Why are some non-smokers such ignorant intolerant bastards?
I don’t think I have ever read any vitriolic anger from smokers directed at non-smokers, yet I have seen many expressions of sheer hatred directed at smokers.
Smokers tend to focus their anger on organisations such as ASH, or governments who are taken in by the anti-smoking propaganda. Even then, I don’t think I have ever read anyone wishing harm on an individual within those organisations.
Non-smokers however seem to delight in venting their spleen at smokers. Read just about any forum and you will see messages from non-smokers ranging from delight at the site of smokers being forced out in the rain, to actually wishing death on smokers.
“I hate smokers and
I’m sure all other non-smokers hate them, too. They’re blowing money
and years off their life on stupid, dried-up leaves of poison. And then
they have the nerve of blowing it in the faces of non-smokers and acting
like they’re superior than them. I’ve hated smokers for many years and I
am almost positive that one day, I will successfully kill someone who
smokes. I encourage any non-smokers who are reading this to go out and
kick the shit out of smokers.”
I found the above without any trouble at all. In fact, I did a simple search in Google -
“I hate smokers” returned 313,000 results.
“I hate non-smokers” returned just 8,090.
What is it about non-smokers that reduces them to such base levels of intolerance?
As you are probably aware, I am a pipe-smoker, and have been for the last forty years. I quit smoking once, and stayed off for a couple of years. It didn’t bother me that much. I missed the pipe, as would one miss any pleasurable experience. I returned to smoking because others said it made them uncomfortable to see me without a pipe in my gob.
One thing I did discover during those years of abstinence though was that my tolerance level dropped dramatically. This was most noticeable whilst driving. I became extremely intolerant of other drivers, and that was another of the reasons I returned to the pipe. Once I did return, my tolerance level soared once more, and quite honestly I became a much better driver again.
Could it therefore be that it’s the act of smoking itself that makes us more tolerant? I have heard more times than I could possibly count that even the sight of a pipe-smoker is relaxing. I have also heard too many times that one of the downsides of quitting cigarettes is the resulting short temper. Could it be that the short temper is not the result of quitting the cigarettes, as most people suppose, but is in fact the person reverting to their latent non-smoking self?
The world these days if full of useless “studies”. They set out to prove some preconceived notion and naturally prove what they set out to prove. I would dearly love to see a simple study done though – to compare anger levels in smokers and non-smokers. For once, it would be a simple experiment; to take two samples and to measure their adrenalin levels under laboratory conditions. Simple and incontrovertible. No room whatsoever for cooking the figures.
The more I study the subject, the more surprised I become at the hidden benefits of tobacco.
Could this be a major benefit that is being overlooked?
I agree. Just look at the violence levels of youths these days. There’s so many more fights nowdays than in the past, where you’d just go and have a ciggi if someone was annoying you.
Agreed. It is only a gut feeling borne out of personal experience, but smokers are generally calmer/more laid back.
I would probably exclude many heavy smokers from this appraisal – their habit is probably driven more by naturally inbuilt personality traits rather than cravings for nicotine. In other words, their make up provides the motivation for substance abuse, which most people do not succumb to (be it tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs). I think this could explain why the most vehement antis comprise large numbers of former heavy smokers. It’s a lack of empathy (rooted in selfishness) that some might describe as psychopathic.
Hi,
Do you have a link for the comment above?. Dick Puddlecote is putting together on his blog a little list of “the most vile comments from anti-smokers” which he hopes might be useful to send to anti-smoking MP’s so they can see what kind of people their social engineering project is giving a free rein to. He’s looking for the really nasty ones, rather than the common-or-garden “stinky, smelly smokers” type, so this one really qualifies. I’ve tried the Google search which you mentioned, but this one hasn’t shown anywhere – maybe it’s been removed, because it’s a bit excessive, even for the usual anti-smoking sites. But if you’ve still got a link I think it’ll be a great candidate for the No 1 “mindless thuggery” position on the list. Can’t be posted without a link, unfortunately.
Sorry David, by “the comment above” I meant, of course, the “quote” above – not your comment above mine!!
A few new faces? Yiz are all welcome.
Jax – Now you are really trying me! That was a quote that was picked at random from a Google search. I had to go back and recreate the search, but I found it. It really isn’t that hard to find the most incredibly poisonous comments. If they were directed at any other group in society there would be a public outcry!
Most pubs have an insufferable know-it-all and my local was no different. After years in the public service (arf, arf), he took the lump sum and went back to do a three month course on computers. At that time, I’d spent 25 years in the IT industry, all aspects of it, and I ate drank and stank the subject. Anyway, up he comes to me at the bar one day and tells me I should seriously consider a course in computers as they were ‘the coming thing’. Having been raised on a diet of good manners, I gently informed him that I knew quite a bit about them and suddenly, Dr Jeckl turned into Mr Hyde. Maintaining the frozen smile, glassy stare and good manners, I had to listen to a tirade from this chancer and finally promised that I would consider his idea.
Months later, the stupid ban comes in and I’m outside the pub having a smoke, when along comes know-it-all. “Ha ha ha”, he starts. “Yer outside where ya deserve to be. I look forward to seeing you out here, especially when the winter comes in”. And off he slithered into the pub.
But, I have a theory Grandad. I know many people who are anti-smoking, but in a mannerly and passive way. I have no objection to someone asking me not to smoke in their home etc. But then, there are the anti-smokers. There is actually a medical name for this phobia (which I have on file somewhere), and for these people, the sight of someone enjoying a cigarette drives them into a rage. They are a small minority with a disproportionate influence, especially on policy.
[...] And, just to show you how tolerant anti-smokers are of the obese, here’s a pictorial from the Non Smokers’ Movement of Australia — ‘Fat Smokers’ (H/T: Tea and Cigarettes). The type of person who likes that post probably also writes vile bile like this, spotted on Just Rage (I’ve cleaned up the language for you; H/T to Smoking out the Truth): [...]
I am intolerant of smoke because it genuinely makes me ill even in small amounts! I am the same with bonfire smoke (actually I am ill now because of bonfire smoke yesterday and for once not cig smoke and I am hating on whoever made me ill regardless of if they were a smoker or not as they were completely selfish inflicting all that smoke on ppl who had to walk down that road) so it is NOT about hating smokers, it is about me having a genuine need to avoid it or else be completely debilitated with chest problems and bad sore throat like bad cold or even flu for several days, so before you judge us who hate tobacco smoke you need to know how severely some ppl get affected by it. Not that the majority of non-smokers react as badly as I do but in fact highly smoke sensitive ppl DO exist all over the place, and all we ask is some consideration! I would say I know a few others who are like me although we’re relatively rare. I could not set foot in a pub before the ban.
Welcome, Lesley.
I am a pipe smoker while my wife smokes cigarettes. This may sound strange but occasionally, (when the wind is in the wrong direction?!) I find the smell of cigarette smoke somewhat overpowering and not very pleasant. I also have a personal intolerance to some artificial perfumes and scents to the point where my eyes stream and I find breathing unpleasant. I can therefore more than empathise with your plight.
In my experience [smoking for the last forty years or more] smokers in the main are very conscientious people and would not dream of “inflicting” their smoke on anyone else. However, smokers have taken rather a bad hammering over the past few years, and I think there is a growing element of “you threw us out of our pubs and cafes, so too bad if we annoy you”. I don’t personally subscribe to that but I think it is quite understandable.
I honestly think that if we could throw out the Righteous Health Freaks and the politicians, us ordinary people could come to a very happy accommodation of each others opinions?