Smokers and Dirty Looks

Unfortunately, even those smokers who are trying to butt out but haven't quite kicked the habit are often thrown dirty looks. If a smoker is 'caught' smoking somewhere - even out of doors - then usually these derogatory glances are from non-smokers and sometimes - with fair reason.

Non-smokers are often very sensitive to the smell and presence of tobacco smoke. They've made it more than clear over the years that smoking bothers them. Some people are highly allergic to smoke, and these people might also throw a dirty look or side-ways negative glance at a smoker.

It's true - tobacco smoke is harmful. Plain and simple. It's harmful to both smokers and non-smokers.

However - tobacco smoke is also addictive and often smokers are unable to deal well with this addiction, even when they realize they wish to stop smoking. There's simply more to quitting smoking than not doing it anymore.

For those who have trouble quitting smoking, therapy might be in order, a sort of re-training of behaviors to replace smoking with a better habit. This is complicated stuff, not just like putting your left foot into your shoes first when you usually start with your right foot on a daily basis.

Sometimes, a doctor needs to be involved - along with nicotine patch prescriptions and other 'tools' for quitting smoking.

Needless to say, until there comes along a really fast and easy method for quitting smoking - and until we come to days where people are so universally informed about the dangers of smoking that they're not willing to start smoking in the first place, there will always be dirty looks from the non-smokers.