What do you think the reasoning is behind everyone being so quick to judge smokers, but not some others doing harmful things. A person would judge a smoker before judging someone who eats too much fast food and is obese.
Or even a person who drives recklessly?
I don't make comments when you're stuffing your face with that greasy burger, don't make them when I'm going outside for a butt. I completely agree that it's extremely disrespectful for a smoker to smoke around those who don't/aren't ok with being around it. I would never smoke around people who don't, or blow my smoke into anyone's face.
They have the right to not breathe in my smoke just as much as I have the right to do it. I can, however, understand the frustration of those who do NOT care for it (Ie. *HATE*). Personally, knowing this, I do not smoke around people unless they're smoking too. Unlike most smokers, I *DO* respect the non smokers and conform for the time being. I can wait for HOURS to light up if I have to. People like I, who smoke already know its wrong but it doesn't make them any less of a person that you have to hate. Life's tooo precious to be pissed off all the time!
Why do people judge smokers but...
By zoeyzoha24 - Posted on May 19th, 2009
Most smokers are rude, ignorant people who think the world is their personal ashtray. I'm glad to see you're not one of these. I'm glad you respect others' rights to breathe smoke-free and I think, like you said, non-smokers should respect your right to breathe in horrible smelling, carcinogen-laden cigarette smoke. I think that if you don't smoke near me then you're smoking habit is none of my business and is not a valid thing to judge you by. It's just that most smokers are not like this. Most smokers illegally toss their butts anywhere they damn well please and smoke anywhere the law permits regardless of the presence of children and non-smokers. I'm glad to see people like you actually exist. Your personal choices are nobody's business unless primary or reasonably likely secondary harm is caused to other people by that choice. Thanks for your respect of us non-smokers who hate smoke and I'll try to remember not to judge people because they smoker.
I agree with every sentiment you just expressed. The only thing I would say differently is that MANY smokers are rude...etc, simply because I do not have any kind of study to back up my claim that it is a majority. Or perhaps I would preface the statement with, "In MY experience, most smokers are..." I'm alos not sure about your claim that they are ignorant. I think they know it's bad for them (how could you not?), they know it's rude to throw butts all over the ground, etc. Those who do it just don't give a shit. That's different than ignorance.
May I give a giant AMEN to your comment about the butts on the ground, btw? That is my pet peeve. I have seen friends of mine do it, and I bitch at them until they bend over and pick up their nastiness. The people above me in my building smoke. They flick their butts off the balcony, so when I look out my window, I see an arc of solid cigarette butts on the lawn and sidewalk. It doesn't bother them, as they are far off the ground. The ground floor people get to look at it every day, though. It's disgusting, especially after the sprinklers go off and soggify them. I used to pick them up, but I was spending an hour of every weekend cleaning up somebody else's nastiness, and despite several requests, they refused to quit doing it. Also, that's a good way to catch hepatitis, so I quit. It makes me SO MAD!
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
LOL I like the word soggify. It sounds like something G.W. Bush would say! In all seriousness, I agree with your first point that since there is no study to prove that the majority of smokers are rude, it could be phrased differently. I considered that maybe there are more polite smokers than I previously though but I still think most are rude. I realized while writing my last post that some polite people I run into may be smokers but, since their polite and respectful of others' rights, I don't see them smoking in public..
Regarding the littering, I am disappointed that almost all cops overlook smokers throwing their butts wherever they please. Many smokers are so ignorant that they don't even know they are illegally littering. Most cops never do anything about it either. They should be pulling people over who throw their butt out of the car window and citing them for it. They should do the same whenever they catch somebody littering their cigarettes. I watch the shows Cops and Speeders sometimes and only once have I seen a policeman address the littering of cigarette butts. It was in Speeders and the cop had pulled over a car full of unintelligent girls (probably about my age or a few years older) for speeding and, right in front of the cop, one girl throws her cigarette out the window! She is baffled when the cop explains that she just committed a crime that could get her a ticket. He gave her a break by letting her choose to pick up the cigarette or get a ticket. Of course she picked it up.
I once confronted some guy (about fifty years old I guess) at a restaurant and entertainment fair at the Jerseys Shore for littering. I was pissed because he smoked where many other people, including children, would breathe his crap in so I followed him to confront him once he flicked his cigarette irregardless of the fact that there were an abundance of trash cans. I told him that he had just committed a crime and he is obligated to pick the butt up and properly dispose of it. He turned around and made a shooing motion and continued walking. I was outraged even though didn't think I'd be successful. There were trashcans with literally ten or fifteen feet of where he tossed his butt on the ground. I thought he deserved to be publicly flogged. But that's something the Taliban would do and in the end I decided that he should be required to spend thirty hours doing nothing other than picking up littered cigarette butts lin various places. I think that is a good punishment for people like him even though I felt like punching him at the time!
It's simple, me eating a heart attack in a bag only harms me, you lighting up harms you and everyone else in the area, regardless of how considerate you are (especially indoors).
As for the reckless driving thing, the lay definition is very subjective. To one person, driving 5 miles over the speed limit is "reckless," whereas to another, doing 95 on open highway (speed limit 65) is perfectly fine in fair conditions. On the same token, where the person is driving 90mph also affects the perception of "reckless." Open, straight highway outside of cities in sparse traffic and good visibility? Not really reckless as long as you know how to drive and don't freak out at that speed. Doing the same thing in the city, or even on a regular street? Hell no. There are too many people around to really go that speed, even on a city stretch of the highway.
I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I tend to judge people based on their affect on the well-being of others. (In other words, I'd judge a person who gets drunk and beats his/her spouse and kids in the same manner as I'd judge someone who smokes around their kids, but not in the same manner as someone who enjoys a casual drink now and again but doesn't get drunk, or who smokes outside and away from high-traffic areas.)
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
The reason why people judge those that smoke is because you arent just trying to give yourself cancer or problems with your health you are also doing it to those around you. I consider my self as one that eats to much and is bigger but im not harming you in any way when I go ahead and eat that food am I. But when i walk through my campus and about 1 in every 3 smoke you get second hand smoke which is disgusting. And trust me if you think your the only one that gets judged or the only type of people that get judged your wrong. Those that do reckelessly drive to get judged, obese to get judged, and also those that have things different or wrong about them get judged so dont think its just you . And beacuse of what you do people are getting lung cancer or other diseases that are life threating. thats why there are so many WARNINGS!!!