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Former Smoker Logo

Let everyone know
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On every gravestone, memorial plaque, obituary, order of service etc., it shall be a legal requirement to display next to the date of demise a standardized graphic indicating that the deceased smoked tobacco at some point in their life; the obvious graphic to use would be a smoking cigarette image within a circle.

Reading such items would then be instructive, since it would soon become apparent that the majority of smokers died somewhat earlier than their peer group.

8th of 7, Sep 16 2011

Here's what I think of this idea. _5b8thof7_5d_20_22m...0windshield_20wiper
[zeno, Sep 16 2011]

A legal requirement? At some point in their life? _5b8th_20of_207_5d_...2fshifting_20wipers
[normzone, Sep 17 2011]

Pack Year Calculator http://smokingpackyears.com/
I came in at 87 pack years [Klaatu, Sep 19 2011]

A vice is a vice, is a vice. http://imgur.com/gallery/Mtgz2
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 19 2011]


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       smoker of what? what next - I ate too many doughnuts? I relied on too many flakey doctors?
po, Sep 16 2011
  

       It quite clearly states "tobacco" in the idea.   

       // I ate too many doughnuts? //   

       Since you've mentioned it ....
8th of 7, Sep 16 2011
  

       I think the people who would benefit most from this don't spend much time in graveyards, except when they go there to smoke and drink beer that was stolen from thier parents or clandestinely purchased by older siblings.
Alterother, Sep 16 2011
  

       Perhaps this should include a special logo for people who have had near misses with Spontaneous Human Combustion.
Grogster, Sep 16 2011
  

       Oddly enough (and contrary to folk-statistics), smokers live on average almost as long as everyone else. A proportion die early as a result of lung and other cancers, and cardiovascular illness (but then so do many non-smokers); the majority die at the same age as everyone else.   

       The average decrease in life expectancy for a heavy smoker (from age 16) is something like two to four years. And, if you think about it, those two to four years are generally taken from the part of life when you'd otherwise be sitting on a bedpan wondering who you are.   

       If I die, my epitaph will be something along the lines of "I paid for your pension and enjoyed my life. Good luck with the Alzheimer's, bye."
MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 16 2011
  

       [+]. And the dead smokers should be put in their own separate section of the graveyard. Because smoking is highly correlated with other harmful lifestyle traits, the section will be seen to expand at a faster rate than the non-smoking section.
swimswim, Sep 17 2011
  

       Yay, [swimswim]. Right next to the Jews, yes?
MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 17 2011
  

       [MB], 8th's idea is about using peoples' stupidity as an example to deter others from making the same mistakes. Antisemitism is a pretty far stretch for how to twist that, unless you're suggesting that Jews smoke more than other people.
swimswim, Sep 17 2011
  

       //Right next to the Jews// and across from the bicyclists.
mouseposture, Sep 17 2011
  

       Uh, and old people who died of stuff.
rcarty, Sep 17 2011
  

       Cemetaries are already seething with prejudice and discrimination; the prime example being that only dead people can be buried there, which is blatant Lifeism.
8th of 7, Sep 17 2011
  

       But exceptions are occasionally made. Just google "Count Karnice-Karnicki, Chamberlain to the Czar and Doctor of the Law Faculty of the University of Louvain"
mouseposture, Sep 17 2011
  

       //Former Smoker Logo//   

       I thought this was going to be some kind of badge people could wear to show they've kicked the weed.   

       It would be very handy so I'd know when to go "um, ummm, ummm this cigarette is so relaxing" as they walk past...
not_morrison_rm, Sep 18 2011
  

       I honestly and sincerely read this as "Former Smoker LEGO" and was thinking it would be a quitting aid to keep the hands busy. I was very confused and read your whole description before referring back to the title.   

       I like mine better.
Custardguts, Sep 19 2011
  

       Me too.
blissmiss, Sep 19 2011
  

       I'd like some better discrimination as to how much smoking the decedent did. I don't smoke, but I once told a doctor that I'd been given a packet of little cigars and used to sit on the back porch with a lit one, taking one mouthful of smoke before chucking the cigar away, and that I did that about once a month until the packet was empty--she marked me down on my records as a smoker and gave me a hell of a lecture.   

       She'd put a logo on my tombstone, and totally miss the pork rinds that put me there.   

       (I too, thought this was a mark of shame to allow easier teasing of former smokers.)
baconbrain, Sep 19 2011
  

       Max, I think you'll need to supply a citation to back up that claim. Actually, probably better would be a meta-analysis study just in case there's an outlier study. Also a study that correlates quality of life (rather than just life expectancy) with smoking vs non-smoking would be interesting.
xaviergisz, Sep 19 2011
  

       In order to allow proper analysis, the logo would have to show what the deceased smoked (cigars, unfiltered, low-tar, a Sherlock-Holmes-style pipe, etc.) how much per day and over what period. Any other variables (e.g. exercise, doughnut consumption, happiness) that the gravestone-viewer might like to control for should also be shown, perhaps also with appropriate logos. Finally, a section of the graveyard should be allocated to a control group.

Even then I think it would be hard to draw conclusions from this data, so [-].
hippo, Sep 19 2011
  

       In the hospital, smoking risk was determined by "pack years" <link>. This is the # of packs per day X # of years smoked. Someone who smokes 2 packs per day, over a 10- year period would have a 20 pack-year history. 40 pack years is the tipping point for carcinoma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart disease.
Klaatu, Sep 19 2011
  

       My Mom is 86 and still smokes cigs- (but she started at age 35) She likes it!
xandram, Sep 19 2011
  

       My mom still smokes at 86 years old too, soon to be 87. Good genes and a lack of family history of cancer may be more an indicator for her of life length. Plus she is mean as hell and crazy as a cross-eyed rabbit.
blissmiss, Sep 19 2011
  

       No comment, as I am not former yet.
I do have something to add though. [link] It's not relevant but you'll get a kick out of it [8th]
  

       Can we get that wholesale ?   

       // ... proper analysis ... what the deceased smoked ... how much per day and over what period... ... other variables (e.g. exercise, doughnut consumption... to control for should also be shown... section .... allocated to a control group. //   

       All very well, but that would tend to move the idea too far away from its original concept, which is simple gratuitous blind prejudice against a group perceived as "other".   

       Then again, the control group could be black Jewish female homosexual non-smokers with disabilities, which offers a rich seam of discrimination, bigotry and irrational hatred to be exploited.   

       Maybe they could be foreigners, too ?
8th of 7, Sep 19 2011
  

       // a study that correlates quality of life (rather than just life expectancy) with smoking vs non-smoking would be interesting//   

       Would that be quality of life with or without the constant whining of the pious masses?
MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 19 2011
  


 

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