Let's create a stink.
I started a bit of a stink yesterday.
I posted about my old hobby horse – smoking.
Before I start I want to make one thing plain – I AM NOT ADVOCATING SMOKING. People seem to think I am launching some sort of campaign to get everyone lighting up. I’m not. Don’t be stupid.
But the whole thing got me thinking about the subject of passive smoking, and more generally on how we inflict ourselves on others.
I am really going to get it in the neck here, but I don’t think passive smoking is anything like the threat that people make it out to be. It is merely a politically correct bandwaggon that was launched in the US [where else!] that the non-smokers could latch on to.
The Surgeon General of the United States stated [and I quote] “Sustained exposure to second-hand smoke was equivalent to smoking about two cigarettes a day”. Fine. But the key word here is “sustained”. So, if I live with a partner who smokes 40 a day, then I smoke 2. That seems reasonable. But if I only share a room with them for a couple of hours [say, in a pub] then simple maths shows that I would inhale the equivalent of 0.17 of a cigarette. Wow! So if I go to the pub seven nights a week, I smoke just over one cigarette. I think, somehow that the alcohol will do more damage than that!
So the anti-smoking lobby are latching onto this and it has become politically correct [and a vote catcher] to talk about passive smoking.
What about passive inhaling of exhaust fumes? This is a subject that doesn’t hit the headlines very often, yet is probably a far greater killer. Incidents of asthma have soared in our cities. All they have done to date is to ban lead in petrol. But there is no great move to ban cars…. Smokers are a much easier target!!
I suffer from an allergy. I am allergic to artificial scents. Those air-fresheners drive me mad. I cannot tolerate perfume or aftershave. I get headaches, running eyes and all the symptoms of sinusitis. It is extremely unpleasant. I would prefer to stand in a field of slurry than share a lift with a beautiful woman who is wearing perfume.
I think it is only fair that people with perfume and aftershave be banned from pubs. They are inflicting their foul habits on me and are affecting my health. They are the scum of the earth. They should be vilified for what they are – selfish ignorant people who are affecting the health of others with their foul habits. The sale of air-fresheners should be banned for the sake of public health. Likewise perfume and aftershave. I have my rights as an individual, and I demand that those rights be respected.
Never mind smoke and perfume what about the Guinness farts, that now pervade the pubs, particularly at rugby matches when the visiting supporters aren’t used to the pint of smelling plain.
I think this maybe why women wear perfume.
well, of course, the laws in the U.S. are meant to protect the people who work in the pubs, not necessarily those who visit for an hour or two.
if you’re working an 8 or 9 or 10 hour shift five days a week in a smoky pub, i’d say that’s definitely sustained exposure.
and please, please, no one say “well, they don’t have to work there.” often, they do. people who are low-income, low-skilled, or students looking for night work while they’re in school–they don’t have a lot of options.
restaurant work is often their only option.
it’s very easy to scorn these concerns as “politically correct nonsense.” i’ll agree that political correctness has gone way overboard in many ways, and that makes it an easy label to tack onto anything that one doesn’t like.
but think about the real reasons behind a ban like this. you can still disagree. but argumentum ad hominem is no argument at all.
@Flirty – Did you ever try sneaking up behind a visiting supporter and lighting a match?
😉
@Laurie – You are still missing my point Laurie [maybe I’m not making myself plain?]. I am not demanding the return of smoking in pubs. What I am asking for is that the pub should have the option of providing facilities. For example, a smoking room, where the staff need not even enter – the punters can fetch their own drinks and clean their own tables.
The state of the law here now means that smokers congregate outside the pub, blocking the pavement, causing a noise nuisance to the neighbours and littering up the place. Pass most pubs and you’ll see the ground strewn with cigarette ends and the window sills full of half empty beer glasses.
I did see one pub that had built an extension in the garden. It had soft seating, tables, a TV, heating and the works, but it had a plastic wall to comply with the law. Daft!
