The "I am a Smoker and I am Not Rude" thread

[ontariodisneywoman]

I have been inspired by a thread on the Resort board.
.Thread Inspiration
The OP stated that she thought it was rude to smoke outside the non-smoking room of her resort.. and many other followed suit, painting (IMHO) all smokers with the same colour-RUDE.
So,
I think we need to unite. All of us out there, caught in the sometimes good, sometimes not so good habit of smoking, who feel that they abide by non-smoking rules, who try to be considerate of nonsmokers and who feel they are Not Rude.. Let's fight back-politely of course, by sharing your experiences as a considerate smoker

 

[stinkerbelle]

no matter what - they'll still lump us all together

 

[kild]

I only smoke in designated areas. I don't smoke in other peoples houses, cars, spaceships, etc.. even if they tell me I can. I don't smoke in my own car when I have a passenger that doesn't smoke. I don't stand outside of your hotel room, or mine, and smoke. I don't smoke in my house or around my kids or yours

I am always considerate about my bad habit. But, I did have a gentleman sit by me that got very rude about my smoking. I was in the smoking section of the park, the MK i think. Anyway, I informed him that he had the rest of the park, but I only had this one bench and that I would not put out my smoke.

 

[gallaj0]

I'm not a smoker, but I find myself in defense of the smokers, and their smoking area, as a facility manager. It really doesn't matter to some people where you smoke, they just don't like it at all, and are willing to go out of their way to make a point.

At my building, we had to move the smoking area from one exit to another, but further outside, about 50 feet from the entrance and main walkway. It's a pretty good area, covered, with some bushes in front, blocks the wind pretty well, and there is no need for non smokers to walk through it to get to the entrance.

It doesn't stop some people from complaining, or claiming that the cigarette smoke is being blown 50 feet, around a corner, adn directly into their face as the walk up to the building.

We had to go as far as dedicating some closets for smokers, since their coats smell like smoke during the winter.

 

[luv2nascar]

I don't really lump smokers into a rude category
I'm not really sure its even the smokers fault
but smoking really wrecks my sinuses due to allergies
even if you are smoking outside it will cause me to become ill if I'm around it for very long

I hate the smell and it makes me sick
so what can you we do you want to smoke in public places but I can't stand to be around it ??
it is difficult I've left many places due to smokers
somehow smokers don't feel any responsibility for this but yet schools are banning peanut butter sandwiches due to children with allergies etc.

not trying to offend anyone who smokes
that's your right
but it is my right to be offend if you smoke outside my non smoking resort room because trust me I smell it indoors even later even if I wasn't there when you did it

 

[lulu71]

I posted how I try to be a considerate smoker in the other thread, but I am happy to oblige this one. At WDW:
*I only smoke in designated areas in the park
*Do not smoke on the balcony of non-smoking rooms or on the resort grounds
*Have changed a ressie to be put in a view that has smoking rooms, despite cast members telling me to keep the ressie and just smoke on the balcony

I'm not asking for a cookie for being a considerate smoker, it just burns me up when rude non-smokers lump all smokers into the "inconsiderate" category.

 

[shatzjsl]

Originally posted by kild
I only smoke in designated areas. I don't smoke in other peoples houses, cars, spaceships, etc.. even if they tell me I can. I don't smoke in my own car when I have a passenger that doesn't smoke. I don't stand outside of your hotel room, or mine, and smoke. I don't smoke in my house or around my kids or yours

I am always considerate about my bad habit. But, I did have a gentleman sit by me that got very rude about my smoking. I was in the smoking section of the park, the MK i think. Anyway, I informed him that he had the rest of the park, but I only had this one bench and that I would not put out my smoke.

ditto

Originally posted by gallaj0
It doesn't stop some people from complaining, or claiming that the cigarette smoke is being blown 50 feet, around a corner, adn directly into their face as the walk up to the building.

 

[Rajah]

Most of the smokers I've met or encountered are, unfortunately, the rude type. But my DH's best friend is the most considerate smoker I've *ever* met. This guy goes WAY out of his way to be considerate about smoking around me because he knows I have asthma and am allergic to his smoke. Touring MK with him and his girlfriend one time was a plesant surprise. I expected to be frustrated and delayed and stuff so he could feed his habit.

