LadyKate wrote:
Sorry, DFK, thought you were the one defending cigar smoking the last time we had this little debate.
My bad.
For the record, I'm not trying to be self-righteous or judgemental. I smoked for years...just trying to keep people from starting.
Fair enough.
I just have a real problem when people criticize the lifestyle choices of others, provided that their choices don't cause harm to people around them.
In the case of smoking: Lex alleges to have adequate income to support that lifestyle, so it isn't like he's misappropriating welfare. He doesn't have children to be harmed from second-hand smoke, and the long-term costs will fall on his health insurance, if he'll be able to get it. The only potential harm to others, as it stands, is if he survives to Medicare age, and costs the rest of us many to treat his inevitable COPD or lung cancer.
In a free society, people need to be able to determine what goes into their body. Now, I'm with Rynar: I don't really give two shits about Lex and what he does do, doesn't do, or pretends to do or not do on the internet; but the level of apparent vitriol against "smokers" as a group is a bit asinine. If you consider
all smokers weak, how would you care for those who enjoy it (and are not merely addicts) to judge you in return?
Supplementally: I do have a cigar on occasion, but that doesn't make me a smoker, anymore than having a beer with dinner once a month makes me a drinker. The connotations of both those phrases indicates regular and frequent usage.