Does Anyone Else Find Cigarette Smoking Just Plain Annoying?

Well, I smoke. When I want a cig...I go outside and have it. I don't expect my non-smoking friends to accompany me--why would they. I even find it annoying if they do.

Hard to tell what's annoying you: the fact that you "have" to go outside with them (which you don't) or the fact that they are doing something unhealthy (which they already know)?

Either way, I don't see how this effects you.

Yes. If someone wants to smoke, by all means, that is their right...their choice...but I should not have to breathe their second hand smoke. THAT is what pisses me off. I hate how people stand right in front of stores, etc, smoking. I have no choice but to walk through it and expose my children and I to it. That is disgusting, rude and inconsiderate on their part, IMHO. If someone wants to smoke, I don't mind, but don't force me to be exposed to it.

When I say "I need a smoke" and I am around those who don't, it usually means I want to step away from people for some time away from them. I don't want them following me lol!

I am a very light smoker (one a day, maybe three when i'm out drinking) and I excuse myself, by myself, if I'm going to smoke. I would suggest you simply not accompany them. Don't interrupt what you are doing to accommodate them and 1) they may return to you faster 2) you will feel less resentful 3) you won't be exposed to the smoke. It's their thing, perhaps you are extra irritated by being dragged along.

Also, they KNOW that its harmful and they should quit, NOTHING you say will sway them, it's simply judgmental and annoying. You are not saying anything they haven't heard before, so keep it to yourself.

I know that smokers annoy non-smokers, but I'm not sure non-smokers understand just how much they annoy smokers by acting as though they live under a rock & couldn't POSSIBLY know the harmful affects of smoking, because surely if they did, well, they would just stop, right? So they take it upon themselves to "educate" the smokers of the world from giving them grizley details, to just plain old strangers passing by with a friendly, "That's bad for your health you know!" Really?? I had no idea!! Since you've now educated me Mr. Stranger-Person, I'm going to walk right over to the trash can & throw this very expensive product away right this instant! I mean, come on!

Losing weight is easier for some people than others. Quitting smoking is easier for some people than others. You do not need to change anything about what you're doing, and clearly setting boundries for your friends/family is the way to go, but for God's sake, leave them alone after that!

Well, to answer your question, since you asked, no, I don't find smoking especially annoying. But then I am not easily annoyed.

The ONE thing I DO find extremely annoying, is gross intolerance for other members of the human race, particularly family members or 'friends'.

Just sayin...

:)

I get annoyed by the smokers in my office. They take these long luxurious smoke breaks. When they are out back, sitting on the patio with thier feet up, smoking and chatting or talking on thier cell phones, I am sitting at my desk, answering all the calls and taking the walk-ins and working. They leave the back door open, so, the smoke fills the office anyway. They come in reeking and put thier butts in the trash can right next to where we sit to eat. It smells like an ash tray, right next to our dinner table. I'm sure that doesn't bother them, but it ruins my appetitie. So, I'd have to say the smokers at my job are lazy and inconsiderate. I don't say a word, but I have threatened to take up smoking so I can take a break too. :)

Do you feel the same way about fat people or overweight people?

Smokers have become the "okay" group to hate. It's something to be wary of.

If your Q had instead said the following:
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Does anyone else find fat people just plain annoying?

I guess I'm kinda venting, but whenever they say, "I need something to eat" I just get so annoyed. Anyone else have fat friends and get tired of it? I don't mean to offend any of you mommies who are fat, I just hate it.
_____________________________________________________________

You can see why, when something is JUST as much, if not far more of a health risk... the bigotry surrounding smoking has gotten out of control.

I could translate your entire question into a fat people and food question, only altering the words eat or being fat w/ smoke and smoking... and "stopping to eat" with "going out side".

None of my friends smoke. It's coincidental, not a planned thing. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they're all moms & either never smoked or gave it up. I did have a couple friends who smoked, but they were very discreet about it & so it wasn't a big deal I am so glad I don't have to be chained down by someone else's habit, in addition to having to get a headache from smelling someone else's smoke.

Now, what you have to weigh, is, do you you enjoy your time with them enough to tolerate having your visits controlled by their addictions? Do you like them enough to inhale their second hand smoke?

