ok,

[Fawn]

IN Ontario the ban against smoking inside builldings has been going on for a couple years now. I am a child of second hand smoke and have adult onset asthma due to second hand smoke. The worse part is that I can't get away from it because my Dad smokes and he won't go outside because he's stubborn as hell. Thus I am stuck living in a home filled with smoke as my lungs slowly decay into a shrivelled mass because I can't afford to move.

I don't care about smokers, if they want to kill themselves thats fine with me. But non-smokers have the right to be in an area that is clean and smoke free. When you smoke it hurts more then iust you, it harms other people around you.

[digilight]

I've noticed that, with some smokers you can't smell it as strong as others. I was one of those smokers that just fuggen reaked of it though. I actually had to get semi close to my brother in law after he came back inside from a smoke the other night and holy shit he reaked. Now it doesn't bother or offend me like alot of people so I don't really care a whole lot.

What does bite my bag, though, are the women and some men who feel its a good thing to dump a whole damn bottle of cologne or perfume on themselves. In fact theres that one "Old Lady" Type scent that I really hate. I think its Lilac or something, but it always reminds me of old lady and it makes me want to stab them with a spork.

[iradney]

I've noticed that, with some smokers you can't smell it as strong as others.

I think, in part, it depends on the brand you smoke. There are certain brands where just by standing next to a smoker, you smell of smoke too. And other brands where you literally cannot be sure that the person is a smoker.

[Jester]

People are shocked when they find out I smoke.

I actually get the opposite....people are shocked to find out that I don't smoke, and that I never have!

I kind of understood that back in the days when I had long hair, but that is 12 years back, and I still get people, often people I work with who have known me a while, asking me for a cigarette. "I don't smoke." Really? "Really. Never have. The occasional cigar when I'm drinking, yes. But cigarettes? Never even tried one." Really?!?! I guess I look like a smoker.

Now, I DO understand why people think I smoke marijuana....with my permanently half-closed eyes, I basically look stoned every day. I get that. I don't get, however, what it is about me that screams "smoker" when I have never even taken one puff off a cigarette in my life. No, seriously....not one. This surprises people almost as much as finding out that I don't do caffeine or any of those "upper" drugs at all. I am very high energy, you see, so it often LOOKS like I have just downed seven pots of coffee....especially when I am working.

Go figger.

[B&NGoddess]

smoking is illegal in the whole country of bhutan. id suggest all us nonsmokers move there, but the man running the country...well lets just say hes a little unstable.

[Finduilas]

Oh, I've got an anecdote for those of us who are really sensitive to cigarette smoke. In Massachusetts (dare I say all of New England? I had thought that it was national, but I've seen suggestions in the thread that it's not the case?), it's illegal to smoke inside public buildings.

So, I was waiting for the shuttle back to my school just inside the doors to the mall, because it was really windy and cold outside.

...And I watch in shock as two people walk out of the Cheesecake Factory, pull out cigarettes, and light them, take a pull, and THEN go out the doors. Leaving their noxious odours behind them.

I couldn't go outside to a section where there weren't smokers, either, because I was waiting for a friend... when she came, and we walked outside, I made a loud comment to her about jerks who contaminate the already dirty air inside the mall.

[Gurndigarn]

I've noticed that, with some smokers you can't smell it as strong as others. I was one of those smokers that just fuggen reaked of it though.

Camels or Marboros are the worst brands for smell.

[myswtghst]

...And I watch in shock as two people walk out of the Cheesecake Factory, pull out cigarettes, and light them, take a pull, and THEN go out the doors. Leaving their noxious odours behind them.

This actually happens quite often, because it's easier to light a cig inside with no wind, than to spend forever trying to do it outside. That being said, the only time I do that is in my own car, not in public places.

Camels or Marboros are the worst brands for smell.

Which is funny, because I generally smoke Camels, Marlboros if they're on sale or given to me (they're my second choice) and I've never been told I smell. Again, it may just be my habits and my tendency to try to prevent being stinky, but I just wanted to chime in.

[Sylvia727]

In Massachusetts (dare I say all of New England? I had thought that it was national, but I've seen suggestions in the thread that it's not the case?), it's illegal to smoke inside public buildings.

Enh, it's creeping up state by state, county by county. Where I live, it's not illegal, but almost every private institution (except bars) have a "Thank you for not smoking" sign on the front door. To the point where most smokers of my acquaintance assume that every public building is non-smoking.

Me? I can't smell very well at all, and I suspect a large factor is my mom's chain-smoking. She quit cold turkey one month ago, however, and we're all very proud of her. The other thing I can't stand is that my college puts the designated smoking areas right in front of the doors to every building. Like, benches and ashtrays kinda designated. There's a petition to get them moved, but they're dragging their feet over it because the way these buildings are set up there aren't a lot of other options beyond "build brand-new smoking shelters".

[coldcupofjoe]

the designated smoking area when I go to school doesnt have a shelter. But since its only the automotive tech students and our instructors back there and we all smoke if its raining or something we can smoke at the bay doors.

At work were supposed to go 30 feet away from the building and any customer or lot cars but the guy who is supposed to enforce it is lazy so most of the smokers there go behind our scrapmetal shack.

[ArcticChicken]

My problem isn't people smoking near me, in fact I find the smell of just a little bit of cigarette smoke almost pleasant (which is odd, considering my asthma), my problem a the smell of a heavy smoker more than about half an hour after they've had a smoke. I can smell that from about fifteen feet, and it makes me very nauseous, to the point where I almost throw up. Which is bad once you factor in that I'm a cashier at a grocery store, and people are always asking me for cigarettes.

[Jester]

...the man running the country...well lets just say hes a little unstable.

And this makes it different from the U.S. exactly..........how?

[B&NGoddess]

And this makes it different from the U.S. exactly..........how?

oh dear do you really want an answer to that?

[Giggle Goose]

oh dear do you really want an answer to that?

Okay, NOW the thread is going downhill!

But I'd like to chime in and say that when I smoked people were so hypersensitive about it that it wasn't worth the stress of making sure I didn't offend so-and-so. And now I won't be able to do it at bars anymore; which is kinda good, like mys said, because that'll get me to kick the only-smoking-while-i-drink habit.

[worddork]

Like Jester, I have never smoked. However, both of my parents did while I was growing up (dad stopped when I was 5 and mom when I was 13) so I picked up some of their habits that make others think that I'm a former smoker; the way I hold a pen in the corner my mouth, the way I tap the crumbs off the end of a bisscotti, and when stressed blowing air out of the side of my mouth.