Smokers are Mad, Bad, & Sad.

[ifm]

pity and contempt are very strong words tony imo, you have been in our shoes and have been in the same position many of us are in now, in trying to quit, i think it is vey different for one person to quit and another to quit, different genes have different effects on the mind and effect the endevour to quit. For you to feel contempt and pity for all smokers is really out of character i feel for someone who i have played with and respect as a person and pioneer of poker.

More than a few strong words, Adam earlier said my Mother smells like a tramp.

[tikay]

pity and contempt are very strong words tony imo, you have been in our shoes and have been in the same position many of us are in now, in trying to quit, i think it is vey different for one person to quit and another to quit, different genes have different effects on the mind and effect the endevour to quit. For you to feel contempt and pity for all smokers is really out of character i feel for someone who i have played with and respect as a person and pioneer of poker.

More than a few strong words, Adam earlier said my Mother smells like a tramp.

Or as a very wise man said earlier in this thread.....

it just fascinates me the way facts and figures can be manipulated by all sides of an argument.

[turny]

 

[action man]

pity and contempt are very strong words tony imo, you have been in our shoes and have been in the same position many of us are in now, in trying to quit, i think it is vey different for one person to quit and another to quit, different genes have different effects on the mind and effect the endevour to quit. For you to feel contempt and pity for all smokers is really out of character i feel for someone who i have played with and respect as a person and pioneer of poker.

More than a few strong words, Adam earlier said my Mother smells like a tramp.

it just fascinates me the way facts and figures can be manipulated by all sides of an argument.

just strange, what you would have said if you were still a smoker and someone used the same terminology as you have done in this instance.
well done you have quit smoking....  **applause** some of us are not as strong willed and motivated as you sir.

[tikay]

That's been my view since I quit, October 8th last year.

I feel pity & contempt for those slaves to addiction who have to rush outside & get their "fix", it's weak & so are those that can't quit. In Scotland, Ireland & Wales, they can only smoke outside "public places", where they are given an "Air Lounge" (a room with no roof!), & England will soon follow suit.

The best part about quitting is not being a slave to nicotine, not feeling owned by ciggies, it's lovely.

So it's hard to understand how I've fallen off the wagon.

A pal bought me some Henri Winterman Half Coronas, always my fave cigars, for Christmas, & for some reason, I took them to Monte Carlo with me in March or April, & smoked one. It was lovely, I had 2 days holiday, sat in the sun, chilling with friends, & I enjoyed my cigar.

I smoked 1 or 2 more, & then I started little cigars now & then, particularly savouring a cigar when on a long drive, very relaxing.

In Dublin, a young lady whom I'm very fond of offered me a ciggie, & I smoked it. It was horrible, but that's not the point. I had 4 or 5 cigars over the weekend, too.

I'm not sure where I go from here with cigars. I don't think I'll go down the ciggies road again, but I'm enjoying the occasional cigar.

The health side (my health) does not trouble me, it's a little too late for that, & I'm a bit too old to worry really.

But being a nicotine slave DOES bother me a lot, also it's so socially unpopular these days.

I also hate the thought that I've failed, & I don't much care for failing in anything I attempt.

I guess with age comes stupidity. It's just mad, bad, & sad.

pity and contempt are very strong words tony imo, you have been in our shoes and have been in the same position many of us are in now, in trying to quit, i think it is vey different for one person to quit and another to quit, different genes have different effects on the mind and effect the endevour to quit. For you to feel contempt and pity for all smokers is really out of character i feel for someone who i have played with and respect as a person and pioneer of poker.

pity and contempt are very strong words tony imo, you have been in our shoes and have been in the same position many of us are in now

Well that's the whole point of the Post - I WAS a smoker for about 45 years. I WAS that man. I was poking insults at myself, for being so foolish for smoking in the first place, quitting, then starting again.

And "pity & contempt"? Well I'm sorry if it offends, but it is my honest, personal thoughts. Directed at myself as much as anyone else, I'm flogging myself for being suich a fool as to start again.

After I quit, I saw things differently to when I was smoking. Suddenly, little cameos of human behaviour amused me, & I felt pity for those who could not see it. For "they" read "me before I quit", & if I ain't careful, "me" now. They get off a train, & the fag is already in their mouth, gotta get that nicotine kick. Don't want to, HAVE to. At a break in a Tourney, rush to the smoking area, with all the other smokers. Miss hands to get a quick drag of a fag in an ashtray, "is it mine?" they wonder as they deeply inhale. In a Restaurant, gotta be in the smoking area, nowhere else wil do, ruled by the addiction. In a car with 3 non-smokers, one smoker pollutes the air for the other three, & makes their clothes stink. Neat trick that. Can't bear to be without ciggies. trapped by nicotine addiction, expensive, lethal, anti-social. Ever thought what a non-smoker thinks when they kiss a smoker?

So after I quit, I saw all this clearer, & wondered how & why I'd been so stupid for so long.

So yes, I feel contempt for myself right now, to have been so weak-willed & stupid. And I see other smokers in the same light. If that offends, I apologise. But I'll still think it, I can't change what my mind thinks, only what I say. And I think it knowing full well that I was a smoker for 45 years, & I was punishing myself in revealing my personal feelings.

