For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 20, 2016

She doesn’t want his nephew and niece to get asthma or something dangerous by means of second-hand smoke.

I hope it is 3 below out there.

Oh man, this brings back a not so good memory. My father-in-law was a heavy smoker. We lived in the South back then so it didn’t get too cold in the winter. I had gritted my teeth and put up with him smoking in our home in the past, but when our youngest child was born prematurely and had ongoing lung issues, we had to put our foot down. He could no longer smoke in our home, he would have to go outside. Same for my husband’s sister. We just had to do it. Talk about a free for all :-( They came for dinner and we had to tell them they could no longer smoke in our home. I don’t think they ever forgave us and none of them ever came to our home again, for dinner or otherwise. Now days, it’s considered the polite thing to not smoke in another person’s home, but back in 1986/87 it was still a fairly new thing, and they were all livid.They all left in a huff, half way through the meal that day…. So thankful the hubby stood with me on this, because it was very important to our son’s health and our other two children, too. Ellie is doing what I wanted to say to my FIL…and SIL….but was too timid to do, at the time.

Good for her.

My husband smoked until after our second daughter was born, but when our first daughter was born, he took it outside, himself. He NEVER smoked near her. Not in the apartment, not in the car…not anywhere. One day when our second daughter was just a few months old, he just stopped. It’s been about 10 years, and he hasn’t had a single puff.

My nose is worthless – I can barely smell skunks – but I can feel cigarette smoke as tightness in my throat. Most smokers have no idea how sensitive non-smokers are to the smoke. I have many times changed lanes in traffic because of smoke that had to be coming from the car ahead of me.

The average smoker doesn’t have any idea how bad it smells until they stop smoking. I remember my mom stopped after 50 years of smoking and after about 2 years we were cleaning out a linen closet and she came across some old sheets that had not been used in a while and commented about how bad they smelled, I sniffed and told her it was just cigarette smoke that had not been used since before she stopped smoking. After a bit you can smell, taste and actually breath. Good for her, I allow NO smoking in my home, don’t care who you are.

I think ex-smokers become even more sensitive to secondhand smoke, than people who have never smoked. When I first quit, smoking was still allowed in bars and restaurants, and it didn’t bother me to frequent them. Gradually, over the years, I became more and more sensitive to cigarette smoke.I really don’t like being around smokers or going into a house that smells like and old chimney.

My first husband smoked in the house. He later died…wonder why? My second husband ALSO smokes, but at least he takes it outside. You’d think what happened to hubby #1 would scare him. Nope.

The other day we went to an older diner and we could smell the odor of cigarettes even though smoking has been banned in Arizona restaurants for at least 10 years. It goes to show how it can linger long after the smoking stops. I suspect it had gotten into carpeting and curtains and other fabrics that the diner hadn’t changed in years. If it had been up to me, we would have gone somewhere else but my dad really wanted to eat there.

I have stopped ‘riding’ in a vehicle with my son-in-law because since my open heart surgery being with him when he is smoking in a vehicle, I can’t get a full breath or have to sit next to a window where I can get some air(regardless of weather) ! ! !

Yes smoke outside, about 10 miles from here!

You go, Elly!

I guess I was pretty lucky. When the first Surgeon General’s report came out (1957?), my Dad decided to stop cold turkey. His rationalization? — I’ve smoked from when I was thirteen until I was thirty; it’s time to stop. So I grew up mostly in a smoke-free house.

Not to mention the yellow residue left on the walls and stuff! Eweee

A house is private property, and can have smoking or no smoking depending on the desire of the owners. Elly said no smoking, so no smoking. Case closed. That being said, I had an FBOFW book with the same strip in black & white, and the third panel says “fagaroo”. Is that some sort of Canadian slang, or was it a brand name, and why did Lynn Johnston change the name in these “new-runs”? Did “fagaroo” go out of business or something?

To a non-smoker, kissing a smoker has all the appeal of licking a dirty ashtray!

