to think that some smokers are selfish f****?

[glitzalicious]

so DH and I took my mum (who we rarely see for geographical reasons) and 9-month-old DS for lunch at a pricey restaurant in London today. It was freezing but there were no seats available inside, so at the suggestion of the waitress we sat at a table outside, near a patio heater, and ordered what looked set to be a very nice lunch.
A few minutes after we sat down, a woman in her 50s and her younger male companion came and sat on the table next to us, and both proceeded to light up cigarettes, inches from DS's face (the tables were extremely close together, and he was sitting on my mum's lap, happily eating his lunch). DH very politely asked the man if they would mind not smoking so close to the baby, to which he replied: "It's a free country". His leather-faced companion then gestured to a table at the other end of the al fresco area, with no heater anywhere near, and said: "Nobody's stopping you from moving". DH was quite stunned, and said: 'I think that's quite inconsiderate; it's really bad for the baby", and the bloke said: "I know", before shrugging his shoulders and turning back to his haggard old witch of a friend. I couldn't believe that people could be so selfish; to expect my DS (who had been sitting there before them) to either inhale all of their carcinogens (the fact the guy acknowledged that his habit was harmful to DC was quite shocking) or freeze, just so they could get their nicotine fix. Why the f* did they not move? We did get up and try to cancel our order; it was too late so we had to sit, completely freezing, in the heater-free zone. I have no axe to grind with smokers; if someone chooses to poison their own body it's no one's business but their own. But I would never think that others should suffer just so I could indulge a habit, and if someone were to ask me to stop doing something (talking too loudly in a restaurant etc) I would be so mortified at the prospect of impacting someone's enjoyment of their meal I would stop immediately, as they have just as much right to a nice lunch/dinner out as I do.
People always go on about a 'right to smoke': AIBU to think that right extends only to a smoker's home, or a child-free area? My blood is still boiling over those bastards!

NB just so that post makes sense and doesn;t just look insane Champix was originally an anti depressant so there are some ;issues' with giving it to people who have had depression!

Smoking aside, why on earth did you choose to eat in a restaraunt that a) has no inside seating and b) has tables so close together that the people on the next table are 'inches away' from your baby's face. It cannot be very comfy. How would you get enough arm room to use your knife and fork properly without elbowing the table next to you?

YABU btw.

Also if they were inches away from your baby's face, who was eating his lunch, so presumably facing towards the table, then these people must have been in front of your baby. How fecking small are these tables?

Are you embelishing just a tad with the 'inches away'?

mutznutz, I'm so sorry (and PMSL at my own stupidity!). Madmutz is the forum nickname of a fellow dog rescuer - I got mixed up!

I can't even blame alcohol, I'm just dopey! :o

Sorry, sorry...

Winny - I think maybe the OP was over exaggerating a bit. If the smoke was going directly in the baby's face then they must of been practically sat on top of each other.

Me and DP smoke in our living room after the DC are in bed and even when sat next to each other on the sofa we don't get smoke in each others face.

No don't be...I'm loving the madmutz lol x

:o Thank gawd for that, mad... erm, I mean.... :o

Wowsers.

On Christmas Eve there was a grandma with her gransdon (3) at our pub. Parked asleep in his pushchair in the smoking area.

What the heck are the smokers meant to do?

This baby shouldn't have been there. In my opinion.

OP I think that your choice of restaurant was wrong.

While I would never condone smoking, YABU! You should have gone elsewhere, rather than sit outside in January with a baby. Or booked a table. There were many alternatives.

YANBU. Of course a baby trumps an adult they are the innocent party in this scenario, a baby always is, it can hardly get up and move!

Equally, you were there first, there are plenty of restaurants in London, the smokers could have moved on or booked a table in an outside area near a heater, they should have planned it better if they knew they would have to fulfill their need at a restaurant!

Thats right Goldenbear, all smokers must bow and slowly recede, when they find themselves in the presence of THE BABY.

Outdoors has not now been designated a smoking area just because smokers can't smoke indoors anymore. Some places do have designated smoking areas outside, but that doesn't sound like the situation here, where the majority of the restaurant is outside. Personally I would have been incredibly pissed off if anyone chooses to smoke next to me whatever the circumstances, and if I was eating I would be furious. Because the smell of cigarette smoke is disgusting and makes me want to be sick.

My dh smokes and never ever does it next to other people unless he knows that they are also smokers. It's not just about the passive smoking issues, and it's pretty pathetic that one person's "right" to smoke should trump other people's right to enjoy their meal, when the smoker can easily a) not smoke right then, or b) move somewhere else for the duration of the cigarette.

OP you would be more reasonable if you blamed the restaurant for not providing more heaters. Why didnt you wait to be seated indoors? Your DH did say it was really bad for the baby to be outside without a heater, but then why was he outside in the first place?

I agree it would be better if everyone stopped smoking, and also driving. I hate it when we are sitting outside eating, and then a car drives past literally inches from the table, and gets pollution in DCs face. It is always the case that we were there first, and then these cars just drive by without a concern for anyone else. They could just as easily a)drive somewhere else, or b)at another time. AIBU?

Sometimes

lifeincrombo, no need to bow but some kind of responsibility fot your actions as an adult in this scenario should be at the forefront of your mind! It is beyond me how any decent person would think it id acceptable to see a family with a baby eating at a restaurant go and sit next to them and light up!

I don't know anybody who would do this and justify it! I used to smoke, lived in a shared house with smokers, one of my friends has recently given up and a lot of my DP's friends still smoke, some of them are not the most uthoughtful characters but none of them would do this.

I wouldn't have sat outside knowing that smiokers would come out and smoke.

Smokers are generally selfish twats, didn't you know?

I think in this instance these smokers were selfish twats yes. I don't think it is given that an outside area with a heater and wind shields at a restaurant, where people wat food is a 'smokers' area'. There are quite a few of these restaurants where I live and it is not a usual occurance to see mass of smokers sitting in these areas! Pubs- yes! Restaurants - no, it is not the cultural norm here, it's not the fucking south of France!

The pollution argument versus smoke in your face yes probably stands up but for me the problem would be the anti-social behaviour of some twat blowing smoke in my face, the smell of smoke and the smell of the person smoking it would really put me off meal!

Sorry - 'my meal' not 'meal'.

The pollution verses smoking is a ridiculous thing. We use cars to get somewhere, there is an upside to driving...ask any person with a disability how they fancy Public Transport over a drive? There is NO upside to smoking, at all.