Ironic post, seeing as its a Year to the day since the ban came in.
Thoughts? How many of you are smokers? I know CyNic and CatFang aren't. Now that BatManny isn't, am I the only one?
What are your thoughts? Do you prefer the pubs now? Would you still rather have it this way? Or are you glad its gone for good? _________________ Let There Be Lightning
Thoughts? How many of you are smokers? I know CyNic and CatFang aren't. Now that BatManny isn't, am I the only one?
Oh, dear boy, you misunderstand, i am still a smoker.... it just been a while since i had my last one
the only reason i stopped by the way (and i didn't want too, believe me) was a wake up call, a good friend of mines father had contracted Lung Cancer, he was 58, it was unsure that the cancer was contracted though years of breathing acid rain, or being exposed to leaded petrol fumes, eating crisps, or drinking radioactive beer.... but the Man was a smoker, so it was contributed to this.
so i thought, shit just in case, and also to prove a point, you dont have to spoil other peoples enjoyment just because you dont like it.
and dont even get me started on passive (exhaust, diesel, petrol, atomic, oil fumes) smoking.
because i just dont believe it, at the end of the day, you have a choice, LEAVE THE FUCKING ROOM.
oh and get a gas mask for when your out of the house, like on the streets,
and careful what you eat, DONT INHALE IT, chew it.
even then you might not be safe.
I may take up smoking, just so i can blow un-inhaled smoke into peoples faces in the street
i could become the serial (smoker) killer.... Bwa-ha-ha-ha.
So remember Rascal, you are not alone, dont be ashamed, and if you want to spark up in my company, hell, i will even give you a light.
Fuck-um _________________
what? sorry, i was to busy intentionally blowing smoke in children's faces, i got the idea off a warning on a packet.
Good man, keep up the good work
CatFang:
Quote:
I think children should be banned from the streets as well - that would keep them safe.
Hang on, ban Children from the streets for their safety???
Shit they need to be banned for OUR safety
Catfang:
Quote:
I'm glad you have to take your smoky selves outside...glad I tell you!
Live and let live i say, but an interesting article which i read in the local paper which addresses the RIPA laws being abused by local councils also touched on the abolition of the sale of Alcohol.
Well not the total abolition as anyone with half a brain would realise that this would open the floodgates to the black market.
the abolition of alcohol was to be confined to public places, yes you can buy the stuff, much as you can buy Tabacoo.
you just wont be able to consume in in public.
this idea has been heavily supported by all the supermarket chains, the national health system, the law enforcement agencies and local councils which have to all intents already worked out a fine system for said offence.
the idea is that yes you can consume as much alcohol as you like, but not in public, the second you step onto the street you are committing an offence punishable by law.
Nah, i hear you say, fuck off your making it up i hear from the corner, well one thing is for absolute sure.
Well, I'll weigh in again. After all, if I'm going to argue with Bats on every other thread in the forum ( ), we may as well do it here too (you should see us in person - Bats stands behind a barbed wire fence while I throw small grenades his way using my anal fart launcher. Bats usually retaliates by throwing new issues of Brand New Day Spider-Man my way. No other bugger will buy them - he know it's my weakness...).
Now where the fuck was I before I started ranting like a dribbling idiot...? Oh, yeah, smoking...
Can't stand it. Hate it. Absolutely hate it. I think it's been enough time since my Mum died last year for me to actually come out and offer my true opinion and why.
Both my parents used to be smokers. Dad quit during the late 80's although I do think he was enjoying a crafty cigarette in later years when times were particularly hard. Mum, however, would very rarely be seen without a cigarette; she was, well, obsessed with them, for lack of a better term.
Now, before I continue, Mum had her problems. She suffered a very troubled childhood, was beaten by her mother, was bullied at school (and later became the bully) and later forced into a loveless marriage where she was later raped. All of this sent her into a spiral of drug dependency (not illegal, mind you). She became addicted to anti-depressants and another drug in particular named Diazepam. She spent nearly 40 years taking these drugs before her untimely death last year.
This doesn't mean to say her life was an unhappy one. Afterwards, her life got better; much better - she met Dad after all. She remained drug dependent but lived her life in the same way we all do today.
