On the website http://www.captainphilharris.com/, there is a thread called, "Quit Smoking With Captain Phil", with a sub thread called, "Let's Show Some Support".
As always when the subject of smoking is brought up, the comments fall into one of several camps: Smokers, Ex-Smokers, Non-smokers who understand that they have no idea what it's like to smoke or be addicted to it, and then there are those Non-Smokers who I call the, "Holier than thou, I'm better than you, Look down their noses" crowd who think that smoking is a character flaw, and that all smokers are a lower form of life.
Some of those people think they are being nice about telling you to quit because they use nice words, friendly tone of voice, and keep reminding you how unhealthy it is for you. Then there are ones I consider "Anti-Smoking Nazi's" - for that's how they act. These folks feel it's necessary to constantly reconniter a smoker's habit and feel they are entitled to continually tell you that you need to quit smoking, why you need to quit smoking, how expensive it is to smoke, and all about how the second hand smoke from your habit is slowly killing everyone within a 20 mile radius of the cigarette you are smoking. All that with the tone and demeanor of someone who is addressing a 6 year old child.
I had not read the thread in a while so I have not read every comment, but when I did one post made me want to smack the writer upside the head. The subject of Phil's continued smoking came up. While most were sympathetic about how difficult it is to quit, one person named "Sock Monkey" answered with this, "I noticed that he is still smoking, maybe this subject should be deleted from the forum." When someone asked if we should stop supporting Phil because he has not succeeded yet and how hard it is to quit, she was answered, "hmmm, trying? Everytime I see him, he has a smoke in his hand." I wish that person was in my presence so I could verbally rip him/her a new asshole. I can't stand people who have that attitude. Who do they think they are?
Maybe I'm overreacting a bit, but when I smoked I was practically crucified for it. It was my life and nobody else's damn business. I never smoked in homes that weren't mine, I never smoked around babies except my own, and I never threw my cigarettes out of my car window. People who haven't walked in my shoes need to keep their thoughts to themselves and their traps shut. After a while of hearing them blab, you just don't want to be around it anymore. And in this case Phil can't come back and tell the person what he thinks. He'd get into too much trouble if he did. I'm not claiming to know exactly what he thinks, but I have walked in his shoes, so I probably come close. Here's my reply to Sock Monkey and anyone else like him/her. The first sentence is to another poster who answered right before I did, and at the end of her post she wrote, "
"There, I finally commited myself to an opinion on something......if you must throw stones, please aim for my gut, my head is already too screwed up as it is!"
I answered:
"Kim, you are so nice. I smoked for 25 years and have been smoke free for 2 1/2, so I speak from experience and won't sound as nice as you.
I get fed up with people who monitor whether or not a smoker has quit, or how much they smoke. What business is it of theirs? Most of us are here because we like the guy we see piloting the Cornelia Marie every week, and want everything done that will expedite good health to him. Most people would. There is nothing wrong with wanting Phil to quit smoking to achieve that goal. But whether or not he does it is his business. Not ours. I can't speak for Phil, but I'm sure part of him wants to quit because he wants to live, and have a good life. But as an ex-smoker, I can pretty much guarantee you that the rest of him is saying, "Quit smoking?? OH, HELL NO!!" - as his body craves the cigarettes even more than before. I understand this concept very well.
Sock Monkey, the title to this thread is: Quit Smoking With Captain Phil. This implies, at least to me, that the smokers other than Phil are supposed to try to put down the nicotine along with him. It isn't a thread for people to ride his back about whether or not he has stopped his bad habit yet. Why should we delete this thread? To punish Phil?? To send him a message that we think he's a schmuck because he still smokes?? Or is it a call to give up on him completely?? And will any of that make him stop?? Will Captain Phil read it and decide that he better quit so he doesn't let down his fans or hurt anybody's feelings?? What does he owe us, really?? Don't anyone correct me; the man is very generous with his time he gives to those who admire him, and lets all of them all know how thankful he is for all he has been given from this reality, and is always unpretentious about the whole thing. I've never seen him not humbled by his celebrity.
But in reality, he doesn't owe any of us his cessation from cigarettes. If you feel Phil has let you down because he still smokes, you had better examine your relationship to him. With the exception of a few ladies on this board, not one of us is a close, personal friend of his. If he owe's anyone the termination of cigarettes in his life, he owe's it to himself. No one else. Family and close friends do count - up to a point, but he's the one who will pay the ultimate price if he doesn't stop. Are you addicted to anything?? Have you ever walked in his shoes? I have. And I'm telling you that to cut the cigarettes out of your life is like having an extra appendage that will kill you if you don't amputate it. But here's the thing: instead of having a surgeon operate, you have to sever it by yourself. And without anesthesia. Does that sound easy? Especially while there are people all around you waiting for you to be done with it? There are also so-called "nice" people who feel they need to give Phil their opinion about his continued smoking, and they seem to think that he will really be influenced by those beliefs. I have a message for them: He won't be. You don't have that kind of influence on Phil. Not one of those comments will directly affect Phil's smoking habits. If anything, they will begin to piss him off. At least it did me. And again, I'm not speaking for Phil.
All I'm trying to say is to get off the guy's back. He'll quit when he's damn well good and ready. Constant pestering and pronounciations of a horrible future and his death will not help or encourage him or any other smoker to stop. And for those who see cigarette smoking as a character flaw to be looked down upon, I suggest you take a look at your own life. If you turn on the light in your closet you can get rid of all those dusty old skeletons in there.See Kim, now the stones will get thrown at me. You are safe."