It really really annoys me too! I can't stand being at a family function and having the smokers all go outside to smoke and then come back in to sit right next to me...um hello, you stink like smoke still!
I also can't stand going to a grocery store or any store for that matter and having to walk through a cloud of smoke before entering the store because all the smoking employees and patrons stand right at the enterance to smoke. It's gross and inconsiderate in my opinion.
My dad smoked indoors for all of my childhood and I have horrible allergies, terrible sinus issues, and many autoimmune diseases that I wonder if his second hand smoke attributed to? I guess I just don't get it, I did smoke for a very short period of my life as well, but then I smartend up and realized how stupid I was being, my body deserved better so I stopped.

i was the only one in my family growing up who didn't smoke. my dad, mom, brother, and 2 sisters all did. it's never really bothered me. after my niece was born they started smoking outside. i can say that it does smell really bad on breath, and clothes, and ages peopel before they should, but that's their decision to make. the only thing that annoys me is when someone complains about not having money for bills, food, gas, etc. but they make sure they go and buy their pack of cigarettes.

I smoked for 14 years and quit cold turkey 3 years ago. I found it really annoying that something like that had control over me. If youv'e never been addicted , you don't get it, sorry.

BUT

Yeah i find it annoying also, My Best friend will come over to work out, she will smoke right before our video, complain about breathing the whole video, then skip the cool down so she can go run and have a smoke again. My husband will find himself in a stressful situation and have to remove himself from it in order to smoke and calm down. Ill host a party and we are all playing pictionary, or pool, or something inside and at least 3 of the people playing have to stop and take periodic smoke breaks...outside of course... that end up turning into 2 or three. Dont even get me started on watching a movie with smokers, What happens when they run out(how they act and how fast they have to get a pack)....its high priority. Hearing people complain about how they smell, feel, and are running out of money, how ciggs are too expensive!

yes its all very annoying- but i can have a unique empathetic perspective because it used to be me....all of the above.

watching a monkey be on someones back is not quite as annoying as actually having one on your back yourself.

I find smoking VERY annoying. I hate the stench. I would rather smell some ones passed gas than smell a cigarette's smoke.

I'm overweight. Something as bad as smoking as far as health goes. I find it easier to quit eating than to eat just a little bit. I went for 10 days one time and only drank water. After 96 hours of not eating, I really didn't want anything to eat.

If you want a break when the smokers take a break, just tell everyone you are going out for a cigarette break. If you are asked if you smoke, just say no, you just wanted a break like all the smokers.

I met one real rude smoker that wouldn't get down wind and would puff so I had to smell it. I finally said some thing to him about it. He said he had the right to smoke. I told him I had the right to not smell it. He said he liked to smoke and enjoyed the experience. I told him, when you smoke, the residue of your pleasure gets all over my hair and clothes and food and it stinks. I said I like 7-Up. When I enjoy 7-Up the residue of my pleasure is urine. How about I stand on this chair and piss all over your hair and clothes and food? That way I give you a chance to enjoy the residue of my pleasure like you give me a chance to enjoy the residue of the pleasure you get when you smoke. He blew another puff and I reached for my zipper. He moved downwind and we've had a truce ever since.

Good luck to you and yours.

Yep - it's annoying, but not everyone can (or wants to) quit.
It's part of who they are.
I've been to at least a dozen funerals of family members and co-workers who were wonderful people but whose lives were cut short due to smoking related health issues.
If you can't accept this about them, then maybe it's time to distance yourself from them and find some new friends who don't smoke.
Friendships run their course all the time and then it's time to move on rather then stay and be annoyed (and watch them die).

I was the smoker in my group of friends. I never expected anyone to come with me went I went out to smoke, and I stopped smoking indoors when my daughter was born. Even as a smoker it always bothered me when people smoked in restaurants. Now that I don't smoke anymore (6 years next week), it bothers me everywhere. I agree that ex-smokers are the worst. Some never lose the cravings and the smoke reminds them of what they want, for me, it makes me ill. Even the smell of smoke on peoples clothing after they come in from outside bothers me. But adults can do what they wish, so I try to stand up wind, and I never say anything because it's not my place.

