bmstinton93 wrote:How come its acceptable for smokers to go up to a random person in the street and ask to borrow a fag or a lighter but if I saw someone eating chips and I went and asked for one I'd probably be told to * off.
You don't have to congregate in a certain area to eat chips, there's no agreed social code when it comes to sharing chips and others who are eating chips will not recognise your lust for a chip as a craving, and food itself is a personal intimate thing. Basically within our society, you cannot compare a request for the two.
Smokers are very social creatures, whereas as eating is a basic human need. People don't tend to learn their eating habits as they become an adult - they learn them much earlier and as such, what they can deem acceptable (within the realms of sharing with strangers) is a much more rigid concept with less room for negotiation. On cultures where sharing food is common, it may be more feasible to request food from a stranger if you look like you could belong within their peer group (ie. not a beggar)
I'm sure someone will just say I'm wrong with the rationale of 'smoking is wrong, so smokers are bad people hurr durr'.
I myself don't smoke, and hate that when I invite my friends over or out to dinner, they think it is ok to just leave to go outside and smoke - when at my house they also think it's fine to leave their butts on the floor and speak loudly outside. As a non smoker, it irritates me but I think they enjoy it.