Dear Abby Advises Smoker on How to Refuse Quitting Advice
Nowadays, the pressure is on for smokers to quit - but some feel their habit
and its health risks are no one's business but their own.
Dear Abby published a letter from "Not Ready to Kick the Butts in Kenosha,"
a smoker who was sick of hearing lectures about why he should quit. He
asked how to politely tell the concerned individuals to butt out.
When people decide they need to lecture me on why I should quit, how should
I politely respond that I don't need their advice? I will decide on my own when
I am ready to quit and make the effort. I understand they are trying to help my
overall health, but it's really none of their business.
Link
The advice sage reluctantly agreed with the distraught smoker, and other
readers' reactions poured in. Dr. Steven in Reno
said Not Ready to Kick the Butts had him smoking.
Please tell me if you think you'll ever receive letters signed "Not
Ready to Get a Disability Check Every Month Because I Won't Quit," or
"Not Ready to Let Everybody Else Pay 80 Percent of My $276,000 Hospital
Bill," or "Not Ready to Let Everyone Else Pay $1,500 a Month for My
Oxygen and Medications."
Another reader had this frightening anecdote to share:
A chain-smoking Marine Corps gunnery sergeant once told me: "Anyone can
quit smoking. It takes a REAL man to risk
lung cancer."
At least some other readers took respiratory health into account.
One asthma sufferer said the smoker should have more concern for those with
respiratory diseases irritated by smoke, and a grief-stricken wife recounted
the pain of watching cancer devour her husband. You can read all of the
responses here,
and feel free to leave your own in our comments section.