Nope. I think we were delayed a total of 10 minutes through the entire day because of his smoking, and the rest of the time he went way out of his way to get his smoking in without inconveniencing us. I actually think he went over the top to not inconvenience us. LOL! We girls delayed him more than he did us because of our restroom stops. LOL!

Now that was considerate, and I still haven't stopped telling him how much I appreciate his bending over backwards to be considerate with me and his smoking.

So they do exist.

 

[arminnie]

Originally posted by stinkerbelle
no matter what - they'll still lump us all together

Well, I won't. Especially when I lived in CA I found the smokers to be very, very considerate. It was just the social norm and they were very good. I knew people who wouldn't even smoke in their own homes ever (living alone) out of consideration for those visiting. That's going a bit far but is an example of how considerate some smokers can be.

I truly believe that more smokers are unaware of how much it bothers others than deliberately inconsiderate.

 

[dturner]

I was a NON-smoker for the first 38 years of my life. I have never ever been bothered by someone smoking, guess I'm lucky. DH is a smoker, I grew up with a parent who was a smoker.

I've been smoking on and off for about 3 years now. When I was at DW in September, 2002 I had a non-smoking room at the All Star Sports and yes, I did go outside, right in front of my door and smoke but I made sure no one was around and that my smoke was going up into the air away from the building. I could of been rude and smoked in a non-smoking room but I didn't. I don't remember smoking at all while in the parks, I don't think I could ever find the smoking area so I just waited.

What I hate is that non-smokers look at persons who are smoking like they are doing something illegal. I've been to the Six Flags park here at home a couple of times this year, I always make sure I'm away from people but people still look at you like your an alien. Also went to a NASCAR race last month, I kept looking for their smoking policy in the program, couldn't find one, finally I just looked around and a lot of people were smoking. Still, I went up to the top of the stadium when I wanted to smoke so as not to bother anyone - that was the only day no one looked at me like I was crazy and the first stadium I've ever been in that allowed smoking.

 

[ontariodisneywoman]

Thank you everyone for your replies.

I find that most smokers are considerate these days and they do try to keep out of the way of non-smokers. Sometimes, it is almost impossible but as long as I know I do my best to keep out of the non-smoking populations' space I am satisfied with my actions.

 

[swea_pea1]

OK! Finally a DIS "group" I can join!!!!!

I smoke, but am very considerate. My DH doesn't smoke, so I don't smoke in his car, or in anybody else's for that matter. Even in areas where there are a LOT of smokers (like at Bingo, for instance), I always ask the people near me if they mind if I smoke before I sit down. I've even preached to one of my employees to quit because his wife has asthma.

Last week, I was in Las Vegas and the casinos are smoke-filled. I always sat at the end of the table (away from the other players) if I wanted to smoke and if somebody sat down next to me, I asked if they'd mind, or I'd try to find a seat between two other smokers.

I never, ever smoke in restaurants, even if I'm seated in a smoking section because it bothers others anyway.

I try to be considerate, but as others have said, still get lumped into that "rude" category just by nature of the habit. It gets pretty aggravating at times, but I'm used to it, so now I just let it roll right off.

 

[MelessaG]

I don't smoke, but my mother does and never once did she do it in the house, in our car, or any enclosed space she was sharing with her "babies." She has always been a polite smoker.
While pregnant with my son, I had the fortune to meet another one. I went to lunch with my sister at Subway, and because the line was long, we wound up standing in the smoking section. While pregnant, cigarette smoke is one of my nausea triggers-but I was the one 'intruding' in their section, not the other way around, so I tried to discreetly fan the smoke away from my face with a paper menu and hope the line moved fast. There was only one smoker at the time, a young man of about 20. I caught him staring from my pregnant belly to me fanning my face, and when our eyes met-he put out his cigarette immediately even though he had just lit up. I was hormonal, and so I got tears in my eyes and was too embarrassed to tell him he didn't have to do that until I calmed down. He was already gone once I made it through the line and I never did get to thank him-but I appreciated it then, and remember it fondly almost 4 years later.

 

[Disney Doll]

I am not a smoker, never have been, have always geenrally encountered very cinsiderate smokers(other than my late MIL).

