Are your pictures stuff you have xrayed?

Yes, though I will confess that my current profile pic is one of my colleague's patients, not mine. It was just too cool to pass up, though.

Wow. That's one ****** up knee, doc!! Did it belong to a smoker who didn't pay his bill? :) jk

That is awesome. Its too bad you cant show your checks for breast cancer. That would be hilarious.

#17, upwards of 90% of smokers start before they turn 18, and the bulk of the rest start before turning 21. In general, the younger someone is the less good they are about responsibly making long-term decisions; there's a reason cigarettes (etc.) aren't supposed to be available to minors. Trouble is, smoking's terribly addictive, and once someone has started, it's very hard to quit. Cigarette manufacturers know this and market accordingly, as far as the law will allow. A study from a number of years ago found that more 3-year-olds recognized Joe Camel than Mickey Mouse.

I've actually had people *encourage* me to smoke. They would quite literally tell me that it's good for me. I laughed in their faces.

His statement wasn't discriminatory in the least. It wasn't even that negative. Get off your high horse.

Giveadamn, sweetie. I've seen several of your comments on this FML, and you keep making completely illogical comparisons between smoking (optional, bad habit, and potentially deadly) and things like race (completely unrelated). Go take a nap (or smoke break ;P) or something, because even the smokers on here have said that you sound crazy.

The problem you've run into, if that's the case, is that since you didn't make your intent clear from the beginning everyone has taken your words at face value. Thus, you're now the villain.

Nicotine IS a drug, and a highly addictive one. However, it's legal. There are (increasing) restrictions on its use, though, just as there are for alcohol.

25- I don't see what it being legal has to do with the issue. If doing heroin or meth were legal, would you be ok with people doing that on the street? Perhaps have meth breaks at work? Point I'm trying to make here, is if you need laws to determine what's right and wrong, then you're kinda screwed up.

@21 so do you also hate alcohol and unhealthy food like MacDonalds? No? Brilliant. These can also be addictive.

Jesus, you can really pinpoint all the smokers in this FML.

I feel sorry for you that you feel like you NEED smoking to help not let something bother you. That's a sign of a weak personality and weak mind. You know what I need? Nothing. I can calm myself down without needing substances.

What's interesting is that I haven't once posted my personal view on smoking or IF I EVEN SMOKE. And you assume that I'm against it and attack me. Because anyone defending someone else must have the same opinions as them, right? And if their opinion is different, we attack, right? Plot twist: I was once a smoker.

Ugh. I'm TRYING to have a decent argument, but you keep changing the subject.

#60 -- Actually, I was merely responding to #21's "I mean, there's nothing good in doing it, it's just like using drugs." As I've posted above, cigarette smoke gives me migraines; it also very likely helped kill two of my grandparents and gave my father a heart attack. I'd be delighted if nobody smoked on the street, or anywhere else in public. But because smoking cigarettes is legal, then unless someone's smoking in a desginated nonsmoking area, their choice to smoke is their own and subject to their own views of right and wrong. I'm not sure how you got from my post to "if you need laws to determine what's right and wrong, then you're kinda screwed up," but no, I don't. ;-)

#72, alcohol and fast foods are basically food items. Having some once in a while feeds you and does nothing bad. Have a lot, and it takes a toll on your health (like ANY other food). Tobacco is good for nothing in the body, it's a set of chemicals (******* petrol and stuff, how can people willingly inhale petrol ??) that is bad from the very beginning. And to make things worse it's also addictive.

171 Alcohol is addictive and is also damaging in the beginning. Maybe not so much, but don't tell me you get lung cancer from smoking 1 pack of cigarettes in your whole life. And you know what? Food can also be addictive. I was 'addicted' to food and changed my addiction from food to smoking, lost weight and then quit smoking. But I'd rather have the smoking addiction than the food addiction. But I don't understand why people always have to argue being 'against smoking'. I mean, no sane person thinks smoking is good, that's not the problem. You don't argue being against heroine addicts, right? And if you would, you are not going to accomplish a thing. There is a reason people do drugs or unhealthy things, that's what should be taken care of, instead of making smoking look 'uncool' (they have commercials for that in my country), or something.

If you actually read the post, it said walked past, not sat next to. The smokers were sitting down but the OP wasn't. Therefore it wasn't the OP's fault they got exposed to the smoke. And, OP wasn't badgering them, they're allergic to smoke, big difference.

27 - If you have a habit that inconveniences other people, the onus is on YOU to ensure that you inconvenience people as little as possible. I have asthma, and while I try to avoid smokers, sometimes you get caught by surprise (ie: someone turning around and blowing smoke right as you walk past them, inhaling). I've met my share of jerks, but usually I just politely ask them to move downwind because I have asthma. If I'm at a bus stop or something I'll save their spot. But you shouldn't expect the person who is coughing to have to move. If someone blows smoke in my face, I sometimes cough so hard I throw up, if I can't get my inhaler right away. It's been a while since that happened, but it can. Instead of being rude, just step away!

Exaggerated-sounding coughs can still be legit. If I start coughing from my asthma, I generally sound like a cat hurking up a hairball. Or worse. If you're fake-coughing, that's one thing. I do agree about asking for a designated smoking area, though.

hate the smoking, not the smoker.

You must be a nice person, 37.