General Chat

Jaqueline! All smokers have pursed mouths with small lines on their lips from sucking on their foul fags! There is nothing that makes a girl or woman so unattractive as sucking desperately on a fag! And I can smell smokers from yards away, just passing someone in the street I can say "Yes, smoker!"

Jaqui No My friends dont have to take their drinks out into my garden. But then again they also dont get drunk in my house. Im afraid I put my two young kids first, not smokers. They are my priority.I choose not to have smokers in my house mainly because of them and I just dont like the smell. Also my friends are a little more polite & considerate than you seem to be in your reply to me on this thread. Elaine x

Yeah I know Terri, but do not stink as much as cheap tacky perfume used by totties who think more is best!! lol Jacqui - off to have a fag!

As a smoker I resent your implication Claire that I stink, have yellow hair, bad breath etc etc. What a small minded individual you seem to be! Some smokers you know may well fall into that category, but I certainly do not! Nor do any of my friends and acquaintences that smoke. I could say that all non-smokers have pursed mouths with little lines (due to looking down their noses) beatled brows from glaring at smokers, etc etc. however that would not be the case. There are probably no advantages to smoking, but it is my choice, and my choice alone. I do not know what your own personal habits are (perhaps some I would find offensive), and would not comment on them if I did so what gives you the right to generalise on smokers the way you do? Jacqui

What are the advantages of smoking?,,,None as far as i can see, Unless of course you like to stink,,,have yellow skin,,,bad breath,,,look older than you are,,and look a t*** when you are all dressed up ,out on the town,looking gorgeous......... with a fag stuck in your gob,,,,,very elegant,

Glad to hear you dont ban your smoking friends Elaine - very considerate of them to stand in the garden I think when they pay you a visit. Do they have to take their drinks out there as well? When my non-smoking friends visit me I dont smoke in their presence, as I too respect their wishes, but when its a mixed crowd of smokers and non-smokers I find that my non-smoking friends are really quite tolerant (well, they must be as they keep coming back to visit!) I wouldnt banish them to the garden though if they didnt smoke! Jacqui

I tried smoking back in the early 60's but couldn't see the point, it did nothing for me. Later I tried cannabis, and to be honest if someone is passing a joint around I'll still have a toke, at least you can detect some effect! I also, like a lot of kids in the 60's, took a hell of a lot of speed, (purple hearts), but I think if I'd stayed with it I would have been brown bread years ago. I also tried most of the other common drugs, LSD, Coke etc. And now I'm at the age of 57 I'm a happily retired successful ex Electronics Engineer with a lovely family, so it is not all downhill once you experiment with drugs. But an aside. In 1967 in Watford most kids who went out of a weekend evening dabbled with drugs. Now everyone of my age vehemently denies any involvement whatsoever! All the dabblers can't all be dead, are they just overcome with some sort of guilt complex? Oh Yes. And all smokers stink. I can smell them yards away, it's foul!

My friends mean the world to me But they also respect my wellbeing & health, and think nothing of standing in the garden to have their fags. Smelly people dont rot your lungs & take your health away. E x

Right ive started a stop smoking support thread who wants to join!

I'm a smoker and agree with the majority that it is a filthy habit - but, in my opinion, so is chewing gum, spitting in the street (and it's not always smokers), drinking to excess, picking ones nose, etc etc. Smokers choose to smoke, non-smokers choose not to. In most restaurants there are smoking and non-smoking areas as already stated - the choice is there - dont go where you dont want to. With regard to pubs (and its quite a long time since I actually visited one, preferring to drink at home) the last time I was in a pub in Nottingham there was no room to drink, let alone smoke and the music level was beyond belief -where is the enjoyment in that, whether you smoke or not? Should we ban music then, and conversation, meeting friends for a night out? I too have had family members who have died from cancer and chronic obstructive airways disease - not from smoking though, but from working underground for 12 hours a day in a coal mine to earn a crust to feed the family!! Any death of a close family member is traumatic, whether they smoked or not - why look to blame it on the humble fag, when the deceased had the choice to stop if they wanted to. We are supposed to have freedom of choice in this country, and quite right too. I appreciate that those non-smokers of you will argue that you dont seem to have any choice in the smoking or non-smoking arguement, but I would beg to differ - most of you would not go willingly within a mile of a smoker by all accounts, nor entertain one in your home. Well, I would because friendship (smoker or otherwise) would appear to mean more to me that it would seem to mean to you. With regard to the smelly aspect - the smell of the great unwashed is far more repugnant! Jacqui

I wasnt saying you personally are selfish Linda, just in general us non smokers have less choice if a smoker lights up near us. E x :o))

Donna I being an ex smoker will give you lots of encouragement to stop!!!!

Ban Smoking in public places i say ,i dont mean in Pubs or places that you have a choice to go in or not ,some pubs do have non smoking area,s around where i live . During the summer i visited Canterbury and went into a cafe for a snack and coffee and asked if they had a non smoking area and they did .RIGHT AT THE VERY BACK OF THE CAFE NEXT TO THE KITCHEN .neadless to say i just walked out . Val

Debbie, McDonalds and Burger King don't operate no smoking througout their outlets just some. The local shopping center in Castleford is no Smoking but the BK inside is not, so people go into a food outlet for a smoke. How crazy can you get! You can't compare smoking with other things. I have never heard of anyone dying of passive drinking or eating!! Bob

Linda Yes it is your choice to smoke but our choice is taken away by smokers, when someone lights up in a public place. E x

Lynda thats what my stepmum had c.o.a.d.Chronic obstructive airways disease...emphysema is one of these diseases caused by smoking. Doreen carried on smoking & got worse & worse until it suddenly killed her. She too died fighting for breath. Elaine x

nichola Smoking does not give you cancer, But It increases your risk of developing it. You have a higher chance of getting cancer than if you are a non smoker. It has been proved that smoking is directly related to lung cancer. Even though some people , who have never smoked also developed the disease, they may have been a passive smoker , breathing other peoples cigarettes in. ( Roy Castle) Also some cancers are not geneticly related. Some cancers present in a faulty gene which can run in familys, some cancers are just one offs in a person with no family history. As for kids in pushchairs getting cancer, If I had put my childrens pushchair behind every cars exhaust then maybe so, But pushing my kids along the pavement is different to a grown adult blowing smoke directly over my kids (yes this has happened) Besides newer & better fuel is being introduced now, which is supposed to be cleaner, also when you have a mot done, your cars emissions are tested and if you are over a certain level you fail. DAVID Being a non smoker, I try to sit in non smoking places. sometimes its not possible, and yes i do moan as its my health thats affected. If i went into a pub stinking like a tramp how many people would complain of the smell, everyone I bet. Then the smokers may realise what its like to feel ill at a smell Elaine (collecting shampoo & bathcubes hehe)

Why don't they just ban the manufacture of ciggies ??? I think everyone knows the answer to that one !! Joyce .....a smoker .

I hate people who eat on the street - so I shall ban it. I hate people who drive their car just to go a short distance - so I shall ban journeys under a mile. I hate drunks - so I shall ban drink. I hate gamblers - so I shall ban gambling. Nice idea but I wouldn't stand a chance. Everyone should have the right to do what they want, so let's have smoking rooms and non-smoking rooms. In a local coffee shop they have about ten tables for smokers and about 40 for non-smokers. Guess where standing room only is - the smoking part. Freedom for EVERYONE. Not just those who shout the loudest.

I know Terri, I will do it one day but I expect like you did, I keep coming up with allsorts of excuses. I have got a good reason to give up as we have just bought a house which is more expensive than the one now. But what with all the hassles of moving I keep saying when wev'e moved.