An observation I would make is how many more people are "allergic" to smoke ow than used to be 20 years ago. An amazing evolutionary change!

 

[Sirius]

I am a non-smoker who feels that many of my fellow non-smokers are quite rude. I hate it when people sit in a smoking section and pretend to cough or when they give people dirty looks, or when they wave their hands about violently as if the smoke were a swarm of hornets.

 

[FroggyinArk]

ok i admit there were times that i was the rude obnoxious smoker. especially when i was trying to be polite and considerate and was the brunt of a rude non smoker. in facty last year at wdw in mk on 4th july during fireworks,, we watched from the smoking area at the pond below the castle,, was a table of very rude non smokers behind my wife,, one of them even wentas far as to push my wife away with her chaire,, at this point i became the rude smoker and deliberately seperated fromn my dw and dd,, and sat where the rude woman was sandwiched between wife and i,., and we both then chain smoked till after the fire works ,, another smoker there laughe3ed so hard she almost fell off her chair when she realized what was happening,, the non smoker had apparently already tod her off,,lol,, any way, we always tryed to be nice till some one was rude to us,, at the hotels we took the time to walk down to the pool area and find seats away from others,, until a non smoker in a room near ours saw my dw put out a smoke in ashtray before going into elevator and then proceeded to cough andf hack deliberately faked, all t rhe way to the room.. after that dw and i smoked on balcony in front of her door not ours ( bad froggy) in the parks we always found the smoking areas always used the ash trays,, we would smoke in smoking sectionms of restauants though becaudse with 20 other smoklers ,, the 2 we smoked wasnt goingto change the amount, cars,,, in ours we smoked, some one elses,, only after they lit up.. never in a non smokers car or house, we are carpenters and we would always police the butts and smoke in one area of jobsite or customer syard we even took time to clean up other ppl;s smokes after a job. never never in a customers house even if they smoke. now htat i have stopped and the dw is still smoking, i am trying not to become that a** ex smoker that every one hates. its realy hard some times to not be rude to ppl who ignore smoking signs and areas, was at the hospital last monthand there wasa guy walking down the hall with a smoke in his hand, he almost got it..lol

 

[themepark]

Originally posted by Disney Doll
I am not a smoker, never have been, have always geenrally encountered very cinsiderate smokers(other than my late MIL).

An observation I would make is how many more people are "allergic" to smoke ow than used to be 20 years ago. An amazing evolutionary change!

I wouldn't question or make fun of people who are allergic to smoke. It's a terrible feeling to not be able to breathe. Just like anything else, perhaps 20 years ago they were unable to determine the smoke was what was causing asthma attacks or allergic reactions. I grew up in a house with 2 smokers and suffered with asthma. The doctors told us it was grass pollen and certain fibers.

I will add that I don't think all smokers are inconsiderate. In fact, nowadays I see most smokers following the rules by smoking in designated areas and being considerate around non smokers.

 

[Beauty]

I wouldn't question or make fun of people who are allergic to smoke. It's a terrible feeling to not be able to breathe. Just like anything else, perhaps 20 years ago they were unable to determine the smoke was what was causing asthma attacks or allergic reactions. I grew up in a house with 2 smokers and suffered with asthma. The doctors told us it was grass pollen and certain fibers.

ITA! My 12 year old son can't breathe around smoke either. He will get to the point of crying when someone near him is smoking. I'm definatly not saying that anyone is rude or to not smoke I'm just stating facts about my child. We simply try very hard to be away from smokers and if we are at a party etc. we just ask very nicely if they could smoke outside away from DS. I have never ever had anyone be rude to me about this.

 

[Planogirl]

Most smokers I know are very considerate yet they still sometimes get slammed by non-smokers. I don't get it. It almost seems like some people have a grudge of some kind against smokers.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I think until it is federally ruled, or universally uniform state-wise, following in the footsteps of NY and Ca and have no smoking in any public building anywhere, there will be difficulties. The majority of smokers I encounter are fine, courteous, thoughtful. Some are obnoxious. More than once I have called on a CM at WDW to inform a guest of where the smoking areas are, not in line waiting for an attraction, not along a parade route.