LA Times: Non-smokers "have the right not to be sickened by the choices of others"

[OwnedByCats]

84. I smoked for a few years when I was having a rough patch in life,

even though prior I couldn't handle the smell, eventually I quit. Since I knew what it was like to be stuck around smokers as a child, I always went away from other people unless they were smokers too. Sometimes non smokers would approach, but they were types who really weren't bothered if I was smoking, even after I would tell them they shouldn't stand near me. They didn't care, for whatever reason. However it really bothered me if a non smoker came to me, while I visibly had a cigarette to lecture me about how much it bothered them. Concern for my health is one thing, but to bitch about their discomfort when they shouldn't even be around is another. I went out of my way to not impose it on them. I also would never smoke in a non smokers home or car, and never around children or animals.

One time I bought cigs at a store where the person was munching on some Oreos and he was shall I say, chubby. He was probably just old enough to sell them to me, 18 or 19. He said "those are really bad for you, you know". I said "if you continue to eat those Oreos, and whatever other junk you eat, you could die from an obesity related illness, and there are many". "Point taken" he said. I normally don't say things like that to people but only a moron doesn't know smoking is bad. It's the addiction that is not understood and people who have never gone through it simply do not know how hard it can be.

At the end of the day, smokers should be more considerate and some are. Too many are not I think. However non smokers should also respect the decisions of those who are considerate enough to do it in their own space and not around others.