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The Disappearance of the Ashtray

clivethompson.medium.com

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Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#601

Post by BizarroLand »

gymbeaux wrote: post #183
brightlancer wrote: post #46

> Everyone had hard-smoking relatives who looked like absolute hell by their late 30s, were coughing up a lung in their 40s, and by their 50s were being hoisted by pallbearers. Smoking is a disgusting habit and I love working from home because I never have to step in an elevator with folks fresh from a smoke break, but it isn't nearly that fatal. I grew up when smoking was literally everywhere and the "hard-smoking"…

But there are plenty of documented cases where heavy smoking for around 30 years = cancer. I have to wonder if cigarettes of the 50s are different from the cigarettes of today. Perhaps, for example, some additive(s) not present in the 50s cigs are causing cancer in today’s cigs. Also, “hard-smoking” is subjective. Are the heavy smokers of today smoking more than the heavy smokers of the 50s? Speaking anecdotally, all…

I know some cigarette companies put asbestos in the filter to keep the cotton fibers of other brands out of your lungs.

That might have had some unintended side effects...

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#602

Post by forgetfreeman »

chrisco255 wrote: post #353
forgetfreeman wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You misspelled "can't be bothered to contribute to the wellbeing of the people around us". Incidentally, you think wearing a rated mask for a couple hours qualifies as "suffering"? When did notionally adult humans get this soft? Try working 10 hours straight in a tyvek bunny suit and full face respiratory PPE. We'd be carting you off my jobsite in a wheelbarrow after 30 minutes.

I do contribute to the wellbeing of the 95+% of the people who choose not to wear a mask and want to engage in human connection with the full range of emotional and facial expressiveness we were blessed with for that purpose, by not focusing on the irrational belief that wearing PPE 24/7 is even remotely possible or desirable, and accepting the statistical reality that in 2023, the vast majority of the population hav…

That's a lot of words, all utterly self-serving, for being a self-absorbed prick with a wildly inflated notion of how desirable your interaction is for random-ass strangers. Shove the 24 hour strawman where the sun doesn't shine, we're talking about not being an ass in enclosed spaces solely because you're too delicate to handle even the most basic respiratory PPE for any length of time.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#603

Post by yellowapple »

Plenty of ashtrays still around in bars and casinos - and even though they're rare to see inside of homes, they ain't all that rare in backyards or on front porches. Of course, rarely are they ever so ornate as the wonderful examples in the article; if anything they nowadays seem designed to stand out as little as possible.

My dad, toward the end of his life, was a heavy-enough smoker that an ashtray on the porch was insufficient. His solution? Fill an empty milk jug partway with water and drop butts into that.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#604

Post by system2 »

proto_lambda wrote: post #299
system2 wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would buy a long range EV but they are crazy expensive. I wish the governments could support consumers more in this.

> long range EV That's called a train.

I am sure I can park the train in my garage.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#605

Post by bruce511 »

sidewndr46 wrote: post #529
dsfyu404ed wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree but prior to ww2's investment into R&D, infrastructure and labor force the economics of the industry were fundamentally different. The 1950s and early 1960s were to airlines what the 1990s were for computing.

Go read about Pan Am in the 1920s and 1930s & you will think differently. They were busy building global transportation routes with whatever technology they could get their hands on.

Yes, commercial flight goes back before the 60s. And sure there were the flying boats and so on. But that era of commercial flight was very limited, it was expensive, there were very limited schedules and so on.

Today I can get a flight to pretty much anywhere in the world, with maybe a day's lead time, and perhaps 36 hours of travel. Anywhere. In the world.

So, I think we can say air travel is no longer in "startup" phase. It is heavily regulated and very organised. (there are still startups in aviation, but they need a hook different to flying-you-there)

In the same way computers existed before 1960,and PCs were available in the 70's,but arguably its not till Windows 95 that it goes "main stream", and its not until the iPhone/Android era that "everyone has a computing device".

So my point is that the era of commercial aviation aimed at the masses kicks off in the 60s,not that the 60s is the first instance of commercial aviation.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#606

Post by SergeAx »

j_m_b wrote: post #7

It's tough to portray just how ubiquitous smoking was to a modern audience. You would go to a restaurant and the first thing your hostess would ask is "smoking or non"? I remember standing in a checkout line in the 80s as a child and being fascinated with the billowing clouds of smoke an old lady blew. I remember coming home from bars reeking of smoke, even though I didn't. Even teachers had their own lounges that re…

I am currently in Serbia. It is not a part of EU, so there is no smoke ban at all (neigbour Bulgaria is EU and has at least some restrictions). There are no such things that "smoke or non", the whole venue is usually smoking. There are some places with zoning (usually those that has children in mind) and very rare ones totally non-smoking (expats are keeping a registry of those on Google Maps). It is quite shocking and makes me doubt libertarian ideas.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#607

Post by lelanthran »

leokennis wrote: post #520
lelanthran wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Too many times I have had people go out of their way to walk in front of my 3 ton truck driving 100 mph in a pedestrian zone to almost get hit, and then complain about it. Maybe you shouldn't be doing 100mph around other people.

Sure, if you stop smoking around other people ;-)

> Sure, if you stop smoking around other people ;-)

Maybe english is not your first language, but you did read what I wrote, right? You did read my post saying that I get annoyed at people who go up to lone smokers and then complain?

You know what that means, right? It literally means "I don't smoke around other people!"

I'm afraid I am unable to simplify it any further.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#608

Post by velobusdriver »

Spooky23 wrote: post #514
camillomiller wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smoking on planes is absolutely something I can't wrap my head around in any possible way. How the hell someone EVER thought it would be a good idea to let people smoke while packed inside a flying metal cylinder?

I worked at a place where a floor of an office building was converted to a data center starting in the 70s. In doing so, they built a false wall in front of the windows. Early in my career I worked in backups, and we had a dedicated fiber network, which ran in the space between the windows and fake wall. I had to do some maintenance back there and it was shocking - the windows were coated in this nasty yellow residue…

"the windows were coated in this nasty yellow residue and smelled vaguely like cigarettes"

I painted a room in my parent's home after decades of smoking that occurred long before and after I was born. First step was to wash the thick layer of nicotine and tar off of the walls using Trisodium Phosphate or other strong cleaner. A stain blocking primer, typically used for smoke damage from fires, was then applied, and then you can paint. Even then, you could still detect the faint odor of cigarettes. Nasty stuff.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#609

Post by fknorangesite »

edgyquant wrote: post #527
vwcx wrote: post #513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, the major airlines prohibit use of e-cigarettes onboard. Do not vape on a commercial airliner.

You still can get away with it fairly easy. I quit this last year but when on flights I often would go into the bathroom and just hold the vape until it was gone. Then again I wasn’t one of those that blew room filling clouds

Imagine risking a federal offense for a fuckin' vape.

Re: The Disappearance of the Ashtray

#610

Post by toyg »

dspillett wrote: post #392
dspillett wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember the smoking/non choice not being there in many places but for the other reason: there was no non-smiling section. That was often just in fancy places! (UK, born in 78 so remembering no further back than the mid 80s for the most part)

Of cause I meant "non smoking" not "non smiling" above. Slide keyboard and auto-carrot strike again!

In '80s UK, a "non-smiling" section would have been totally credible. The place was grim.
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