Smokers and non smokers, what do you do, what do you think?

[Mustang]

Here we go word-parsing again (apparently a favorite past-time in the FL)!

So much for "sticking to my guns" and not bowing out (sorry for the pun) :eusa_doh:

You say word-parsing is a favorite past-time here, but the truth is, you did compare smoking with gun control...regardless of your intention. An analogy is a comparison. I also thought it was especially without tact, considering the text that you quoted was one where the guy is saying his mother died. I'm not saying that was your intention, but that's how it appeared...call it what you will. [huh]

I do agree that personal responsibility is going the way of the dodo bird, and it is one of my biggest concerns with the direction of our society. shakeshead

 

[luvthatlulu]

So much for "sticking to my guns" and not bowing out (sorry for the pun) :eusa_doh:

You say word-parsing is a favorite past-time here, but the truth is, you did compare smoking with gun control...regardless of your intention. An analogy is a comparison. I also thought it was especially without tact, considering the text that you quoted was one where the guy is saying his mother died. I'm not saying that was your intention, but that's how it appeared...call it what you will. [huh]

I do agree that personal responsibility is going the way of the dodo bird, and it is one of my biggest concerns with the direction of our society. shakeshead

Have it your way then. Hopefully, the point I was trying to make still stands: If we're going to enact laws to protect us from ourselves for one reason, why not do the same for all others? Who in Tennessee honestly believes its in our best interest to allow patrons to bring loaded weapons into a restaurant rather than a lit cigarette? That's all I was saying. Just happened to make it in the wrong reply...and I've already apologized for that.

P.S. - To put it another and more simple way: If I walk into a bar and everyone's cleaning their firearm...I walk out. If they walk into a bar and they don't like the ciggie smoke...guess what?

 

[MrNewportCustom]

It is a matter of choice but a matter of respect for others too. We need balance not Fascism.

I'm a devout non-smoker, never have-never will, but to me it's all a matter of respect. When a friend who smokes lights up, I don't complain. I just move upwind of them and politely tell them why. Now, most will move downwind before lighting up. It's a mutual respect.

Ironically, a TV for something called, "Zerosmoke" just came on the TV. It's two tiny magnets that you wear on your left ear (an accupressure thing) for "a couple hours a day" to reduce your craving. Why didn't I think of this money-making scheme? :eusa_doh:

I do agree that personal responsibility is going the way of the dodo bird, and it is one of my biggest concerns with the direction of our society. shakeshead

You can see this going in both directions. Some people won't take responsibility for their own actions and blame everyone else for the problems they create for themselves, while others want to invade every aspect of our lives for our own good. I'll deal with my own problems, thank you.


Lee

 

[Mustang]

Hopefully, the point I was trying to make still stands: If we're going to enact laws to protect us from ourselves for one reason, why not do the same for all others? That's all I was saying. Just happened to make it in the wrong reply...and I've already apologized for that.

Hey, for what it's worth, it still stands with me :cheers1: . I hope there are no hard feelings. I'm just as guilty as the next guy for saying something, then going back later, and to my horror, it was taken way out of the context I'd intended!

You can see this going in both directions. Some people won't take responsibility for their own actions and blame everyone else for the problems they create for themselves, while others want to invade every aspect of our lives for our own good. I'll deal with my own problems, thank you.


Lee

I really don't see those two things as polar opposites of each other [huh] . Privacy is very important, and so is taking responsibility for your actions...or lack thereof.

 

[luvthatlulu]

Mustang...

No problem. It happens. Written words are read differently by everyone, I suppose.

I'm pretty much a "get-unnecessary government-off-my-back" kinda guy. I like guns. I've owned guns. I believe in gun ownership--with accepted responsibility of civil behavior and good judgment. Lulu hates 'em and won't allow one in the house. Iluvlulu more than a gun, so guess who wins that argument.

I don't like ciggie-poos, but I'll tolerate those who do as long as good judgement is shown. I like a good cigar, but won't smoke in my own home and respectfully ask for permission to do so first anywhere else.

Live and let live.

So, if I buy you a beer and offer you a cigar...can I shoot your gun(s) once or twice?

 

[Mustang]

So, if I buy you a beer and offer you a cigar...can I shoot your gun(s) once or twice?

Sounds like a fair trade to me. It's a deal.

The funny thing is, after all that has been said, we both find we have the same convictions about the above mentioned items! lol

 

[John in Covina]

- To put it another and more simple way: If I walk into a bar and everyone's cleaning their firearm...I walk out. If they walk into a bar and they don't like the ciggie smoke...guess what?