It either time to stop smoking the funny weed you must be
putting in your pipe or else time to get a new prescription.
Questioning the danger of passive smoking is one thing but calling the using of perfume or after shave a foul and disgusting habit is just crazy talk.
Ok so you are affected by beauty products smells well does that mean we should not cut grass because people with hay fever will get watery eyes.
There is no threat to you life from smells there is from passive smoking, the law was brought in to protect people who work in environments where smoke was common not people that frequent by choice.
Get used to it smoke outside. I do When I go home and soon it will be law everywhere.
And you can always wear Eau do Slurré to ensure no one sits too close.
“stop smoking the funny weed”
Chance would be a fine thing.
I was taking the piss MacDara.
Mind you, you have a point about grass cutting. Let’s ban agriculture!!
sorry, grandad. i’m slow. you have to use smaller words.
i was responding to this part of your posting:
The Surgeon General of the United States stated [and I quote] âSustained exposure to second-hand smoke was equivalent to smoking about two cigarettes a dayâ?. Fine. But the key word here is âsustainedâ?. So, if I live with a partner who smokes 40 a day, then I smoke 2. That seems reasonable. But if I only share a room with them for a couple of hours [say, in a pub] then simple maths shows that I would inhale the equivalent of 0.17 of a cigarette. Wow! So if I go to the pub seven nights a week, I smoke just over one cigarette. I think, somehow that the alcohol will do more damage than that!
So the anti-smoking lobby are latching onto this and it has become politically correct [and a vote catcher] to talk about passive smoking.
OK. So is the threat as big as the anti-smoking lobby makes out?
I know working in a smoke filled environment may not be pleasant, and I’m not saying that people should do it. However, to read the attitude to people on the subject of passive smoking, one would get the opinion that one is in immediate danger of death.
We live in a dangerous world. Our bodies are full of nasty chemicals ingested through the food chain and from the air we breath. We are in danger from radioactive radon gas from the soil beneath our feet. A large area of Ireland is currently under threat from contaminated water [and our government seems to be doing sweet f*ck all about it]. Our air and seas are contaminated with nuclear waste.
I’m just saying that I think the danger from passive smoking is being blown out of all proportion.
Ireland is close to the nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield in the U.K. They have an appalling record of errors and catastrophes over the years. I would contend that the people of Ireland are far more likely to die from cancer as a result of that place than they are from passive smoking.
i think i am sucking all the fun out of today’s posting which was, i recognize, essentially a light-hearted rant. so after this posting, i’ll shut up.
but to argue that we should not worry about second-hand smoke because there are so many OTHER toxins in our lives seems an odd argument. shoudln’t we be trying to avoid as many toxins as possible, rather than shrugging and saying, ah well, what’s one more?
the other thing about restaurants and bars is that it’s essentially low-income and blue-collar workers who are endangered. folks who work at home, or in nice air conditioned offices and banks don’t have to put up with this.
so it’s another way of shrugging off the problems of the poor, which are already myriad.
as for what dangers second-hand smoke carry, the mayo clinic website says that secondhand smoke carries these cancer-causing chemicals:
* Formaldehyde
* Arsenic
* Cadmium
* Benzene
* Ethylene oxide
as well as these chemicals:
* Ammonia — irritates your lungs
* Carbon monoxide — hampers breathing by reducing oxygen in your blood
* Methanol — toxic when inhaled or swallowed
* Hydrogen cyanide — interferes with proper respiratory function
The dangerous particles given off in secondhand smoke can linger in the air for hours. Even breathing them in for a short time — as little as 20 or 30 minutes — can harm your health in a variety ways. And breathing in secondhand smoke over years can be all the more dangerous.
Some of the known or suspected health risks include:
Cancer
In 1993, the Environmental Protection Agency placed environmental tobacco smoke in the most dangerous category of cancer-causing agents, and subsequent research has upheld that status.
