Why I want you to sign the no smoking petition
October 06, 2009
There's an e-petition on Wellington city council website, to ban smoking on the golden mile. Lambton Quay, Willis Street, Manners Street/Manners Mall and Courtenay Place.
This will create a corridor from railway station to mount vic where you don't need to be breathing in second hand smoke - while leaving many alternate routes for smokers.
I have asthma. I cannot walk behind a smoker for more than a moment. If I do my airway closes, and someone better call an ambulance quickly. It's not fun.
If there's a smoker, I try to overtake as quickly as possible. Right now i'm 7 months pregnant so cannot over take anyone. So, if I'm walking with a smoker near by, I have to stop, and wait for the smoker to meander ahead, and then watch carefully that I don't catch up to their killer stench. -- and then hope there isn't another smoker just behind me.
Likewise, when i'm at the bus stop, I shouldn't have to stand out in the rain while smokers puff away under the shelter. Every bus stop on the golden mile being smoke free is a great start.
People are welcome to smoke - do whatever you want to yourself - just don't do it in places i need to be in ways that mean I'm breathing it too. I need to walk down the street in Wellington. I ought to be able to do this without their choice to smoke meaning I have to actively avoid them. They can smoke on the next block.
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Definitely agree - I'm also
Definitely agree - I'm also asthmatic and have a habit of holding my breath when walking near smokers, try to overtake. I don't think smokers tend to realise how strong even the slightest trace smells to non-smokers. Feel free to kill yourself but don't choke us too.
I'm a smoker and I'm in favor
I'm a smoker and I'm in favor of this idea but maybe it would come across a bit better if there was less of the "You can kill yourself if you want to" and "I'm an asthmatic who's fatally allergic to cigarette smoke" blather, and more of the reality that it actually makes a lot of sense to ban smoking on such a constantly congested street for everyones benefit purely because it's actually just nice.
I'm totally sympathetic to asthmatics and pregnant women and I was actually quite into this post until you guys brought up the blame game.
It makes it easier sometimes to get your point across when you spend more time on the issue and less time on trying to make smokers feel like the scum of the earth.
Personal bias can really tend to cloud what is otherwise a very good idea.
And insults aren't the best way to help people see your point of view, eg. "killer stench"
Because of course, in any forum, regardless of the issues, it difficult to tolerate being hated.
It's not that all smokers are totally oblivious to other people but there are a multitude of ways that we as a whole tend to forget about each others rights. Often it's the small things we forget that had the biggest impact on people.
I personally (even though I probably have almost no sense of smell by now) find strong perfume to be particularly nauseating, I also find it scary in wellington when I'm crossing the street and cars don't seem to notice or care that I exist, even though I tend to only cross at crossings.
Anyway, just to clarify, some of us smokers have very definite scruples.
I for instance never smoke inside, regardless of the circumstance i just think it's gross.
In a group of non-smokers outside, I always walk away to have a cigarette.
I always wash my hands afterwards because *shock* I don't like the smell.
Yet, I'm grateful for reading this post because I may in fact never smoke while walking down that road again.
Not because I feel guilty or hated or want to hide under a bridge, not because my habit makes me a social outcast that's only a few petitions away from being burned at the stake.
But actually just because I never really considered before how rude it is to smoke while walking down a busy street.
I might just take the long way round next time.
Failing that, I'll find a bridge to crawl under :)
If you don't do any of those
If you don't do any of those things -- then why are you feeling guilty?
Actually, if you glance at it
Actually, if you glance at it again you'll see it's *not* because I feel guilty.
I don't do anything out of guilt, only my own sense of right and wrong.
Which was my point.
Also, "I cannot walk behind a smoker for more than a moment. If I do my airway closes, and someone better call an ambulance quickly"
I must suggest that this sounds like an incredible reaction to have to cigarette smoke to the exclusion of other airborne pollutants, especially in a busy city center.
Perhaps common sense would dictate that until the ban is in effect you should walk the next block over considering as you say you are also heavily pregnant.
To have to stop every time you find yourself behind a smoker must weight heavily on your schedule.
It sounds less like asthma and more like emphysema.
About the bus stop problem, can I suggest that this is more to do with rudeness than smokers?
My point was that not all smokers are alike and personally, if I were at a bus stop and I saw a pregnant woman approaching in the rain, I would of course extinguish my cigarette and step aside (even if I wasn't smoking).
It's just the way some of us were brought up.
To allow a pregnant woman to stand in the rain is as appalling as not offering a pregnant woman your seat on the bus. Not many people outside of teenagers have the cheek to do it.
Thats not because I feel guilty, or shamed.
It's because I'm not heartless.
But or course, it's the rest of the Wellington population I cant speak for.
It's actually a matter of logic that after smoking has been banned in so many areas that you should find so many smokers driven to the street and outside cafes.
Where was everyone expecting them to smoke?
I apologize for possibly being confrontational but I think you miss the point when you say "People are welcome to smoke" because it seems what you actually mean is "People are welcome to smoke within the confines of their own house and absolutely nowhere else"
Are you afraid to say that smoking *itself* should be banned? Because after the cafes, pubs, buildings, parks and streets, logically the only place left for smokers is either underground or the moon.
Should I have the right to force a nightclub to permanently turn the music down because it hurts my ears? Or should I find another nightclub?
Should I have the right to enforce my opinions about junk food upon people telling them that it's toxic and that they are killing themselves and their children? Or should I just look after my own health?
There was an interesting case at a university a few years ago when they invoked a blanket ban over the whole campus except for a couple of (inconvenient) designated smoking areas.
At the same time, they also removed all of the cigarette bins as a "deterrent" to smokers.
