smoking Area" signs posted in plain sight.  I hate to break the news to you, but when they have signs posted that give people the right to smoke there, you are required to honor those signs whether you want to or not.  You don't have to like it, but godsdamnit, you do have to tolerate it... either that, or find a different door with fewer smokers in front of them to use to get into and exit from each building.  Or you could hold your breath for the short amount of time that's necessary for you to walk the distance between the door and the outer edge of the group of people standing outside it.  
MystBunny
10 years, 11 months ago
" you kind of have it coming

I have it coming? What exactly have I done? I didn't make the decision to start inhaling cigarette smoke and get sick all the time. My mom is a smoker, and for the longest time I didn't know why I was feeling sick all the time until I finally moved out and felt better. Hey I'd love for every smoker to suddenly just quit, but I'm not asking for that. I'm only asking for a little bit of compromise. Is it wrong to ask a heavy drinker not to get behind the wheel of the car? People who don't drink use that road too, you know.

" Most smokers don't like being treated like scumbags because they have an addiction.

I only see them as scumbags when they ACT like scumbags, like when my cousin took a chance of burning down my grandmother's camper with his carelessness. And what if she doesn't want cigarette butts littered all over the place?

" You have people who are addicted to the stuff being forced to pay out the yin-yang to be able to keep from going through withdrawals

Yeah, or they could just not start smoking in the first place. Some of my family have been around long enough to remember it not being so big a deal, but plenty of them knew better. I know about the withdrawals, by the way, but it's that, or something far worse later.

" in some parts of the world, this includes the privacy of their own homes

I know how this is going to sound, but in this particular case, I can't see that as a bad thing. Do you realize how many members of my family I had to watch suffer horribly for years to the point that their death is more of a relief to me than anything else? What's worse is that I know that at some point in the future, I'm going to have to watch my mom suffer through it as well, and I struggle not to think about it every time I see her light up. I don't even know if I can be around her when it starts. I have nightmares about it all the time. I could handle a few years of her having a short fuse if it meant not having to watch the alternative. Forgive me if I don't see the cost of cigarettes as a problem.

" I hate to break the news to you, but when they have signs posted that give people the right to smoke there, you are required to honor those signs whether you want to or not.

And what if someone puts a sign up in front of their house that gives people permission to shit on each other in their front yard? Does anyone in the park across the street have to honor that and look away all the time? People don't want to be treated like scumbags because their bodies force them to have bowel movements, right? So everyone has to watch them shit where they want, yes?
esanhusky
10 years, 11 months ago
Kind of funny how people who have disability thrust upon them learn to deal and live on, but those who chose to be "disabled" or "disadvantaged" expect the whole world to suffer because of it, isn't it?
AphroditeDraco
10 years, 11 months ago
" MystBunny wrote:

I have it coming? What exactly have I done?


You had it coming because you went into someone else's home or place of business and took it upon yourself to order them around like you owned the place.  I'm sorry if this offends you, but you do not get to walk into other people's homes and then start imposing rules upon them.  Their house, their rules, end of discussion.  If you don't like it, leave.

"
I only see them as scumbags when they ACT like scumbags


And by acting like scumbags you mean allowing people to smoke in designated areas even after you have become offended by the fact that those smokers are obeying established rules, or smoking in their homes when you are present, or disobeying you in any other manner imaginable.

If you want to make the rules, do so in your own home, don't go trying to impose your will on other people in their homes.

"
Yeah, or they could just not start smoking in the first place. Some of my family have been around long enough to remember it not being so big a deal, but plenty of them knew better. I know about the withdrawals, by the way, but it's that, or something far worse later.


You constantly use words like 'knew better,' 'responsibility,' and so on, all good words, but also all taken severely out of the context of the society we live in (and more importantly, the context of the society your family members who are old enough to remember when it wasn't such a big deal lived in).  The tobacco industry uses imagery that makes smoking look attractive, and also appeals to peer pressure to constantly remind people that non-smokers are somehow 'less cool' and thus less 'normal' than smokers, especially those smokers who use their product.  You also tend to forget that, back when it wasn't such a big deal, cigarette companies advertised in ways I just described above far more openly than they do now.  

So basically, they've been victimized by big tobacco companies and rather than blaming the people who victimized them, you're blaming the victims, and demanding that they be ostracized by society because they do something that is unseemly and is disgusting to you.  And yet you think you are completely reasonable in such a course of action.  You're a hypocrite holding them to a double-standard, and for that, you do deserve the treatment you've gotten.

"
I know how this is going to sound, but in this particular case, I can't see that as a bad thing. Do you realize how many members of my family I had to watch suffer horribly for years to the point that their death is more of a relief to me than anything else? ... Forgive me if I don't see the cost of cigarettes as a problem.


I sympathize.  I have family members and friends who died horribly as well because of smoking (like a neighbor who died of withdrawal symptoms because the local hospital wouldn't give him something to ease his addiction when he was in ICU on an unrelated issue... nicotine gum would have been better than nothing at all), but that doesn't give you the right to disrespect your family members who smoke.  It's one thing to criticize a cousin for nearly burning a camper down, but it's quite another to support the implementation of a nanny state that decides who puts what in their own bodies like a godsdamned micromanaging parent.

"
And what if someone puts a sign up in front of their house that gives people permission to shit on each other in their front yard?


