So what's wrong with paternalism? My son is 3 years younger than your father, so I'm old enough to be your grandfather--aren't I entitled to be paternalistic? I'm also an ex-smoker with emphysema who has to spend $10/day on Oxygen, pills and Inhalors, so I know way too much about it to let young innocent people make the same mistake with their life that I made, before and after I knew it was dangerous. Big Macs have not been proven addictive.
A big Mac attack is a joke. A nicotine fit isn't. I tried many times to quit smoking over the 40 yrs that I smoked. I love Big Macs, but haven't had one in years--it just hasn't come up. Now I eat steak if I want beef. I'm glad you don't smoke. If you know someone who is just starting out, try to help them stop before it becomes ingrained and nearly impossible to break. Been there, done that, have the hose in the nose to prove it. Hose A

Congrats on your extraordinary ability petition approval!

I thought your sister meant you just kicked her out.

Vova,

You make a valid point about lecturing people who smoke. It IS very paternalistic and condecending. People shouldn't fool themselves into thinking that they are actually going to cure somebody's nicotine addiction, by lecturing them about smoking. I can see why some people who have breathing problems, may complain to a smoker who is smoking up their space, but even that issue could be looked at in more than one way. By the way, unfortunately some people DO openly criticize eachother for eating fast food.

One thing hopefully that we can all agree on is congratulations indeed on being officially recognized as a person of extrordinary ability and allowed to stay here in spite of the immigration debate going on--good work! I'll shut up about smoking since you don't smoke, but my point was not to harp at someone who is addicted (which is useless), but to warn somebody who might be starting out. It is addicting--don't poison your lungs testing that finding.

Hey are you going to be at 3rd street tonight? please let me know!

Hey Vova,
I think the only time where it is actually fair to voice your oppinion on someone else's smoking habit is if they are someone who is close to you and love or if they are actually asking for your oppinion on the habit. Sometimes trying to intervene into another person's decisions (regardless of how well meaning it is) can be a bad idea. People need to learn to identify when they make mistakes in life and how to fix them. Excessive paternalism can can encourage codependence and low self-esteem, especially if you do it in a way where you make them feel bad aout themselves. I think your point is absolutely valid.
By the way I think you should put up some more pictures on your blog, like your sister's. It makes it look more interesting.

I disagree with you Vova, I believe that if you care about someone you can't help but advise them against something that it is bad for them. I love my husband and it took me 3 years but I finally convinced him to quit, he hasn't smoked in 2 months and I am very proud of him,I love him and want him to be around for a very long time.
However I do think people over reacted to that blog simply because it is pretty obvious that she meant you kicked her out.

I don't harp on people for killing themselves with smoking. We all do things that are bad for us. BUT, I don't like other people dumping their smoke into MY lungs. I don't go around blowing toxic fumes in their faces, what's with up that?

What I don't like is the tollerance given to smokers because it is "their" choice. If it was only their choice, then fine, but I should be able to breathe clean air in public. What's dumb is banning smoking in bars, but in the general public, smoking should be looked down upon.

-
If I started going around farting and blowing the fumes with a fan to the table next to mine at a restaurant, I can gaurantee you they would be condescending about it, and I would most likely be asked to leave. And second-hand flatulence isn't even known to cause cancer.

Props for not drinking. Very few people are keen enough to figure out that drinking is an unnecessary past time.

hey vova,
congrats on the petition! now you can rock this country!
so i think this whole smoking thing is blown way out of porportion. my co-workers get in this fight almost daily. one guy smokes. the other girl drinks. and they are always after eachother about how bad the other's habbit is. my thouhgt...can it really matter that much? i mean, i get why people would be concerned for thier spouse or something, but why should you get angry at someone for doing what they want with thier own body? everyone has bad habbits, don't they? i chew my fingernails to the breaking point. is it bad for me? i guess so. do i care? no. sure chewing my nails isn't as harmful to me as getting smashed every weekend, but i would still get annoyed at someone who went after me all the time about how bad it was. my theory: it's your body, do what you want with it.

I quit smoking 6 months ago.
I quit because i wanted to and not because people pressured me into it. In fact i think i gave up because my family gave up trying to stop me and i could decide for myself without any outside influences.

Hey Jeff,

You really think that's clean air you're breathing out there? Heehee...

I think that banning it in bars/restaurants is gonna create an even bigger uproar because of all the smokers standing around outside of public places. And the butts all over sidewalks/streets. At least it was contained before, usually at the bar or in the "smoking section". And disposed of in ashtrays.

You should feel lucky you don't live in Europe. Some restaurants there have ashtrays on every table, indoor and out, and I've even seen ashtrays mounted on video games in gas stations and grocery stores. It's smoker-friendly, despite packs costing twice or more what they cost here...

Oooh drama! Exciting.

Juggling is bad for you Vova! You might get tendonitis or crack a fingernail! Not to mention the fact that its terribly addictive.

:)

major props, man. as a smoker, nothing makes me angrier than being preached to by an ex-smoker, except being spoken to as if i'm either uninformed or stupid. yes, if you care about someone with a destructive habit, you can voice your opinion, but harping on it is probably only going to make them more stubborn. and honestly, i think alcoholism is a much more pervasive and socially harmful condition than nicotine addiction.

some junk foods have been proven to stimulate the same areas of the brain as heroin

well i do lecture people on how unhealthy big mac.s are than kyou very much! i also think smoking is bad. but more so on the mcdonalds and fast foods... did you know america is the fatest country in the world?... we're also on our way to being the stupidest. fast food messes with our minds as much as it does our bodies and i'm pround to say i haven't eaten fast food in over a year and a half.

Each bird loves to hear himself sing... Adlard

Each bird loves to hear himself sing... Adlard

Each bird loves to hear himself sing... Adlard

The fat is in the fire... Joos

The fat is in the fire... Joos

The fat is in the fire... Joos

The fat is in the fire... Joos

Set a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to the devil... Walter