Maybe ex-smokers hate it even more than life long nonsmokers bc you think "I quit, why can't you??" I never smoked so just hypothesizing... I too absolutely hate it bc I think it's just such a stupid habit. Fortunately, I don't even know anyone at this point that smokes. I just pass people once in awhile standing outside. For you, not much you can do about your friends. Either you like and value them enough to ignore it and don't go outside with them etc if you don't want to or you decide you disrespect what they're doing so much you don't want to be friends anymore. In a way it's non of your business. In another way, it's all of our business as smokers add to the cost of healthcare for everyone. But that's a global statement vs these sound like long time friends. And if they get really sick from it someday, how sympathetic you are is your call. Not the same as a cancer patient who did nothing so obvious to bring it on themselves. Comments once in awhile to the friend who smokes around her children seem ok to me. People say to stand up if you see a child being abused and this is pretty close.

E.:

I don't smoke...Tried it - didn't like it.

My husband smokes....he doesn't smoke in the house - HIS choice - not something I make him do..

They are adults...and they know what they are doing by smoking the "coffin nails" or "paving their lungs"...like Theresa - I DO find it annoying that others are trying to push their beliefs on others...there are a lot worse things than smoking....as Theresa pointed out before - the fumes we inhale from the buses....do I need to go on? Stop trying to make other people conform to your way....if they want to smoke - let them.

I have asthma (not much now) and one of the few things that sets me off is cigarette smoke. I was married to a smoker who never smoked inside but had his first heart attack at 35. The doctors told him to stop and that would drop his chance of having another one. He never did and had another one and open heart surgery at 46. I was looking at the window of the convenience store last night and a carton of cigarettes is $60 here. I was amazed that so many people still smoke. I have a friend that smokes one after another and I won't go out with her. I will be around her at work and enjoy her company.

Hmmm...my father used to smoke and I remember not liking it. Back then people didn't go outside to smoke, but I think he did do it mostly in the bedroom because I din't remember our house smelling of it.

Then as a teen to about age 24 or 25 I smoked pretty heavily. I quit a couple of times before finally quitting cold turkey for good. There are still times when I am outdoors particularly, when I'll catch the faint smell of it and have a tiny craving. Then there are other times when someone is right next to me and I hate the smell.

It's a powerful addiction... both a physical one and a habitual one. It's not likely that you will change their feelings about it or convince them of the big picture and long term health risks.You have a choice to a. not go outside and expose yourself to their smoking or b. choose different friends.

It makes me sad when I see people smoking around their kids. Kids shouldn't have to breathe that, and they don't usually get a choice not to.

I walk past a bus stop nearly everyday. A lot of people there smoke. There is no other way I can walk, the sidewalk is narrow. I really dislike having to walk through their trickles of smoke. I don't like breathing it, and I don't like the way it makes my clothes and hair smell.

It doesn't bother me when I'm with smokers who go outside for a puff, EXCEPT, when I'm the only non-smoker and I'm left in a bar or restaurant by myself while they're all outside sucking on a cancer stick.

Why do you have to go out when they do?
When I step out to smoke, I don't expect everyone else to come with. Nor do I expect them to put the conversation on hold until I return or to recap what happened while I was gone. I just miss out on that part of the conversation. It's the price I pay for stepping out to smoke. And I'm ok with that.

You have the right not to go outside with them. I have plenty of family and friends that quit "going out" with me for a smoke. It usually makes the smoker smoke less, at least it does for me. It does not hurt my feelings if they dont drop everything for me to go smoke. I'm not a rude smoker, I'm very aware of others around me.

If I am with non smokers I may sneek out once by myself but with smokers then we go out together. I can not stand around kids or other people who do not want to be around it it's my personal choice and no one else has to live with it.

If you have friends who go outside to smoke and you are so displeased by it, why for the love of heaven do you follow them? You won't see it this way, but if they are trying to keep it away from you, there is nothing that says you have to follow the thing you detest.

That's just my opinion.

In most places on this earth now... smokers go OUTSIDE!!!!!
I am an ex smoker kind of like you... not years and years... smoked when I would go out for a drink etc.. sometimes would have a cigarette and a glass of wine when making dinner but that WAS back in the day when they had smoker sections in restaurants and my husband smoked indoors which bugged me too when we had babies!!!
But TODAY there is no excuse... your so called friends need to go outside period...there is a baby in the house!!!!
Oookaay I just re-read this and I am thinking that you meant that you have to go outside
WITH them to smoke? So they ARE actually going outside to smoke? Not staying inside while you go outside so they can smoke! lol....
Well, if that is the case... I had a friend who always wanted me to accompany her outside and I just stopped COLD TURKEY!!! Kapeesh?