Inconsiderate smokers

[emmelinemay]

I don't smoke, never have. I actually have this bizarre allergy thing to them. But i don't object to people smoking per se, in the same way i don't object to them drinking. What I DO object to is inconsiderate smokers.

People that don't accept or acknoledge that other people might want to walk about/eat/see a band/dance without breathing smoke, getting cigarette burns or hole in clothes.

So here are some things to remember.

Dancefloor. So named as it is a floor on which you dance. I object to having to avoid puddles of beer and plumes of smoke and the threat of burning/holes in my clothes because you feel the need to smoke/drink AND dance at the same time

Gig. A cigarette is not a lighter. Please don't wave it in the air as if it was. SMOKE the damn thing, or put it out. And yes, I AM right behind you, and yes your smoke IS bothering me.

Food. I like to taste my food thanks. And smell it. I don't mind if you want to smoke at the table while the food hasn't been served, but ask first. please?

Lastly. A cigarette is neither a sparkler nor a glowstick. Either stick it in your face, put it out, or i might have to stick it somewhere else.

The sooner smoking is banned in public places, the better.

Ok rant over...

Comments

[girfan.livejournal.com]

*applause*

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

*bows*

[darkapotheosis.livejournal.com]

I've got to say if I was at a table eating and someone sat down next to me and started smoking I'd ram it up their nose.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I'd pay to see that!

[alabastamasta.livejournal.com]

It's already gone in our restaurant section - it's soooo much nicer in there now, although two guys walked out last night as they had to go to the bar to smoke after they had eaten - weirdos!

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I'll bet! A lot of plcaes now also have a no smoking at the bar rule, which must make life so much more pleasant for the staff!

[alabastamasta.livejournal.com]

Dude,you have NO idea - was working partly in the bar and part restaurant last night - guess which part was nicer!

Can't wait till the full ban though - if nothing else, it'll finally stop me smoking forever!
I reckon a lot of places will end up members only so peeps can still smoke though.

[cryx]

I know what you mean. Out of those I think my biggest hate is the dancing with a cigarette offense although it is very close to the eating one, just pips it due to the immediate personal injury factor.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

If you're out at a club, chances are you're wearing more 'spensive clothes, ones you don't want destroyed. I've had stuff ruined htrough ciggarette burns, and it's just bloody unneccessary. I always feel like i want to charge the smoker for the cost of fixing it!

[sevensomething.livejournal.com]

That's my one single complaint about my beloved London - smoking - I'm spoiled in NYC due to the smoking ban in public places - I mean, I understand that ppl smoke when they drink and if I want to hang out in the bar with my friends, there is going to be smoke - but eating? That's just the worst.
The smoke in London is so bad, that I actually pack some special jeans & a sweatshirt just for the trip home - that way I don't have sit on the plane for 8 hours smelling of smoke.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I HATE the way my clothes smell when i get in from a club/pub! And the smell lingers in your hair. Bleh.

I should add to the list the people that have to spoke while waiting for a train, onlyputting it out the very second the doors close by fliking it onto the tracks. Then sitting next to me. Do these people not realise they stink?

[miss_squiddy]

Apparently not. One of my colleagues has just given up and has spent the last two days complaining about the way her bag and coat smell and how she'd never realised before. Bleh.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

mum told me that giving up smoking (which she does all the time) is hard for a few weeks, until your sense of smell and taste come back, and then it's much easier.

Apparently smokers have less of a sense of taste and smell then?

[girfan.livejournal.com]

Yes.
My father (who smoked 2 packs a day) had my mother add lots of seasoning and spices to his food all the time. When he quit, he complained about how strong the food was, and then realised it was his tastebuds/ability to smell that had returned.

[gaius-octavian.livejournal.com]

The next person to burn me with a cigarette on the dancefloor is going to get it stubbed out in their eye, so I agree completely!

[http://users.livejournal.com/eddy_/]

Food. I like to taste my food thanks. And smell it.

Despite being a smoker myself, I also like to be able to enjoy my food without smoke drifting across it. I think the wore case was with tawdryfilth in a very cosy little restaurant. We'd finished our starter and both fancied a cigarette, but the people at the table next to us (and it was right next to us) were still eating, so we both went outside to smoke. We came back in just before our main course arrived, and just as it did, everyone at the next table (who had now finished eating) lit up, completely spoiling our meal. Exactly the same thing happened with dessert as well.

My other pet peeve is the w*nkers who feel the need to smoke on busses. If I (and I imagine the majority of smokers) can wait until getting off before lighting up, why the hell can't they?

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I've been threatened before by yobs lighting up in stranded tubes & trains - i am not the sort of person that can let those things go y'see.

We're ALL stuck some of us need to piss, some are hungry, some have screaming children. Surely you can suffer with the rest of us? But no.

instant karma - this happened once when the train i was on had a window broken by kids lobbing bricks over a bridge. We were halted in-between stations, and told to stay put, as the police were on their way. A guy immediately lights up. I point out it's no smoking, and he replies 'if i'm going to be fucking stuck here i should at least be allowed a fucking smoke'. I point out we're all stuck here, and just being stuck doesn't negate the no smoking rule, and that he's actualy making it worse for all the rest of us, at which point he inquired whether or not i was activley seeking a slap. Only not in so many words and not nearly so politely.

