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From: doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: Lung Display in Waiting Room
Message-ID: <884@terak.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Nov-85 13:30:50 EST
Article-I.D.: terak.884
Posted: Mon Nov 18 13:30:50 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 21-Nov-85 21:46:45 EST
References: <1997@aecom.UUCP> <517@ttidcb.UUCP> <447@cylixd.UUCP> <981@mcnc.mcnc.UUCP> <480@cylixd.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: Calcomp Display Products Division, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Lines: 55

> Or is there ANYTHING a non-smoker can do to influence a smoker
> to quit; perhaps it must be the smoker's decision, and there is no way
> to influence it from the outside?

Bingo!

If someone who smokes quits, it will be at a time of his choosing and
for his own reasons.  When someone assails them with the "Smoking is
bad for you because..." tirade, they think, "Boy, this person thinks
I'm so stupid that I don't know all of this.  If he thinks I'm going
to pay any attention to such an arrogant and holier-than-thou jerk, he's
got another think coming."

In other words, all that will happen if you spout off about the perils
of smoking is that you will totally discredit yourself in the eyes of
the person that you're supposedly trying to help.  (I say "supposedly",
because there really are a lot of arrogant and holier-than-thou jerks
out there who don't really want to help at all; they just want to
denigrate smokers so that they'll feel superior).

Okay, so what *can* you do?  First, examine your own motives.  Honestly.

If you feel superior to those who smoke, then kindly keep your mouth
shut (most ex-smokers fall into this category).  Your conceited braying
is obvious to almost everyone, and smokers in particular find it down-
right funny that you think that you're better than they are.

If you don't like the idea that maybe smokers are actually *enjoying*
doing something that you personally would never ever do, then you too
are requested to keep your notions to yourself and your kind.

If you don't like being exposed to smoke, you might try the almost
always ignored route of simply asking the smokers that you deal with to
be considerate of you.  Insist that restaurants have a non-smoking
section, since you can hardly be expected to ask every stranger at
every nearby table to be considerate.  (It probably wouldn't work,
anyway).

If you're concerned about smoking as a "public health menace", then
concentrate on *prevention*.  A lot has already been done in this area,
especially on television where ads have been banned and most characters
don't smoke.

If you are concerned about the health of someone special to you, then
you have a difficult time ahead.  Your best bet is to *never* bring up
the subject of smoking; that person already knows damn well about the
hazards.  Instead, make sure that the "someone special" knows that
they *are* special to you, and that their health is something that you
care very deeply about.  But this must be communicated subtly, in a
*caring* tone, not in a *lecturing* tone.  It will take a long time;
maybe months, maybe years.  But eventually they will decide *on their
own* that they should give up the habit because it endangers something
that *you* care about.
-- 
Doug Pardee -- CalComp -- {hardy,savax,seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!terak!doug