Author: pierre ([email protected])<BR>Date: 06/14/2002, 01:05 pm<BR>Message: Yo Uncle Sam, I'm from Jersey. Get bent!<BR><BR>To all:<BR><BR>I rest my case!<BR><BR>US<BR><BR> <BR>

Actually, no, Liam, many smokers' cars DON'T have ashtrays--or have "ashtrays" that are lined in felt or other flammable fabrics--because they have been swayed by the loud anti-smokers into thinking that making a car without one will stop smoking.

So that justifies throwing your garbge out the window? Just dispose of your trash properly. The truth is that smokers don't give a damn - they don't care. But the fact is that little things add up - a butt here, a butt there, a styrofom cup here, a tire there - it adds up to make our environment unpleasent, unsightly, ugly and dirty. Is it any wonder why America's landscape is so dismal? Cigarettes are one of the ultimate symbols of a throw away society - throw it on the ground and let someone else clean up after you (if there is someone). Fast food is another example of a throw away societal attiude that ultimately affects us all. Amazing how many posters here go on and on about how beautiful Europe is - a lot has to do with being aware of one's actions and the effect it has upon the greater whole. Smokers only care about themselves.

Well, I’m in the middle. I don’t give a damn if you smoke or not. Blow smoke in my face and you’re in trouble. The American in England was wrong. Smoking isn’t illegal there nor here. If she didn’t like it she should have exercised the ultimate protest and left. Smokers SHOULD be held accountable for their habit though. Walk along any street and count the cigarette butts that were not snuffed out, just thrown down. Count how many have rolled up against the sides of buildings, in doorways, etc. and it’s positively amazing that there aren't thousands of fires a day across the country started by this disgusting practice. Of course most cities have systematically stopped enforcing anti-littering laws both in this country and in England. I just got back from a trip to the northern parts of England and was dismayed to see the increased amount in litter just in the past year. For a while there I thought I was in Queens.

<BR>I’ve got to wonder how many of the self-righteous non-smokers are tooling back and forth to their bridge club in a gas-guzzling, (relatively) high emission SUV’s? Auto exhaust is a much more formidable problem than cigarette smoke.<BR>I wonder how many chew gum and (sometimes) spit it out of their vehicle window? <BR>Fat-cat representatives sue tobacco companies for billions under the auspices that the money is going toward the health care for folk’s disabled by years of smoking. In the meantime children as young as 10 are being diagnosed with what used to be known as Adult Onset Diabetes and we all know why. Fast food high in calories, fat, and cholesterol. Where are the big civil suits against Burger King, McDonalds and the rest? They owe society billions to pay for the health care of the people who ruin their bodies by eating the junk.<BR><BR>Ridiculous? Yes, but one no more so than the other. Certainly no more so than equating people who smoke with people who litter. Of course I’m sure that the good, non-smoking posters out there do not allow their kids to scarf down the occasional happy meal, eh?<BR>

Once again the attitude - "if they can do it then so can I - why should I care if others don't?" If everyone attended to their own messes - the world would be a lot better. A lot of people are LAZY.<BR><BR>

"Now, what kind of dimwit goes into an English pub (of all places) and complains about the smoke?! "<BR><BR>People from New Jersey! - xxx<BR><BR>Actually, I grew up in NJ, and I have never been in a bar in NJ where smoking wasn't going on. If the story is true, this woman is a twit, and, sorry to disappoint you, being from NJ is the least of her problems. ;^)<BR>

Here's a scenario for all you smokers...<BR><BR>You just finished having a delicious meal at a restaurant that permits smoking. So you reach for a cigarette, light it, and happily puff away while you peruse the dessert menu. <BR><BR>Now, a guy sitting next to you also pulls out a cigarette, lights it, and begins happily puffing away. But then it hits you: the smell. It reeks. I mean, really reeks. And you think to yourself "What in God's name is that guy smoking? It smells horrible." <BR><BR>What would you do? Complain to the manager? Or just tolerate it, as non-smokers in the restaurant tolerate the smell of your smoke? After all, this restaurant DOES permit smoking, and that's all this guy is doing.

What is it with this New Jersey thing. I've never seen more obnoxious people. Is it an inferiority to New York that they are constantly compensating for?

Oh boy...here it goes now.

A fair question, that. But, if the place allows smoking whose fault is it that I’m hypothetically bothered by someone else’s smoking habits, the brand they smoke, the fact that they stink, etc.?<BR><BR>If I see a fence with a sign that says, “bad dog” and I jump over the fence and get bit; whose fault is that?<BR><BR>Of course half of the flaming liberals in this country might argue that it’s the dog or the dog’s owner who are the problem, they might take it to court and win. <BR><BR>If a container is marked “Caution, contents extremely hot,” and I pour it in my lap, there are those who would contend it was the person who sold me the coffee who is at fault. I guess by their reckoning if someone were stupid enough to drink Drano that would be the manufacturer’s fault. I don’t see it that way.<BR><BR>If I go into a bar I might see drunken people. If I go into a strip joint I might see naked people. If I go into a restaurant that sells tacos I might be served hot sauce. If I go into a smoking establishment I might smell smoke. Maybe I’ll like the way it smells, perhaps not. Whose fault is it that I went in?<BR><BR>All in all it’s a dink scenario. <BR>

I mean, how would you like life if the “light at the end of the tunnel” was New York City? The place is full of people who think that they live in the center of the universe. They are stunned when they find out that the rest of the country doesn’t give a fat rat’s red rear-end about NYC. Remember some years back when they were wailing and gnashing their teeth that the city was going broke and they DEMANDED a federal bailout? Remember what happened? No one, from the president on down, really cared if they went broke or not. Quite a wake up call for the Yorkies. As a defense mechanism most of them promptly forgot the whole episode. Too painful to realize that their delusions of grandeur and their misogynous view of themselves as the nation’s elite was not the shared vision that they dreamed.

I meant to preface that with, "Yeah, well people from New Jersey are cranky because they have to put up with the New Yorkers, wouldn’t you be, too? "

Angelino - as in Los Angeles? If so - enough said. The only ones who slam NYC are the ones who aren't successful there. Oh - and Angelino - you've brought up that point before - let it go - it happened back in the 70's. Did you get dumped for a NYer?

"their misogynous view of themselves as the nation’s elite was not the shared vision that they dreamed."<BR><BR>Do you know what the word misogynous means? This use makes no sense to me.<BR><BR>They have a "woman's hating" view of themselves?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ha. Dat's funny! Poor blokes spell check or Thesaurus must've gone bust. But then I've never known a bright Angelino...or New Yorker, for that matter.