Secondhand smoke is a known risk factor for lung cancer. Experts believe that secondhand smoke is to blame for roughly 3,000 deaths from lung cancer in adult nonsmokers each year in the United States. Secondhand smoke is also linked to cancer of the nasal sinuses. It’s also been linked to cancers of the cervix, breast and bladder, but the evidence hasn’t been as compelling as the link to lung cancer.
Heart disease
Secondhand smoke harms the cardiovascular system of nonsmokers in many ways. For one thing, it causes coronary heart disease, such as a heart attack. It also damages blood vessels, interferes with circulation and increases the risk of blood clots. It’s estimated that some 35,000 nonsmokers die of smoking-related heart disease in the United States every year.
Lung disease
Chronic lung ailments, such as bronchitis and asthma, have been associated with secondhand smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke is also associated with chest tightness at night and feelings of breathlessness after physical activity.
(sorry. i’m a huge downer. you should see me at parties.)
I’ll tell you what, Laurie – we’ll compromise.
We’ll ban all cigarettes outright. I’d be very happy with that.
And anyone who wants a smoke, has to smoke a pipe. Not healthy, but a lot healthier. I’d be even happier with that.
Of course you are right in all you say. Including the ‘light hearted’ bit!!
Invariably, when I post I’m “stirring the sh*t” a bit. I don’t necessarily believe all I write. But I write it to provoke a bit of debate. I have learned a lot from blogging, and one thing I have learned to my surprise is how many people seem to agree with my sometimes outrageous views.
And you are not being a downer. Without people commenting on my posts, I’d have probably given up long ago. And I enjoy a bit of a scrap, because I learn [sometimes]. So KEEP ‘EM COMING….!!!
i love the smell of a pipe.
i actually love the smell of clove cigarettes, too. i used to buy them for my ex-boyfriend (before he was my ex), thereby thwarting all of his attempts to quit smoking.
Hot potato!!
All smokers in this information age must be aware of the dangers and hazards and expense of smoking by now, but it still doesn’t stop us! Telling us that we can’t smoke in certain areas makes us want to spark up. Telling us that it causes cancer makes us want to spark up. Putting the prices up pisses us off, but we can make allowances in our budget. At least we’re not on heroin, right?
It’s the tobacco companies that are giggling into their cuffs now, because they KNOW all of this. The government is just trying to do anything it can to get us to stop, but if they ARE going about it the wrong way, it’s only because they can’t stop the problem at source.
I don’t know how to stop the availablity of cigarettes. If they were made illegal, then crime rates would obviously soar. You can’t get cigarette companies to put some godawful repellant taste in their smokes, and even if they did, we’d still smoke them.
I’m happy to smoke outside pubs, and really like the way you can breathe easily in bars late at night. The fart issue really only applies in stuffy enclosed sweaty places like nightclubs but I don’t go to those anymore.
As for artificial smellies, I also hate air fresheners and body sprays that smell like windowlene. I LOVE incense, expensive perfumes, and Farenheit on men. So pooh (or manure, then) to that idea.
This path to self destruction is self inflicted.. we’re giving ourselves emphysema (sp?), reducing our son’s sperm count by drinking milk and eating beef full of growth hormones, we’re washing dirt off our bodies with abrasive chemicals, we’re drinking water that’s been through other people’s bodies 7 times. SO WHAT? It’s the age we live in, and we can do nowt about it except worry about what life will be like for our great great grandchildren.
Life is here to be laughed at, and the government is providing great material, so there is a silver lining!
I finally get an Irish flag!!! Fair play.
D’oh.
My question is what kind of hobby is horse smoking? and how do you get the sucker lit ?
Or how do you keep it lit?
which end do you light?
How do you knock the ash off a 800 pound horse?
Do you smoke palominos or quarter horses?
what do you do with their shoes when you are done?
@Offspring – fair play! [I thought you were off the fags?]
@Sean – Dray horses are the best. You light the tail [that’s what it’s for] and then suck on the nostrils. We flog the horseshoes to tourists as lucky symbols. And to get the ash off, just kick the horse in the nuts.