New Neighbor and Smoking

[Anonymous]

This is one of my favorite threads so far. I love the idea of fleeing philadelphia because of the smokers. Also, keeping your kids away from any situation where someone might have a beer in hand for 21 years.

Troll or not, it is a classic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is one of my favorite threads so far. I love the idea of fleeing philadelphia because of the smokers. Also, keeping your kids away from any situation where someone might have a beer in hand for 21 years.

Troll or not, it is a classic.

Indeed, while I'm virtually positive this is a troll, and would not want to live in the same zip code as OP if it isn't (and I'm an anti-smoking liberal who can't sleep in a room where someone once smoked), I'm kind of hoping she's real. Just because if so, wow. She's an insult to guano.

[Anonymous]

OP if you are not a troll....where do you live?

Do you also believe that when women do not wear panty hose they are whores?

[Anonymous]

OP here- Of course not. I see alcohol being illegal in 5-10 years, and I don't want my kids being part of the group selling their bodies for the last drop of liquor.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

OP, either you are not American, or completely ignorant of American history, or both.

Are you the same OP with a post from a couple of years ago that tried to tell everyone in the world not to smoke in front of your baby?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I think it is perfectly fine to ask the neighbors to be respectful of my kid's health. They can smoke indoors or in their back yard, why they just have to smoke right in the front where the smoke puts the neighborhood kids in danger is beyond me.

OP if you are not a troll and this is real, please, please, please, please come back and tell us how this goes for you. I just have to know!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I think it is perfectly fine to ask the neighbors to be respectful of my kid's health. They can smoke indoors or in their back yard, why they just have to smoke right in the front where the smoke puts the neighborhood kids in danger is beyond me.

OP if you are not a troll and this is real, please, please, please, please come back and tell us how this goes for you. I just have to know!!

+1. And please pass the popcorn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It is getting to the point where if they are home I have to make sure my kids are inside. The houses in my neighborhood are close together, and all the kids on the block just goof off/ play sports in the adjorning yards, so having these neighbors sitting out there As for minimizing running over others' lawns, all the lawns that are used (including theirs) are with their permission.

The biggest thing is that it is sending a bad message to my kids, especially my 12 year old son (who is starting to be too old to watch everything he does), that smoking is fine, and even normal. I grew up, went to college, and lived for a while in Philadelphia, and one of the reasons I moved away (to DC) was that Philly was just full of smokers. That is not the way I want to live, and it is especially not the way I want to raise my kids.

It is really hard to deal with these new neighbors, as they are always asking us over and trying to talk with us when all we want to do is distance ourselves from them. We do not want to smell the inside of their health (bleeggh, cigarette smoke)...

This is not the last time your kids will be exposed to something you don't approve of. Use it as a teaching experience with your kids but leave your poor neighbors alone. You can't control everything in your kids' universe, which of course you are already realizing with your 12-year-old. It's going to get much worse as the kids get older but it won't be your neighbors who are the bad influence, it will be your kids' friends. That's how my kid started smoking - because she started joining the theater kids when they took breaks during rehearsals. Thank god she has finally quit smoking.

[Anonymous]

OP, the problem in "self-polling" is that your sampling is verysmall and renders your margin of error at +/- 99.99 percent.

[Anonymous]

OP, I cannot tell whether you're exaggerating about how close your homes are or not. Regardless, it is their property. And if you want to live in a sealed bubble, you should move to a larger property.

As for "sending a wrong message", you could choose to stop bitching and use this as a teaching moment. After all, your children will see smokers aside from your neighbors. And drinkers. While I don't have an issue with people drinking legally and responsibly, I share your disgust of smoking. Our very nice neighbors, with whom we are good friends, both smoke. They have kids but smoke on their front porch. I've told DC our position on it, and pretty bluntly (it's an unhealthy and dirty habit). They know that Mr./Mrs. so-and-so smoke, that we don't like it, that THEY don't like that they smoke but are not able to quit.

[Anonymous]

I'm not convinced that OP is a troll, because if she really had an alcoholic father who beat her, she might very well have trouble understanding boundaries.

I don't know what to suggest, other than maybe asking Al-Anon if they can help?

[Anonymous]

OP - you say you don't want your kids exposed to bad behavior, but since when has judging others not to mention imposing your personal beliefs ever been considered proper behavior...?!

I dislike smoking and don't like being around it nor do I want my kids to ever smoke, but life is filled with things we don't like (i.e. bad driving, cursing, mistreating others, etc.) and I take the opportunity to talk with my kids about these behaviors rather than shelter them. It helps them to understand them and counteracts the possible curiosity they may encounter one day. Think about it...

Also, I think your excuse that you're afraid your kids will be exposed to second hand smoke is complete BS. It's simply your way of justifying your extreme dislike of the habit and, by extension, these neighbors...

[Anonymous]

I will trade neighbors with you.... my neighbors sit on their front porch and smoke pot. If it is a windy day I worry about the second hand exposure to my kids or worry the smell will stick to my clothes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, recently our dear old neighbor moved away. We were pretty close, and both had kids that would play together. Sadly, her job transferred her, and so the family moved away.

So a few months late, a young couple moved in. They seem very friendly and reached out to us the very first day.
Anyway, while they are friendly, my big problem is that both of them are really heavy smokers and just stand out on their stoop smoking every hour or so. I don't think this is appropriate for a small community where children are being raised and often run across neighbor's yards playing. I don't want my kids (Ages 12, 11, and 7) to have the second hand smoke risk, plus I do not want to have the adult influence of smokers living next door.

Is there any polite way for me to ask them to smoke inside or in other areas?

One of the best threads ever. No one could be so stupid to think that they can control what people do on their front stoop. The chance of second hand smoke affecting your little darlings an entire yard away are so slim that its non existent.

[Anonymous]

So,

DID YOU CONFRONT THEM OP?

Return and fill us in!

[Anonymous]

Yes, what happened!!!!