Obviously they didn't realize that *nothing* is a deterrent to smokers, people tend to enjoy the ability to exercise their rights (be it for good reasons or bad). Months later it was suddenly a conspiracy that the storm drains were full of cigarette butts.
Well, go figure. One plus one really does equal two.
It never occurred to them that not only are smokers quite determined, cigarettes are also quite difficult to dispose of without the eventual use of a rubbish bin.
Then it transpired that the concentrated smoke from the designated smoking areas was drifting into the air conditioning vents and windows of nearby buildings.
There are many things that smokers can do but influencing the laws of physics is not one of them.
People will always have their reasons for smoking, just as drunk people will have their reasons for sitting behind the wheel of a car and parents will have their reasons for feeding their children junk food.
Apologies for taking up so much space but as you can see, I like defending my rights too. Some of us are just better at keeping our toxins to ourselves.
As much as I understand you
As much as I understand you have a difficult health condition and you are very sensitive at smokers, I think you have a rather radical attitude against smoking. I am not necessarily supporting smoking in public areas but as long as the smokers are given smoking shelters then I think everyone should be ok.
great initiative....everyone
great initiative....everyone should sign it...Smoke free for life
I couldn't agree with you
I couldn't agree with you more. I hate smoking just as much as you do. I remember some years ago there was a person at the next table to me in a restaurant who has to take out their inhaler as soon as someone started smoking. I felt really bad for them.
My grandchildren are also now very anti-smoking and when they see someone smoking they say "granddad, can we cross the road now?" I hope to god that they never take up such a horrible habit.
Senior
Wow Smoker, you write at
Wow Smoker, you write at great length attempting to put a case for your hobby/pastime/addiction being allowed to continue in public places. For part of your justification to include an implication that unless special receptacles are provided for your waste product, then it is natural to accept you may block drains with your effluent. A philosophy of taking the unconsumed material home with you to dispose of carefully seems to never occur to smokers.
Surely smoking in public places is little different to spitting, urinating or defecating. Some of these activities are banned by law now, banning others is being considered. All of these were acceptable in past historical times, but as society developed they have been deemed unacceptable. It is fairly obvious to most that smoking will join this list at some time, but we are just not sure when.
You find statements by people against smoking as insulting, then proceed to defend your activity by listing the consideration you give to others. From my experience of a fairly high number of years, I am sure you are in a small minority among your practitioners.
The fact you are suffering from an addiction, sponsored by multi-national wealthy corporations who target the young, means the most appropriate response may be pity, however as there are publically funded facilities available to assist you off that dependence, the sympathy cannot be expected to continue for ever.
At no point did I say that
At no point did I say that smoking should be allowed to continue in public places.
Neither did I say that blocking drains with cigarettes was in any way fair play.
Just a question of logic.
I have never found a dislike of smoking to be insulting.
What you and others need to do is learn how to read a post all the way through before unloading your need for a bandwagon upon the world.
One would think that considering your "experience of a fairly high number of years" this wouldn't be a problem for you.
For the third time, for the benefit of the slower readers.
My beef is NOT with anti smoking, I DO think smoking is a bad thing.
My beef IS with people who think the only way to make a change in the world is by shouting the loudest.
I DISAGREE with people who think the only way to HELP smokers not to smoke is by INCITING HATRED.
There, Alan W. I even capitalized the important bits just for you.
I totally agree with banning
I totally agree with banning smoking in bus shelters. I and my neighbours sometimes arrive at our stop to find a young woman already puffing away inside the shelter which means we have to stand outside to try and avoid inhaling the smoke. Unfortunately our shelter has perforated metal walls so of course the smoke drifts outside as well! Surely a bus shelter is classed as a building?
Take another look at the
Take another look at the "news" item...with the interviewees comments of "...wanting to make the environment safer..." when there are cars,buses and delivery trucks belching toxic fumes of an infinitely more toxic nature behind her throughout the whole interview. Perhaps she should start beating her chest and start another petition to the council or government to stop "all" vehicle traffic, everywhere. But no, we couldn't do that as it would ENCOACH ON SOMEONE ELSES PERSONAL CHOICE, !!!
Hey Shiny, you are doing more harm to yourself and unborn child by walking along and breathing the vehicle fumes than from a passing smoker.
oh noes!! you found something
oh noes!! you found something else bad in this world! are really using that as a reason to not deal with the smoke problem?
Yes. Yes he is. Because I
Yes. Yes he is.
Because I think you'll find it works both ways.
Don't start an argument you cant finish Brenda.
Sitting in a bus shelter and smoking away while ignoring other people has less to do with being a smoker and everything to do with being a wanker.
We dont all blow smoke in peoples faces.
Smoking has a long and varied history and people smoke for any number of reasons.
You know what, purely because I can, I'm going to call you a hate monger.
Because I don't think you hate smokers, I think you just hate.
It's irrational people like you that spoil freedom rights for the rest of us by making those that care about rights look like a bunch of uneducated hippies.
*Oh noes!! Smokers actually stand up for themselves*
At what stage did I write,say
At what stage did I write,say or infer that I had a smoke problem to deal with ??? I have no problem with smoking as I enjoy smoking. I earn more than enough money to be able to afford to smoke just as you seem to be able to afford all those lemons that you "suck" which make you so bitter !!!
Perhaps if you stopped buying so many lemons you could afford a car and not have to use bus stops or walk amoungst the "unclean" that inhabit our country's capital city.
You may consider this as a personal attack on you , thats good as I consider your I, I, I, me, me, me rhetoric as a personal attack on myself and all other smokers whom are exercising their freedom of choice.
you've misunderstood - the
you've misunderstood - the smoke problem refers to people smoking in the street in wellington -- not your personal choice to do it where it doesn't affect others.
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