Smoke
Today was the day of the cigarette. Tobacco stocks plunged, the NY Times published an editorial pushing for a total ban on cigarettes in public places, and Dave revealed he's been in the hospital with heart problems thanks in part to chain smoking most of his adult life.
As a former smoker, I know how annoying "quitters" can be. Not the people who smoked and successfully quit, but the nay sayers who bitch, whine, and point fingers when they themselves have never felt the grip of nicotine.
I have. It's not pretty.
I started smoking casually when I was 14. Just occasionally, with friends, goofing off. By the time I reached high school, and had my own set of wheels, I smoked every chance I had. Two on the way to school, countless more after, and any I could get in at night while under my parent's roof.
When I turned 18 and headed off to college, the habit blew up to a pack and a half a day. On a Friday or Saturday night, I could easily get over two and push towards three packs within a twenty four hour period.
Friends commented that they never, ever saw me without a cigarette in my hand. They were right. Every minute I could, I was sucking down those glorious plumes of gray smoke with wild abandon.
A year later, I realized I had turned into an addict. Cigarette smoking was no longer a leasurely, casual practice among friends or at parties, but a full blown habit that I woke up with every day. And in a way, the realization scared the daylights out of me. The thought of a substance, a plant, a drug, a paper rolled stick of dynamite controlling my life was just stupid.
I quit cold turkey on my 19th birthday. Friends laughed. Lots of "yeah, right" and "okay Todd, whatever" - that kind of positive feedback.
But I did it. I gained about 15lbs in the process, thanks to a slowing metabolism and a pantry full of snacks (oral fixation wasn't a withdrawal I was prepared for). But after about 3 months I was back to normal, and nicotine free for the first time in years.
Today, many of my old friends still smoke. They're now in their 30s, still smacking their white Marlboro boxes up against their palms and reasurring others that they're going to quit. Really.
I still crave cigarettes to this day. Chances are, I always will.
Comments
See? It's the "I still crave a cigarette years later" stuff that keeps me lighting up instead of quitting.
Thanks a lot.
Posted by: Smokey Joe at June 25, 2002 12:16 AM
I work in anightclub and find it hard to quit because I end up sucking everyone elses fumes all night.
Posted by: Tarsh Fletcher at June 25, 2002 6:00 AM
my lady used to smoke too. i told her that i wouldn't marry her if she still did it. didn't want that to be around our kids and stuff. she quit and we're living happily ever after.
-mathew
Posted by: mathew at June 25, 2002 7:23 AM
I started in college, and smoked for about four years until one morning when I woke up with a bleeding ulcer. Being in the hospital for a week and a half with only two pints of blood in you will kick the habit in a heartbeat, but I don't recommend it.
A few years later I started again, smoking with my friends at work, until I got sick again. Apparently as much as I loved the damn things, my body just doesn't handle them very well.
Now I'm smoke-free, thirty pounds overweight (I started a diet yesterday - wish me luck) and still, like you Todd, crave them every day.
Interestingly enough, I hate the smell of other people's cigs. Even when I smoked, I couldn't stand the smell. But that didn't stop me from sucking them down.
Posted by: Bob at June 25, 2002 9:31 AM
I believe it was the early 90's movie Dead Again that had the classic line about smoking.
"There are two kinds of people, smokers and non-smokers. Figure out which one you are and stick with it." (Or something to that effect)
For the last 6 years or so, I've been a quit-cold-turkey-non-smoker (minus a couple short falls off the wagon) after a good 6 years of hardcore smoking. I play hockey, I do adventure races, I have athletic-induced asthma, two relatives dead of lung cancer; one would think that any of those alone would have kept me away from the cigarettes. But I still get those cravings...especially for that first drag in the morning.
Smokers have rights, non-smokers have rights. Find some middle ground. Even when I was a smoker, I would sit in the non-smoking section because I couldn't stand smoke while I was eating.
Posted by: Shawn at June 25, 2002 9:39 AM
i smoked from about 17 to 22, and also had to quit for health reasons (one too many bronchial infections). do you guys do the "if i ever find out i have a terminal illness, i'm going straight to the cig store" thing? i do.
Posted by: dave at June 25, 2002 2:26 PM
If you ever want to be put off smoking, go through any (large) international airport and spend some quality time with your habit in the 'smoking section'. I can particularly recommend Changi (Singapore), where said section is right in the middle of the main waiting area, enclosed in glass (all the better for others to witness your discomfort), and so thick with smoke that Jack The Ripper would feel at home. Definitely a defining moment in my (ex)smoking history!
Posted by: da5id at June 25, 2002 7:48 PM
More quitting (and not quite quitting) stories in this classic {fray} story.
As for me, I've been quitting and returning for the better part often years. Oddly, my last cigarette was 11 days ago, same as Dave.
Posted by: Derek at June 25, 2002 8:47 PM
i craved cigs when i didn't smoke. i dunno what it was...i guess it's cause a lot of my friends smoke.
finally a few months ago i started smoking occasionally...found it to be very relaxing. one or two a week tops. about 2 weeks ago i started coughing and haven't been able to stop coughing. i have atheletic endused asthma but i doubt that's it...probably just a cold or something...but i'm kinda rethinking the smoking thing. it's not healthy and i can just take a shower and read a book if i want to relax...
*sigh*
Posted by: philip likens at June 26, 2002 12:07 AM
DONT SMOKE!!!
ITS DUMB!!!
ITS STUPID!!
ITS RETARDED!!
SMOKING=DEATH
Posted by: Jay babe!! at September 24, 2002 6:45 PM
