To be angry at man in shopping queue

[NameChangeInfinite]

Huge line outside Tesco’s this afternoon, wait was over 20 mins.

Man in front of me was puffing away at a cigarette the entire time. Lit up twice during the wait.

Tried to shield my nose and mouth as well as turning away from him to avoid smoke. But even with 2 metre distance I was definitely inhaling his smoke.

Eventually I lost it and very crossly asked him to think of others in the queue having to breathe in his smoke. Explained that we don’t know who has COVID or not and whether we can catch it through second hand smoke.

He barked at me to “shut up you ugly cow”.

Left me really shaken and close to tears.

If I was in the wrong the happy to be told so. But we don’t know if this virus can be transmitted through second hand smoke so surely he should be more considerate?

I had no choice but to queue for an hour outside Asda recently with my baby in pram, the THREE people in front of me were smoking, the one closer was an old man smoking god knows what because it smelt horrific and it was so strong, I was quite upset about it and I’m a smoker!!!

Fedupwithvindictivewomen
I can't really help it if smoke makes me cough an awful lot.
And I wouldn't really ram anyone, just hope someone else would. Very different.
Peace, dude.

Yabu

Healthy people die from flu, as for getting CV through second hand smoke (words fail me) no one know you on this thread, so you can’t put in your OP, then change it further down to suit your narrative

You were as equally as rude as he was to you, stocks and stones!

He was standing in an open space 2 meters away from you, legally he is allowed to go this, yes he was inconsiderate however so were you with your ridiculous statements and judgemental attitude.

OP yanbu but thank you for pointing this out. As a smoker I try not to let my smoke affect others but wouldn't of thought in this situation and probably just lit up myself.
If you had spoken to me I probably would of apologised and put it out and been mortified about what ide done.

He sounded like an arse though and very rude. Absolutely no need for his reaction.

smoking smells awful, i am an ex smoker, i cannot bear it. he was wrong.

He was a little rude but if the wind is blowing the right way you would have smelt it from more than 2m away so you never would have been happy.

There are studies ongoing to see if smoking or vaping is more at risk of carrying it than the other (possibly vaping as that is water vapour and its carried on droplets etc)

People have their own shit going on amongst all this. Let them deal with it as they wish.
If you were willing (considering you never normally would have said anything) to confront this man.. you have to have thicker skin to be prepared for that he might not want to be confronted.

I'm an ex-smoker and if he was on silk cut or B and H - that would have made me breathe in to get the smoke - lol

sorry OP but I can never get too upset about other people smoking. Really, it's their loss, as it is an expensive, dirty, and unhealthy addiction.

Sorry, OP, but the smoke from a cigarette doesn't travel any further than a person's normal breath. All the smoke does is make your breath visible, so if anything the person's breath being visible would make it easier for you to avoid breathing it in.

He was horrible to you, but you say you 'lost it' with him so I don't have as much sympathy for you as I would if you'd spoken to him politely. Not wanting to breathe in second hand smoke is reasonable. Thinking you can catch Covid19 from it is incorrect, and logic should have told you that before you let fly with that accusation.

Asking Tesco to put up no smoking signs all along their queue area is a really good idea. It’s a repulsive habit at the best of times that does nobody any favours.

You were as equally as rude as he was to you

No she wasn't, she didn't insult him.

Catch it from second hand smoke 😂

Mumsnet is a gathering of the most neurotic woman in England.

the smoke from a cigarette doesn't travel any further than a person's normal breath

Surely it does when a smoker blows it out rather than breathes it out, which I've seen them do to blow it away from the people they are with.

SoupDragon If a person was deliberately blowing, of course, but again that would be no different from a person deliberately blowing without cigarette smoke in their lungs.

Would make sense that you can catch corona from smokes. It would have high moisture levels and hang in the air for longer. Even if there was no corona it's horrible though. I even hate sitting in a traffic jam in the car with someone smoking in the car in front. My car ends up stinking. Hate cigarette smoke, don't understand it at all

It’s inconsiderate to smoke in a queue when people can’t move away. Smokers are inconsiderate though. I know, I was one. When I see some of the places they smoke and think I used to do that too it stuns me that I was so selfish.

I wouldn’t have used the virus as a reason to stop but this was just inconsiderate of him in general. Covid or not. You don’t smoke close to people. 2 metres isn’t that far. Smokers can’t smell how vile it smells.

@Cissyandflora has summed it up.

Ignore all the posters saying you were as rude as him, OP. You weren’t. He was an absolute dick. Try and forget about it now.

We can comfort ourselves with the fact that he is at about 14 times more risk from smoking.

My god, what an utterly cuntish thing to say. this is someone's son, possibly their father you're talking about.

When people say this thing brings out people's true colours, they're completely right.

Ignore all the posters saying you were as rude as him, OP. You weren’t.

We don't know what she said in fairness. She's been pretty cagey about it, but of course we get his response verbatim.

My local Tesco has a no smoking in the queue policy. Seems to be working well.

My local Tesco have security outside monitoring the queues and they specifically tell people you are not allowed to smoke.

You didn't have to be very cross at him OP but smoking in a queue is damn inconsiderate

I smoke (though trying to quit with a vaper) but I would not light up in any queue as its just not fair . Bloke has a problem if he smoked 2 in 20 minutes or so .
Try not to let it worry you and ruin your day.

He was a selfish dick, but smokers are often thoughtless about who they’re spreading their stinky fug with.

You could have been more polite about it though.

@thedancingbear

I have already said that I do not literally wish severe illness upon him

Jesus people have lost all sense of humour and perspective. Never have I seen so much outrageous behaviour defended on Mnet as during this.

If anyone is a cunt in this situation it is this man, and not for the smoking!

Since it was not a no smoking area and two metres apart YABU - his right to smoke. I think his reply was horrible though. He should have just said, sorry but smoking is allowed here.