Ouch. I Took the Proverbial Social Hit

[cwpiperman]

Hey,
I'm very much enjoying my newfound hobby, but unfortunately one of my colleagues noticed the smokingpipes.com website over my shoulder (on my phone), and I was treated to no end of lectures on the dangers of pipe smoking, how even smoking a pipe once in a while (meaning, to him once a month) can have almost the same deleterious effects on health as heavy cigarette smoking. He produced some articles from various Journals of Epidemiology reporting the extremely high incidence of laryngeal cancer in pipe-only smokers that isn't present in even cigarette or cigar smokers, and he showed me several other journal articles reporting that smoking 1 bowl/day is tantamount to signing one's own death warrant.
Being a medical colleague of his, I reassured him that my explosion into a disease-riddled pile of death was not imminent. It's interesting to read the studies, but they do seem rather hyperbolic. One even concluded that they have found, to a high degree of precision (yes, they said that), that the best way of reducing exposure to pipe smoke during pipe smoking is...wait for it..... not to smoke a pipe.....revolutionary.
How do you folks handle the information/misinformation, and the well-meaning but oft-hyperbolic (or histrionic) reactions of family/friends/colleagues/news-media??
CW

 

[ashdigger]

Hello, my solution is always the same. I very politely tell them to fuck off and mind their own business. I don't engage after that.

 

[mrenglish]

I usually tell them with all the pollution in the air, pipe smoking is the least of my worries. If that does not work, I tell them my doctor knows I smoke a pipe and she is fine with it and that my previous doctor smoked several pounds a month and is still doing fine and in his 80's. Then I tell them to mind their own business.
He had one serious high end pipe collection.
Before the indoor ban hit here in Ohio, I read about a study that was conducted at Kent State. They tested the air quality inside a bar on a busy weekend and outside during the same time. They found the air quality was worse outside than in.

 

[tbradsim1]

I look at them stonefaced and don't say a thing, after an awkward moment they get the drift. : :crazy:

 

[cigrmaster]

I figure I am going to die of something, might as well be from something I love. No guarantee my pipes will kill me before something else does.

 

[warren]

I push a bit of smoke in their direction and continue on with my business but, I'm asocial to a fault.

 

[aldecaker]

I like to go with, "Thanks to you and your asshole SUV, pipe smoke is the safest thing I breathe anymore". Another fun one is, "You should thank me for not hogging up all the Social Security money, shitbird".

 

[mso489]

A pipe once a month? Hmmm. Two tenets of toxicology are genetic susceptibility, meaning if you are genetically vulnerable, you may be doomed on several fronts, and dose. If people tell you that dose isn't important, ask them if they they then take only one pill every month for a prescription specifying one a day. I will listen to serious concern with legitimate peer reviewed studies, and moderate my pipe smoking accordingly. I do. But if we're only talking about moral ardor with medical science as an excuse, no. There are many hazards in daily life -- pork, driving a vehicle, driving while texting, dangerous relatives, sunburn, excess sugar, too little or too much or inappropriate exercise, and so on. One key to health is balance, not too much or too little of exposures, and also, balanced thought. Limited pipe smoking may address stress with fewer side effects than pharmaceuticals taken to reduce stress and anxiety, so there's that.

 

[aldecaker]

I'm amazed they don't perceive the danger of pestering grumpy pipe smokers, if nothing more.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Ask them if they eat fried foods, salty foods, junk foods (salty or sweet), drink alcohol, drink cola, drive a car, go out in the sunlight without UV protection, breathe the air in the city etc., etc., etc. :mrgreen:

 

[mikethompson]

Great post MSO, and my thoughts exactly. Would this same person chastise someone who has one beer a month on the dangers of alcohol?

 

[cwpiperman]

@MSO489 I've always enjoyed your posts, and this one is no exception. As I said, hyperbole abounds. And on the toxicological front, I agree wholeheartedly. And, as it happens, my parents are both still living and I'm 60. Genetics does count.
@Aldecaker Indeed.
CW

 

[cwpiperman]

@anthonyrosenthal Well taken. And to another point, how does one get an image onto one's signature?
CW

 

[cortezattic]

Ashdigger:

I very politely tell them to fuck off and mind their own business. I don't engage after that.

:rofl:

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

And to another point, how does one get an image onto one's signature?

Same as you would in a post. I see you've have a signature, so you already know how to get there, but for others that don't, simply click on your username under your avatar, go to edit, and under signature simply type img in brackets and then paste image location (url of image) followed by /img in brackets. You may have to adjust size of image before.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I actually live in a fairly smoker friendly environment, and have never been condescended like this. Even my doctor's office has an outdoor covered smoking area. If someone did approach me like that, I would either tell them that the leading cause of death is living, or by talking down to a tobacco user.

 

[btp79]

Hello, my solution is always the same. I very politely tell them to fuck off and mind their own business. I don't engage after that.

Same here

 

[cwpiperman]

I would either tell them that the leading cause of death is living, or by talking down to a tobacco user.

Yes. Yes it is. With your permission, I'll borry that, Cap'n.
CW, SD4

 

[Chasing Embers]

Permission granted. :mrgreen:

 

[mso489]

People have to earn some trust before they can believably express concern about your wellbeing. Otherwise it can be considered self-righteousness and controlling. If someone who earned status as a friend wants to forward a concern about my health, I'll hear out him or her. Passerbys or acquaintances, no. Likewise, I observe the same guidelines in offering advice to others.