Quote of the Day; reflections on tobacco and smoking

[edenfalling]

The world is a story we tell ourselves about the world.
---Vikram Chandra

This is very true!

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In real life news, I apparently forgot to inventory and order instant lottery tickets on Sunday evening. Fortunately, we don't seem to be in imminent danger of running out of anything, and PM did an order today that should arrive tomorrow or Friday.

Also, apparently taxes are going up on tobacco -- or at least on cigarettes -- and we need to reduce our in-store stocks by June 2, because we will pay a floor tax on whatever we have in stock on that day. I personally think smoking is a deeply stupid thing to do, and am very grateful for non-smoking areas, but I do wonder if our society may be going a bit over the deep end in demonizing both tobacco and smokers.

I remember when I was very young, most restaurants were still either entirely smoking-friendly, or had their floors split into roughly equally sized smoking and non-smoking sections. And, you know, I wouldn't mind if we still had smoking sections in most restaurants and bars -- yes, there's some inevitable drift, but some decorative barriers and some fans can reduce that to a minimum, and it does seem awfully mean to make people go outside to smoke, even when the weather is absolutely horrid.

...

I am not sure how much my opinions are influenced by working in a tobacco shop. I'm sure it has some effect -- before I got this job, I'd never really thought about the economics of tobacco as it relates to small local stores, nor realized how taxes can be so vicious to local businesses that depend on tobacco products to support their other ventures -- but I have also always been of the opinion that if people are going to be bloody stupid, that's really not my problem unless they're actively harming other people. And I rather doubt that secondhand smoke is going to kill you any faster than car exhaust, unless you're trapped in unventilated rooms with a smoker for years and years and years.

In fact, I'd bet on the car exhaust killing you first. :-)

Comments

[rurounitriv.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. Yeah, it sucks that people have to go out of their way to poison themselves, but you know what? I have two nieces with asthma, and just walking past the smoking section in restaurants back when they had them was enough to trigger an attack. I've got a brother who is so sensitive to the odor that in Texas, where there is no state-wide law against smoking in restaurants, he can't go to certain restaurants because it triggers allergy attacks... even across the building.

[edenfalling]

Fair enough. :-)

A question, though, for comparison purposes: are they also unable to walk beside busy streets? Because I am affected by heavy cigarette smoke (in combination with loud noise and bright lights) to the point of getting blinding headaches and having to go outside -- which is why I never went to beerhalls when I was in Germany -- but I get equally nasty headaches on bright sunny days while walking on streets with heavy traffic and high buildings that trap the car exhaust. I'm pretty sure it's the same phenomenon, just with a different specific pollutant trigger.

So are your relatives sensitive to all airborne stuff (like heavy perfume -- I get headaches and sneeze attacks from some of our female customers), or is it just tobacco smoke? (And also, is it only cigarettes? Because cigar smoke is different -- nastier, in my opinion -- and pipe smoke different yet again. I actually like the smell of pipe smoke; it's closest to wood smoke, which is a comfort smell for me.)

[rurounitriv.livejournal.com]

Heavy perfume does annoy my brother, but he's not actually allergic to that. He is to tobacco smoke - and that's all tobacco, not just cigarettes. Cigarettes are simply the most common carrier for that allergen, and I don't blame him a bit for wanting to be able to eat a meal without choking and wheezing the rest of the night/day.

You do have a point on the pollution, I'm not sure how badly the nieces are affected, but I know they have problems when the pollution is particularly heavy. (One more reason for me to cheer the thought of more hybrids and fewer Hummers.) But it doesn't affect my brother any more than it affects anyone else with a sense of smell, and certainly not as badly as tobacco.