Grasping at strawmen now, I see.  There's a gigantic difference between a university designating certain outdoor areas as smoking sections in compliance with established laws, and a private citizen opening up his front yard as a public toilet in direct defiance of established laws.  In the first case, they're completely within their rights to do what they do.  In the second, the man is breaking the law and goes to jail.  I think you're just pissed off because you can't change the laws to fit your whims.
MystBunny
10 years, 11 months ago
" You had it coming because you went into someone else's home or place of business and took it upon yourself to order them around like you owned the place.

And what if I was born in said place and was unable to leave it? Going into someone else's home and asking them to smoke outside, I can see how that may be considered rude, but that's not the case I'm describing.

" And by acting like scumbags you mean allowing people to smoke in designated areas even after you have become offended by the fact that those smokers are obeying established rules, or smoking in their homes when you are present, or disobeying you in any other manner imaginable.

Again, that was about my cousin. As for the college situation, I simply asked for the smoking areas to be moved a little further away from the entrances. It seemed like a simple enough solution to me. When my request was denied, I didn't press further. I did what you mentioned and held my breath going into and out of the buildings. That's all I could do. My issue with that particular situation was that the response I got was a blatant lie, that he said it WASN'T a designated smoking area when there were signs up saying it was.

So.. why NOT move the smoking areas to the corner instead of in front of the entrance? All I did was ask! Is that so unreasonable?

" So basically, they've been victimized by big tobacco companies and rather than blaming the people who victimized them, you're blaming the victims, and demanding that they be ostracized by society because they do something that is unseemly and is disgusting to you.  And yet you think you are completely reasonable in such a course of action.  You're a hypocrite holding them to a double-standard, and for that, you do deserve the treatment you've gotten.

Yes, I'm the villain, and they're the innocent victims. I've been saying all along they should be placed in concentration camps, or be mocked in the streets, stoned, etc. -.-
Look, there's not a single situation I've described that had me in a position where I could have just not been there, unless of course you count my choice to go to college. What was I supposed to do at home? Run away? Well I didn't, and so because I tried to talk to my parents about it and find a solution, I deserved to feel sick all the time with not a single shred of compromise. Gee thanks.

" It's one thing to criticize a cousin for nearly burning a camper down, but it's quite another to support the implementation of a nanny state that decides who puts what in their own bodies like a godsdamned micromanaging parent.

Since when is asking for compromise being fascist? Yeah, I said I'd love to live in a world without cigarettes, but I'm not asking for that. I would even go so far as to say that a full-fledged smoking ban would be beneficial in the long run, but again, that's not my point here. I'm just saying, compromise, compromise, compromise! Why can't we do that? Why does everything have to go their way, with no exceptions? You make it sound like I'm trying to bully them all into doing it my way or not at all. That's not the case by a long shot.
esanhusky
10 years, 11 months ago
When I smoked, I always tried to keep it away from people who were offended by it.  Honestly, I still don't buy into the panic that it's become, but really.  I never smoked in a house with kids, even if their parents smoked and didn't care and unless they were sitting in the smoking section of a restaurant, if somebody asked (nicely) for me to go somewhere else with my cigarette, I would.

Really, it's just a matter of courtesy to enjoy your hobbies in a way that they bother other people as little as possible!
MystBunny
10 years, 11 months ago
God, you have no idea how happy I was after living with my mom for so long, FINALLY being able to eat in the non-smoking sections.
esanhusky
10 years, 11 months ago
I can imagine, although once again, if I was in a restaurant with a non-smoker, I'd gladly sit in non-smoking and wait until I got outside to smoke anyway.  Of course, it's kinda hard to say "no" to Mom...
Hippiemouse
10 years, 11 months ago
shoulda let it burn...then point out their idiocy after it burned the place down...people like that really infuriate me.
Im an occasional smoker...mainly because i dont have any contacts here in vegas to aquire anything better to smoke like my wings to help with stress of living round so many people.
However i like to think of myself as a considerate smoker...@yaegashi is like you..it makes him sick...so i smoke outside and spritz myself with cotten candy perfume when i come in....and i ALWAYS make sure they are out before coming in....anyone who dont deserves to die in the fire they cause by leaving a lit cig burning untended...i too have had to put out family members cigs...when we were out in the woods of michigan camping.
MystBunny
10 years, 11 months ago
My Granny's too sweet to let it burn her stuff, even though that might be the only way to get through to anyone around here.
Hippiemouse
10 years, 11 months ago
some people only learn thru disaster....but i can understand not wanting that to happen...all my grandparents are dead...miss them lots
Cougar1823
10 years, 11 months ago
What do you expect of nicotine addicts?
MystBunny
10 years, 11 months ago
Well most furry smokers are willing to go BEYOND compromise, that I've noticed, and seen here.
Gnetkamiko
10 years, 11 months ago
I honestly don't understand how smokers can stand to have Nicotine clogging up their lungs. Tried it twice, and both times I could literally feel my own lungs scrambling to obtain the oh-so-awesome oxygen, and the lack of said element made me so light headed I needed to lie down.

But, not going to get onto them for smoking, especially since most of them these days understand the risk.
MystBunny
10 years, 11 months ago
Particularly since there are plenty of other ways to get nicotine into your system without putting it in your lungs. A pipe, for instance. Your body is perfectly willing to take it just from in your mouth.
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