I’m an asthmatic, and I grew up in a house with smokers.

When I was a teenager, I went to paint a room, and when I took down the pictures, I saw a rectangle on the wall from where the paint was protected by the picture.It wasn’t just a darker shade, it was almost a different color. That’s when I realized all the walls had a yellow-brown stain on them from the smoke. And my lungs probably did, too.

How many times have I said that I think Phil’s creepy? Well, add one more….

My parents were chain-smokers…they didn’t quit until after all of us kids had moved out. I have never smoked, never had the urge to smoke and will never smoke because, growing up, it was my job to empty and wash the ashtrays every night after supper. The stench was horrible.

Typical smoker, ‘smell don’t bother me’, well it bothers everyone else. Outside!

My dad and uncles all smoked what killed them. My dad’s heart was dying and he passed at 79. My mom suffered from all the smoking she never smoked and now 90 my sibling and I never picked up the habit as we endured second hand smoke. Now my daughter thinks she is allergic to smoke and none of us smoke.Due to homeowner’s insurance I see more people going outside the home to smoke. If only they realized paying for expensive habit ruins the body.For Elly I agree with her.

My dad gave up a 2 pack-a-day habit cold turkey when I was about 9. After that, he was very sensitive to the smell and had little signs in his cars asking the passengers not to smoke. About 12 years after he gave up smoking, he was in a major accident where, among other things, he broke his nose (for the 3rd time). A few years later, when one of Mom’s friends saw Dad’s signs, she told me that because of his accident she would honor his request but that she “can’t stand ex-smokers who won’t allow anyone else to smoke around them”. We never did tell her the signs were because he was an ex-smoker and had nothing to do with his accident.

I’m not sure who all these crazy smokers that you know are. I have never seen a smoker be even a little offended by having to smoke outside. Most prefer it because they don’t even smoke in their OWN homes! I’m sure they are all fully aware of the smell and health hazards. Smoking does not automatically turn you into an ass.

A pot bonfire sounds like it was law enforcement or someone who did not like pot. Stoners would never waste that much.

I was thrilled when CO banned smoking inside public buildings. I haven’t been inside a building that smells of smoke for years – except when we go out of state. The smokers I know all go outside to do it, because that’s what is expected.

Our family stayed in a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip this year. We had to walk through the casino to get in or out of the building, and the smoke was so bad, it made me nauseated. My daughters, who grew up without ever being around smokers, complained bitterly. I don’t think smokers have a clue what it’s like for those who don’t smoke to be around them.

After my older brother threatened to kill me if I told our folks he’d been smoking, I decided it just wasn’t worth it. Don’t even know what a cigarette tastes like and I’m 78 now. He stopped smoking and can’t even stand the smell of smoke in the air.

The Last thing anyone needs is to give her Kids Emphysema from Secondhand Smoke, Phil.

When I smoked, I quit every winter because I didn’t want it in the house and it was too cold to go outside. You would think I could have just quit, but Oh no….I would start up again every summer. I finally did quit altogether.

When my stepson and his wife first moved in with my wife and me, we both told the young-uns they had to smoke outside. Just that degree of denial got our daughter-in-law to realize just how bad it was to visit her parents, who both smoked like chimneys inside the house. It wasn’t long before she stopped altogether. My stepson continued to smoke, although at a reduced rate, until he contracted a serious abscess in his mouth that resulted in a huge hole in his jaw. His surgeon told him it had been caught just in time, another week, another day, it would have been inoperable. The doctor also advised him in no uncertain terms that continuing to smoke would drag out the recovery if not torpedo it completely. That got him off cigarettes.

“just imagine how many THOUSANDS of DOLLARS worth of “pot” would have been required to do such a thing”-He probably means that they made a bonfire using wood, then added some pot to it.

As an asthmatic raised by two smokers I say.. let them damage their own lungs outside. Way outside. Not sitting at the back door where the smoke wafts back inside