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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wish non-smokers could carry water pistols to put out idiot's cigarettes?

44 replies

charlieliz · 29/09/2010 19:08

Was stopped at traffic lights the other day with my windows open in the sunshine - then had to shut one window because of an idiot smoking in the car next to me. Cross as I was, I then saw he had a baby and a toddler in the back!Furious does not describe it - I had to stop myself winding the window back down and pointing out the error of his ways. Can all passionate non-smokers not carry a water pistol and be allowed to put out every cigarette we come across? Or maybe someone in power could actually stand up and be counted and ban smoking in cars, in public, anywhere near children - you get the idea?!

OP posts:
Sassybeast · 29/09/2010 19:10

You are going to be burned at the fag smokers stake Grin

But YANBU - in an ideal world I'd be right there with you, putting out the flames of poison Wink

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 29/09/2010 19:12

Car fumes don't annoy you then, OP? Hmm

BuzzingNoise · 29/09/2010 19:13

YANBU.

Original poster
charlieliz · 29/09/2010 19:16

Don't really care about the smokers. Car fumes? -slightly different thing - I only drive when I absolutely have to anyway. Smoking is a choice and these days I really cannot understand why anyone with half a brain, and particularly those with kids, can still think its acceptable.

OP posts:
SlackSally · 29/09/2010 19:22

The reasons behind your driving don't really matter. You're still creating a hell of a lot more pollution than a cigarette.

Tippychoocks · 29/09/2010 19:29

By that logic Sally, your reasons for smoking don't matter as smoking creates more pollution than not smoking. It doesn't really hold water as an argument iyswim.

Monty100 · 29/09/2010 19:29

oh but op's a non-smoker and no doubt pefect, and probably holier than than thou, that gives credence to do what she likes.

kittywise · 29/09/2010 19:30

what a useless OPHmm

SlackSally · 29/09/2010 19:34

Absolutely not, Tippy, because I haven't condemned anyone for driving or smoking.

It's like people who bang on about the environment and fly abroad 2-3 times a year.

Not saying they shouldn't, but if they do, they shouldn't be holier than thou to everyone else.

Tippychoocks · 29/09/2010 19:39

No I agree with you as it happens on the flying and the hypocrisy. But I mean that saying that the OP cannot comment on smoking cos she pollutes with a car, when no doubt that wasn't her only objection anyway, seems illogical to me. Like saying I cannot condemn people for driving cars because I have a dog so I am causing environmental damage with his selfish meat-eating. We're all sinners on some level, I don't see how anyone can comment on anything by your rules!

usualsuspect · 29/09/2010 19:39

o o o o so shoot me

giveitago · 29/09/2010 19:42

Thought that smoking in cars with kids was illegal?

AgentZigzag · 29/09/2010 19:42

You can do anything you like in this life OP, so long as you're prepared to suffer the consequences of your behaviour.

Grin at usualsuspect

nancy75 · 29/09/2010 19:46

op, campaing to have all smoking banned - as long as you don't mind putting your hand in your pocket to make up the deficit in tax generated by cigarettes.

Bugrit · 29/09/2010 19:51

Would the water pistol have holy water in it?

tethersend · 29/09/2010 19:56

Twos up, usual...

Original poster
charlieliz · 29/09/2010 20:08

no I am not saying I am perfect - its amazing how heated smokers get when someone dares to question their choices- but when the anti smoking lobby try to make a fair point on medical grounds we are immediately set upon. I know which side I am glad to be on.

OP posts:
usualsuspect · 29/09/2010 20:15

Smokers are usually pretty chilled ..mind you, depends what we are smoking Wink

tethersend · 29/09/2010 20:23

I'm smoking pot pourri.

usualsuspect · 29/09/2010 20:27

Little green leaf pot pourri is it ..smells lovely

OptimistS · 29/09/2010 20:33

I'm a happy ex-smoker and can see both sides of the argument. It makes me sad whenever I see people smoking around their kids, but I can't say I've ever got to the stage where I feel it's acceptable for me to put out someone else's cigarette.

The fact is that most smokers would give up if it were easy. For most, it's not.

I know plenty of women who smoked through pregnancy and they all hate a part of themselves for doing so. The trouble is, every time they were lectured for it, it just made them feel 100x worse, which resulted in them wanting to smoke more than ever. Smokers KNOW what they're doing to themselves and possibly their children. Those that can give up do. Some choose not to and instead do their best to limit the effects on their children. Some just don't care, but they're in a minority. Others have never really thought about the effects on their children in terms of smoking in cars, etc., and maybe we could do with a bit more publicity about that as a lot of smokers genuinely believe that because a car is not a sealed object like a house, it's ok to smoke with the windows open. However, my best friend smokes and as long as she doesn't smoke around my DC, I have no objection whatsoever to her looking after my DC. She is an otherwise fab parent and I would far rather entrust my DC to her than a non-smoker with dubious parenting skills. Being a smoker does NOT make you a bad parent. Being a selfish smoker may, but that's no different to being a selfish parent in other ways that are maybe less obvious.

lovechildofBjork · 29/09/2010 20:33

I smoke occasionally, when drunk, in those newly created little pub gardens surrounded by other smokers, so they are poisoning themselves as much as I am.
If I was going to even touch DS before I had chance to have a shower, I wouldn't have a cigarette.
Each to their own, smoke in your car if you want to, but smoke in a car with children in it and you deserve to be waterpistol-ed into oblivion!

5Foot5 · 29/09/2010 20:37

charlieliz "no I am not saying I am perfect - its amazing how heated smokers get when someone dares to question their choices-"

Actually I would say exactly the opposite. It never ceases to amaze me how hysterical and over-zealous the anti-smoking lobby gets on these threads.

Personally I don't give a monkey's if someone wants to smoke in their own space - so long as I don't have to sit in it.

And no I don't smoke and have never smoked.

Fluteyboots · 29/09/2010 20:47

It's so sad that people can be so very vitriolic about smoking, and not stop to consider that for a lot of people it is an addiction not a habit. I am an ex smoker and know how very hard it is to stop. There should be more done to really help people, and part of that is to do with a less judgemental attitude from others.

That said, I have a zero tolerance policy on smoking all over children. If you are in the unhappy situation of being a smoker, do it away from others, and wash your hands and change your clothes before touching children. There is a woman down our road who smokes in her car with her baby in the back, and all over the pram while walking along the road. I sympathize with her addiction but abhor her selfishness. I can't believe she doesn't know that it is damaging.

MissBubbles · 29/09/2010 21:18

not all smokers are like the person the op saw, im a smoker and i dont smoke around kids, i live in a private rented house and even tho the landlord dont mind i always smoke outside, not trying to make myself sound superior, just to point out that not all smokers should be slagged off, and if im around someones house and they would rather i go outside, i do, yes i know its bad for my health but its a free world and im not breaking any laws and am always considerate of others around me who dont smoke