***************************
I would like to say that if you found such a bar, it would actually be one of the safest places around (as long as the partrons were law abiding) as a large display of firepower tends to subdue all thoughts of malicious mischief, theft and bodily harm on the part of bad guys. People tend to be polite at gunshow too.

It is remenicient of the story of two guys that decide to hold up a bar but they did not do their homework. Turns out it's a place frequented by the off duty police in the area. The crooks never saw so many guns pointed at them after announcing it was a hold up.!

Best wishes!

 

[MrNewportCustom]

I really don't see those two things as polar opposites of each other [huh] . Privacy is very important, and so is taking responsibility for your actions...or lack thereof.

I guess I should have said, "coming from both directions", because it was not my intention to label them as polar opposites. But whether it's someone imposing his ill will upon you for problems he's created for himself or someone imposing his "I know what's better for you than you do" attitude, yes, it's an invasion of privacy (not an aspect of the discussion I'd intended, but nonetheless related) and are both annoying and always done by people who feel they are better than you.

And I'm with Notthelulu: get unnecessary government off my back. Same goes for unnecessary neighbors who think the problems they cause for themselves should also be mine. So I say to both camps; You're not my keeper and I'm not yours.


Lee

 

[Mustang]

I guess I should have said, "coming from both directions", because it was not my intention to label them as polar opposites. But whether it's someone imposing his ill will upon you for problems he's created for himself or someone imposing his "I know what's better for you than you do" attitude, yes, it's an invasion of privacy (not an aspect of the discussion I'd intended, but nonetheless related) and are both annoying and always done by people who feel they are better than you.

And I'm with Notthelulu: get unnecessary government off my back. Same goes for unnecessary neighbors who think the problems they cause for themselves should also be mine. So I say to both camps; You're not my keeper and I'm not yours.


Lee

Amen.

 

[Miss Brill]

I smoke American Spirits. A lot. Ever since I've lved in California, I've smoked outside, even at home. And I'm a lot more conscious about trying to keep it away from people. When I lived in Oklahoma, it was another story. So many people smoke there, nobody thinks much of it.

I love those, even though I'm not a smoker. I get my hands on a pack sometimes & it is all I can do not to smoke the whole thing. Regular cigs just give me sinus problems & a headache.

ETA: I usually smoke (1 cig) maybe once or twice a year, I don't want the habit, because I don't want to look old. It is like booze, I don't drink because it is a waste of calories.

 

[Miss Brill]

My brother and I usta hide them from her when we were kids

I did the same thing to my mum. Did not work.

 

[luvthatlulu]

Sounds like a fair trade to me. It's a deal.

The funny thing is, after all that has been said, we both find we have the same convictions about the above mentioned items! lol

Ain't America great?

 

[Jovan]

I think it's a good idea to quit if you're addicted. Lung cancer is not fun in the same years you should be winding down on retirement. lol On second hand smoke, Florida thankfully has a law against smoking inside enclosed areas unless it's a bar. So honestly, you CAN avoid it here if you want to. No sense complaining about it. I have no idea what the laws are in other States. I really do want to slap the parents who smoke inside the house with their kids.

That said, I'll actually smoke with my friends, but I don't inhale, just draw it into my throat a little. It's something to do to pass the time. [huh]

 

[$ally]

Reminds me of that Jim Jarmusch film, "since I quit, I can have one whenever I want."
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sr2zI99bvso

 

[Dixon Cannon]

I grew up in a smoking household and all my close relatives smoked. We were so used to it back then that we couldn't smell a thing - that smell was normal!

My first brand was OP's - that's right!... other peoples!

I smoked for Marlboro for about twenty years before quitting cold turkey with half a pack remaining one day. That has been thirty years now. I have to admit I like the look of smoking - there is a lot of elegant gesturing with a cigarette in hand or between the lips - but I've never been tempted to go back. Never the slightest urge for nicotine! Especially when I go into a smoking home and smell that smell!

I'm finally weaned at last. :eusa_clap

-dixon cannon

On a side note: My Dad smoked unfiltered Phillip Morris cigarettes for about fifty-years. His fingers carried the yellow nicotine stain for as long as I knew him. He died at the ripe old age of 64! Geesh! That's not old anymore! You think the cigarettes might of had something to do with that????

 

[KilroyCD]

I also grew up in a smoking household, but I never had any desire to smoke cigarettes. One time, maybe when I was eight or nine, I found one of my sister's cigarettes that was half-smoked. I found her matches and lit it up and took a drag. That was the end of that! I thought I was going to turn inside out, I was coughing so hard! Never had any desire to smoke cigarettes after that. I did try smoking a pipe in the early 80s, but that was short-lived. I kept getting thrown out of bars because of it. Oddly enough, I have been giving that some thought again, as the classic style of a good briarwood pipe appeals to me.