A few other passengers got up and backed me up, and he put it out. Then, he forced the doors open, and got out, and lit up on the verge instead!! A couple of other people (mostly young chav types) got out too. Then the driver asked people not to force the doors open, and reminded us all that it was A - dangerous and B - illegal to get out and wander about on the tracks. The police turned up, arrested the vandals that broke the train in the first place, and then arrested the blokes on the verge for tresspassing and endangerment :D I

[http://users.livejournal.com/eddy_/]

Fan-tastic. I've never once seen anyone be given a fine for smoking on public transport, despite the signs on every window, so it's nice to know that at least someone's been done for it. :o)

[girfan.livejournal.com]

You should have said something. If the other table didn't comply, then have said something to the manager. I once had a meal with friends who smoked and the guy at the next table lit up a cigar right when our food was set before us. One of my (smoker) friends nicely asked him to put it out or go elsewhere and the guy sneered at her. She then got very loud until the manager came over and asked the man to move. Plus, the manager gave us free dessert as compensation. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/eddy_/]

The thing is we were in the smoking area, so they were technically within their rights to smoke (I'd normally go in the non-smoking section but there were no tables free). It was just very annoying as we had shown them consideration while they were eating, but they obviously felt there was no need to return the courtesy.

On the flip side I've also had a guy come up to me in a cafe and ask if I minded if he smoked, even though I was sitting in the smoking section, which I thought was really nice.

[mr-foz.livejournal.com]

I love you Reverend.

[angel-emma.livejournal.com]

As an ex smoker I heartily agree. Even when I smoked I hated people smoking right next to me at clubs/pubs/gigs etc. At the Damned last Sat, the smoke half killed me (although I did have my cold already). I don't think smoking should be banned everywhere as when I smoked I would have hated that, but there should be loads more non-smoking places than smoking. And I don't mean a little section of tables in a restaurant where the smoke wafts over you while you eat.

[girfan.livejournal.com]

I was so glad when smoking was banned on airplanes. I have never smoked and always seemed to get seated in the first non-smoking row (how pointless was that!).

I've had smoking friends complain about not being able to smoke in hospitals (flammable substances+oxygen tanks=boom!) or movie theatres (there was a theatre in the US in the 1920's that went up in flames and lots of people died, which is why it's been banned in the US for many years, and why there are clearly lit exit signs inside theatres).

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

smoking in hospitals is just wrong. I'm sorry. I was waiting outside the hospital to be picked up in february, and there were big NO SMOKING signs all along the exit. And large numbers of people, some in wheelchairs, some with bloody drips, smoking. Some right under the signs.

Id been in hospital for sever tonsilitus, and felt sicker than ever standing there with these selfish, and i'm sorry, but that's what they are, inconsiderte (and if you're sick, and on a drip and inhospital, downright stupid) people. 10 yards down, there was a smokers shelter, and not one of them could be arsed to go stand in it.

[load-of-flannel.livejournal.com]

It is illegal to smoke in hospitals in the UK... they can chuck you out and everything. Call the police if beccesary... outside hospitals? Seems a bit weird... or lazy.. theres usually a designated smoking place somewhere if only because the majority of GP's smoke...

[load-of-flannel.livejournal.com]

Thats bizarre... if you object to people smoking at the table without asking why do you sit at a smoking table. Most restraunts don't even have smoking sections anymore.

Other than that you don't seem overly facist and your demands are reasonable.

Although it'd be fairly hard to stop folk smoking at band gigs especially rock metal/gigs... but I note that you don't actually object to it merely ask them to smoke it and not wave it about....

do many people dance with fags? Weird freaks...

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

if the current ban thingy goes through, any venuse that serve food (that's a fair few) will have to tow the line like the pubs.

and hoo-ray, say i!

[hiddenpaw.livejournal.com]

I so agree. I DOn't bother to complain about smokeing in clubs as genraly it does you no good and everyone seems to think it's thier right to kill us.

What really pisses me off beyond belife is Smokeing on the Dancefloor. I hate that paraniod strugle to get to another part of the dancefloor befor I loose an eye (This is why goths wear sunglases in clubs).

I am a little pissed that the new anti smokeing bill will miss bars that don't serve food and there for all nightclubs more or less.

Sorry lass you set me off.

[camillastar.livejournal.com]

Hear hear.
What gets me is that smokers say non-smokers are selfish to want cigarette smoke banned. How? How is it selfish? Fucktards.

[jruske.livejournal.com]

It's odd but several of the venues I've been to lately in North America have either been smoke free or very few smokers.

Odd because it's very enjoyable (you can breathe!) and because at least one of them ruined this by heavy use of a fog machine.

All these places had outdoor patios for the smokers to go off to - and go off to them they did. So it seemed to work out just fine. Plus I felt a little less soiled the next day since my lungs, mouth, hair, and clothes weren't saturated with stale burnt leaf stench.

[cloudwalker-3.livejournal.com]

Yay! You go girl! Totally cool post. Plus I totally agree with you!