Her decline began a few years before Dad died as she became increasingly agoraphobic. After he died, her decline quickened dramatically, even more so after I met Ann and discovered a life of my own. But that's a story for another time and one I really don't want to get into here. Let's just say that, from January 2004 onward, I had a very rough time, one I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. How I've not lost my mind during that time is beyond me. Maybe it's because I had Ann - I like to think so at least.
One thing she was always obsessed with was smoking. Even when we were ridiculously poor and struggling to pay our debts, she would send Dad out to get her cigarettes without actually doing anything herself to help out. She would line up her empty cigarette packets on the coffee table in front of her and think nothing of smoking her dog-ends when required - even if she had the cigarettes to smoke. Not that I knew too much about that then.
After Dad died, her obsession became so much that she would watch people light up on the TV and imagine herself smoking with them. She would smoke cigarette after cigarette after cigarette. After she ran out, she would smoke the dog-ends after washing them out and drrying them in front of the heater. She would even scour the field by our house for dog-ends and even paid the local kids to buy her cigarettes from the local shop (she was banned).
Yes, Mum was mentally ill and in decline before she died; however, her obsession never sated. It only ever got worse and, yes, I do believe smoking contributed rather heavily to her decline. I witnessed her decline with my own eyes and while it would be all too easy to label it as the main cause (it may not have been; not sure), it did do something to her. She at times felt like a different person when she smoked.
In turn, I was bullied at school. I would be taunted by the other kids for smelling like tobacco - on a daily basis too. And that's just it, I did smell of cigarette smoke. I reeked of it. I hated the smell and myself too. I remember the times I opened the front door and actually saw the cigarette smoke waft out of the house in great billowing clouds.
So, I despise smoking. I really do. No one need ask what my thoughts on the smoking ban are.
I remember Bats commented in an earlier post (last year) that no one suffered psychologically from smoking - I wonder if Mum did. Who knows? I don't know myself but I do think it definitely had an impact.
Oddly enough, Mum died of a disease that originated in her liver, one usually associated with alcoholics (she didn't drink). I always thought it would be lung cancer. And yes, she had her problems; a lot of them too and not all associated with smoking. I will be the first to admit that.
However, after reading this thread last year, and seeing its recent return, I felt it right now that I weigh in properly. In one sense, it's quite a relief to be able to talk about Mum so openly on an internet forum; in another, I think it's the right time now for me to mention it here. I do feel it important though to offer another slant on the debate, particularly in light of some of the 'I love to smoke' angled comments I've seen here.
Don't mistake this as I have an issue against smokers. That's simply not true; one of my very trusted friends is a smoker and has been for over two decades.
Anyway. Wow. Relief. Hands up everyone who thought this would be a rant against Bats? ... That many, eh...? Nah, there was one time where we agreed our friendship is the 616 universe, the forum is the 615... that barbed wire thought is a million miles away from reality. Although I now know I can fart with freedom in his shop...
Hmm
a heart felt post, and one i am not going to rebuke in anyway.
My father died of Cancer, and after giving up smoking at my mothers request when he was much much younger,
He started again when diagnosed, after all, what what it going to do,
Kill Him?
He Died at 49
Interesting that you mention the disease that originated in her liver.
This was probably due to excessive drug intake, which damages the liver in much the same way that alcohol does.
I resurrected this post just to mention that i had stopped smoking, none of the self righteous council employee, traffic warden, park attendants, jobsworths will ever be able to say that i don't put my money where my mouth is.
But i wonder, how many of said traffic warden, park attendants and jobsworths are prepared to put their money where there mouth is, and give up drinking Alcohol?
Personally i find it more offensive to smell Alcohol on someones breath during the day, than i do Tobacco.
At least the smoker isn't likely to bottle me because he has had one to many.
A lot of people have had troubled upbringing, some more than others, those few amongst you who haven't are blessed, but are few and far between.
Thanks for sharing these very personal memories with us, and you are one of the few people i would actually leave the room to smoke for, but then i don't need to at the moment
one day i will tell you how i would be locked in the shed when my mother wanted to go out, and my dad was at work. and how i was cured of bed wetting by being sat on the electric cooker, (yes it was lit) then again, maybe i wont.
Mind you i was never bullied at school, and neither did i bully. i had enough of that at home, thank you very much.
Now the question is, do i submit this or not? well i am amongst friends.
so for better or worse, here it is. _________________
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