 

[LocktownDog]

I've spent a third of my life smoking pipes and cigars. Habit picked up from my great-grandfather before he passed away at 94. I've even got an antique clay passed down to him from his grandfather. I've never smoked that one, as it was bought on a european vacation sometime immediately after the civil war.

Funny thing is ... I cannot tolerate the smell of cigarettes. My mother chained smoked 2 packs a day for 30+ years and it still disgusts me. Although to give her credit, she quit cold turkey last year and her lungs are completely clear.

Richard

 

[Joie DeVive]

I grew up in a household where my mother smoked, a lot. I reeked of the smell of smoke. By the age of 13, on a regular basis I was accused of smoking by teachers and classmates alike. I've never touched a cigarette. I hate the things. They contributed to the death of my beloved Grandfather, made my life miserable, and now they have made my mother very sick.

I don't want to go all bleeding heart on you all here, but one thing that has always haunted me about my mother's cigarette addiction was what she sometimes said to me when I would get on her case to quit when I was a child. She would tell me that maybe if she got more help around the house, or if we would behave better, or if she didn't have to nag us kids to do our homework she might be able to quit. Looking back, I know in my head that it was just the line of an addict, but as a kid I didn't know that, and I blamed myself. Even today, though my head tells me different, my heart still feels guilty.
I guess my point here is that making the choice for yourself is one thing, but when you choose to smoke, you affect other people, especially your children. My Mom's behavior had an impact on me, from wheezy breathing, to being told I stink, to this very day where I deal with her stage 4 lung cancer, to the future where I probably will be needing to have spiral CAT scans every few years to monitor my own health. Don't get me wrong, I don't want Big Brother living in my back pocket. I don't want progressively stricter laws babysitting the public and telling us what we cannot do. I don't want our personal choices to go away. What I do want to advocate is responsibility, and careful consideration of personal behavior.

If you smoke right now, I am asking you today to consider quitting. It's none of my business, I fully acknowledge that. I just ask, because I'm pretty sure you don't want to go through what my Mother is going through. It's ugly, and it's hard, both for her, and for those of us who love her. I don't want this for any of you kind people, nor for your spouses, children, parents, other family and friends. Please don't be angry at this request, I mean no harm by it, and I promise, I'll pipe down now.

Joie

 

[Michaelson]

I'm sorry for your loss, David. Still, its a matter of (her) personal choice. In Tennessee, people die everyday of accidental and intentional gunshot wounds but no one wants to discuss any form of gun control here. You can even get a permit to carry a weapon in most of the same establishments that won't permit a cigarette! Go figure! :eusa_doh:

Hummm. Interesting argument. I live and work in Tennessee. I have had a Tennessee concealed carry permit ever since they were first issued. I have gone into Tennessee restaurants and while eating a meal with my family have had second hand smoke literally blown in my face from nearby tables. To date I have never gone into those same restaurants and waved my .357 under anyone's nose, nor are they even aware when or if I'm 'packing'. Not sure that's the best comparison or example

I, for one, am tickled to death the bill passed here in Tennessee, and to date not a single restaurant in our area has suffered from the ban. In fact, business is booming here in South Central Tennessee. Sorry to hear things have gone bust in Knox-vegas.

The funniest thing I heard during that debate was from a fellow (not me) who said that he detested the fact that even when he went to restaurants that had separated smoking and non-smoking areas, he always came out reeking of cigarette smoke. Not only was he forced to breathe the second hand smoke, but he smelled of it for hours afterwards. He proposed the following.....he loved coffee, but as an after dinner drink, just like smokers enjoyed an after dinner cigarette. He proposed that after a meal, all coffee drinkers be allowed to take at least two sips of their coffee, then spit every 3rd sip on a smoker. The smokers get to leave wet and reeking of coffee on their clothes, and would be getting 'second hand' coffee to boot. That way it's even all the way round! I laughed when I heard it!!

Regards! Michaelson

 

[luvthatlulu]

I, for one, am tickled to death the bill passed here in Tennessee, and to date not a single restaurant in our area has suffered from the ban. In fact, business is booming here in South Central Tennessee. Sorry to hear things have gone bust in Knox-vegas.

Regards! Michaelson

Oops.

http://www.rctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071231/NEWS0201/712310358/1001/NEWS

And would you be equally tickled if they should ever decide to rescind your right to carry or own a firearm? If you aren't willing to stand up for other folks' rights now, don't be upset if they're silent when yours are threatened, too.