Report to moderator 99.30.79.117
As always when the subject of smoking is brought up, the comments fall into one of several camps: Smokers, Ex-Smokers, Non-smokers who understand that they have no idea what it's like to smoke or be addicted to it, and then there are those Non-Smokers who I call the, "Holier than thou, I'm better than you, Look down their noses" crowd who think that smoking is a character flaw, and that all smokers are a lower form of life.
Some of those people think they are being nice about telling you to quit because they use nice words, friendly tone of voice, and keep reminding you how unhealthy it is for you. Then there are ones I consider "Anti-Smoking Nazi's" - for that's how they act. These folks feel it's necessary to constantly reconniter a smoker's habit and feel they are entitled to continually tell you that you need to quit smoking, why you need to quit smoking, how expensive it is to smoke, and all about how the second hand smoke from your habit is slowly killing everyone within a 20 mile radius of the cigarette you are smoking. All that with the tone and demeanor of someone who is addressing a 6 year old child.
I had not read the thread in a while so I have not read every comment, but when I did one post made me want to smack the writer upside the head. The subject of Phil's continued smoking came up. While most were sympathetic about how difficult it is to quit, one person named "Sock Monkey" answered with this, "I noticed that he is still smoking, maybe this subject should be deleted from the forum." When someone asked if we should stop supporting Phil because he has not succeeded yet and how hard it is to quit, she was answered, "hmmm, trying? Everytime I see him, he has a smoke in his hand." I wish that person was in my presence so I could verbally rip him/her a new asshole. I can't stand people who have that attitude. Who do they think they are?
Maybe I'm overreacting a bit, but when I smoked I was practically crucified for it. It was my life and nobody else's damn business. I never smoked in homes that weren't mine, I never smoked around babies except my own, and I never threw my cigarettes out of my car window. People who haven't walked in my shoes need to keep their thoughts to themselves and their traps shut. After a while of hearing them blab, you just don't want to be around it anymore. And in this case Phil can't come back and tell the person what he thinks. He'd get into too much trouble if he did. I'm not claiming to know exactly what he thinks, but I have walked in his shoes, so I probably come close. Here's my reply to Sock Monkey and anyone else like him/her. The first sentence is to another poster who answered right before I did, and at the end of her post she wrote, "
"There, I finally commited myself to an opinion on something......if you must throw stones, please aim for my gut, my head is already too screwed up as it is!"
I answered:
"Kim, you are so nice. I smoked for 25 years and have been smoke free for 2 1/2, so I speak from experience and won't sound as nice as you.
I get fed up with people who monitor whether or not a smoker has quit, or how much they smoke. What business is it of theirs? Most of us are here because we like the guy we see piloting the Cornelia Marie every week, and want everything done that will expedite good health to him. Most people would. There is nothing wrong with wanting Phil to quit smoking to achieve that goal. But whether or not he does it is his business. Not ours. I can't speak for Phil, but I'm sure part of him wants to quit because he wants to live, and have a good life. But as an ex-smoker, I can pretty much guarantee you that the rest of him is saying, "Quit smoking?? OH, HELL NO!!" - as his body craves the cigarettes even more than before. I understand this concept very well.
Sock Monkey, the title to this thread is: Quit Smoking With Captain Phil. This implies, at least to me, that the smokers other than Phil are supposed to try to put down the nicotine along with him. It isn't a thread for people to ride his back about whether or not he has stopped his bad habit yet. Why should we delete this thread? To punish Phil?? To send him a message that we think he's a schmuck because he still smokes?? Or is it a call to give up on him completely?? And will any of that make him stop?? Will Captain Phil read it and decide that he better quit so he doesn't let down his fans or hurt anybody's feelings?? What does he owe us, really?? Don't anyone correct me; the man is very generous with his time he gives to those who admire him, and lets all of them all know how thankful he is for all he has been given from this reality, and is always unpretentious about the whole thing. I've never seen him not humbled by his celebrity.
But in reality, he doesn't owe any of us his cessation from cigarettes. If you feel Phil has let you down because he still smokes, you had better examine your relationship to him. With the exception of a few ladies on this board, not one of us is a close, personal friend of his. If he owe's anyone the termination of cigarettes in his life, he owe's it to himself. No one else. Family and close friends do count - up to a point, but he's the one who will pay the ultimate price if he doesn't stop. Are you addicted to anything?? Have you ever walked in his shoes? I have. And I'm telling you that to cut the cigarettes out of your life is like having an extra appendage that will kill you if you don't amputate it. But here's the thing: instead of having a surgeon operate, you have to sever it by yourself. And without anesthesia. Does that sound easy? Especially while there are people all around you waiting for you to be done with it? There are also so-called "nice" people who feel they need to give Phil their opinion about his continued smoking, and they seem to think that he will really be influenced by those beliefs. I have a message for them: He won't be. You don't have that kind of influence on Phil. Not one of those comments will directly affect Phil's smoking habits. If anything, they will begin to piss him off. At least it did me. And again, I'm not speaking for Phil.
All I'm trying to say is to get off the guy's back. He'll quit when he's damn well good and ready. Constant pestering and pronounciations of a horrible future and his death will not help or encourage him or any other smoker to stop. And for those who see cigarette smoking as a character flaw to be looked down upon, I suggest you take a look at your own life. If you turn on the light in your closet you can get rid of all those dusty old skeletons in there.See Kim, now the stones will get thrown at me. You are safe."
Report to moderator 99.30.79.117
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