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Originally Posted by
ditch_azeroth
being a smoker, i think it's unfair to judge us by a negative experience that you have had with an a-hole; maybe he's just one of them, smoker or not. that said, it is easy to say that we should ban smoking. executing that ban would be hard. it's hard enough to, say, avoid littering or speak english in a call center company - but even the best of us can, sometimes unconciously, break these simple "rules". it is addictive, that much is sure, but is should be never made into an excuse - in which case, you need to get professional help. if you don't like the smoke, then say it. if you get snappy comebacks like what jash_ville mentioned, stand your ground and insist.
i don't know if this makes any sense but one time, i was in a rather classy restaurant and i encountered something like this. i stepped outside for a smoke, and somebody else was there asking for a light. when i got back in, that guy was still smoking - and his friends joined in. my girlfriend got asthma, and started complaining. i insisted that he put out the cigarette and he said "ah, nanigarilyo man sad gali ka!" true, but i insisted. it was hardly the place. i got a few raised eyebrows, and my girlfriend was starting to panic, but i persisted and said "put it out... please". he didn't. he was probably confident of the fact that they were a group of six, and it was just me and my girlfriend. i stood up, screamed at the top of my lungs (thank God I don't scream like a girl... lol) "put out that f'ing cigarette you uncultured *****!" everybody was looking at me - and the people had the same sentiment, and they aired it out too. the manager was on his way to their table. they put it out, paid their bill and left. that's that. when we left the restaurant, all six of them were waiting for me. how predictable. those guys got a good punch or two, but they didn't know how to fight dirty. i ended up bringing one of them to an emergency room. we are good friends now. he still smokes, but always, always, asks me for a light.
chivalry is not dead, it is merely misplaced. just make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew; as jean-paul said, you are absolutely free to do anything you want as long as you are absolutely responsible for everything that you do. if somebody chooses to smoke, s/he should know why s/he is doing it - and not for the shallow reasons of peer pressure, kill time, et. al.