ANYONE should be able to give up ciggies. It does not hurt - not one bit. It saves money. You smell better. You breathe better. You live longer. There is no valid argument to make in favour of it. I smoked for 45 years. Which was dumb. Then quit. Then failed. Which was seriously dumb.

I feel nothing but contempt for my weak-willed capitulation. But if it makes you feel better, I'll not tell you what I think of other smokers.

[tikay]

pity and contempt are very strong words tony imo, you have been in our shoes and have been in the same position many of us are in now, in trying to quit, i think it is vey different for one person to quit and another to quit, different genes have different effects on the mind and effect the endevour to quit. For you to feel contempt and pity for all smokers is really out of character i feel for someone who i have played with and respect as a person and pioneer of poker.

More than a few strong words, Adam earlier said my Mother smells like a tramp.

it just fascinates me the way facts and figures can be manipulated by all sides of an argument.

just strange, what you would have said if you were still a smoker and someone used the same terminology as you have done in this instance.
well done you have quit smoking....  **applause** some of us are not as strong willed and motivated as you sir.

Wirh respect, you have misquoted me by omitting "Or as a very wise man said earlier in this thread....." which changes the meaning of the Post entirely.

And.....

just strange, what you would have said if you were still a smoker and someone used the same terminology as you have done in this instance.

Again, that's the WHOLE POINT. I AM still a smoker! I tried to quit, & failed. Please also see my previous Post, where I (tried to) explain my thinking.

[KingPoker]

pity and contempt are very strong words tony imo, you have been in our shoes and have been in the same position many of us are in now, in trying to quit, i think it is vey different for one person to quit and another to quit, different genes have different effects on the mind and effect the endevour to quit. For you to feel contempt and pity for all smokers is really out of character i feel for someone who i have played with and respect as a person and pioneer of poker.

More than a few strong words, Adam earlier said my Mother smells like a tramp.

Or as a very wise man said earlier in this thread.....

it just fascinates me the way facts and figures can be manipulated by all sides of an argument.

I know you and IFM have a great point about anti smoking campaigners using famous celebreties who smoked heavily then contracted various types of cancer to try to stop people smoking aswell as statistics when themselves are being deceiving as so many more people contract it without ever having lit up a fag. But you cant argue with the fact that a cigarette contains 20 known cancer causing substances so im not saying like they would SMOKE AND YOU WILL GET CANCER but surely it can be said without question that stop smoking will greatly INCREASE the chance of you contracting the life threatening disease.

And yes I agree the smell of BO has gone more obvious in the late hours of a pub now since the smoking ban!

[action man]

dunno tony, you write and argue so well, that you often make me backtrack and agree with your stand point. For my money you are the george galloway of poker.
still think pity and contempt are strong though ;-)

[tikay]

dunno tony, you write and argue so well, that you often make me backtrack and agree with your stand point. For my money you are the george galloway of poker.
still think pity and contempt are strong though ;-)

I agree, maybe it was too strong  but I gotta be honest, it's what I was thinking.

Who is George Galloway when he's at home? Is he that mad Scottish MP who was in bed with the Iraqis?

[action man]

lol, im tired now......  outspoken scottish ex mp of bethnal and bow,   excellent debator

[KingPoker]

dunno tony, you write and argue so well, that you often make me backtrack and agree with your stand point. For my money you are the george galloway of poker.
still think pity and contempt are strong though ;-)

I agree, maybe it was too strong  but I gotta be honest, it's what I was thinking.

Who is George Galloway when he's at home? Is he that mad Scottish MP who was in bed with the Iraqis?

yes!

[wader leg]

contempt

  • noun 1. the feeling that a person or a thing is worthless or beneath consideration.


Pity all you like but generalising all smokers as worthless and beneath your consideration isn't what you meant,,,

Is it?

Surely there is someone you admire that also smokes?

[CRIPPIN]

well, having considerable experience in this field, there is no doubt that there is NO excuse for anybody to START smoking these days.

anyone that claims 'it doesn't do me any harm' is obviously a complete muppet (unless they are part of the strong willed few that can smoke less than 5 a day)

anyone continuing to smoke knowing the health risks is deluding themselves if they think that anything other than lack of will power is the reason that they continue.

But then again it's a good argument that if someone really enjoys it then they should be allowed to smoke, but, they should not be able to subject the rest of the species to their vice...including their children - referring to passive smoking.

[tikay]

contempt

  • noun 1. the feeling that a person or a thing is worthless or beneath consideration.


Pity all you like but generalising all smokers as worthless and beneath your consideration isn't what you meant,,,

Is it?

Surely there is someone you admire that also smokes?

No, I did not mean it in the context of "worthless or beneath consideration." But we are being pedantic here, I think everyone knows what i was trying to say.

Do I admire anyone that smokes? Yes, plenty. But I still think they are daft to smoke. Not as daft as me, mind, because I did the hard part of quitting - then started again!

[CelticGeezeer]

dunno tony, you write and argue so well, that you often make me backtrack and agree with your stand point. For my money you are the george galloway of poker.
still think pity and contempt are strong though ;-)

I agree, maybe it was too strong  but I gotta be honest, it's what I was thinking.

Who is George Galloway when he's at home? Is he that mad Scottish MP who was in bed with the Iraqis?

He was the one who said that Saddam didn't have any WMD  or links with Al anybody and that invading Iraq would be a bad idea.

Definity not one the sane English one's who said gung ho and sent other peoples children over to Iraq to die for oil.