Me and my Cigarettes.

The BBQ Pit
61

Nope. A habit sneaks up on you, it morphs from an existing activity. It is not something you chose, it’s something that just develops.

Buying cigarettes and smoking them is not something that just happens. You don’t just get into the habit of buying cigarettes, then suddenly find you’ve got a habit of putting them in your mouth. Then before you know it you find you are habitually setting light to them and not spitting them out when the smoke hits the back of your throat. Every step there is a quite deliberate decision to take up a pastime, a hobby, of smoking.

And it being addictive is no excuse either. It’s tough, I know, but you knew it was addictive when you took the hobby up. When you chose to take the hobby up.

62

Hunter - A combination of factors. Don’t confuse the smell of cigarette smoke with the taste, I particularly like the smell, but smoking a cigarette of my brand with a good cup of coffee is absolutely declicious, and I like the way it makes me feel. It sharpens your mind, improves your memory and increases your focus all while reducing stress. Try and tell me that’s not nice to have when doing homework or studying at the coffee shop.

LC

63

FG: Believe me, buying and smoking my cigarettes just happens.

Beacause I’m an addict if I find myself without cigs, it just so happens that I walk into a store and buy some, then I smoke them.
I didn’t choose to be a nicotine addict, just happened after smoking a certain number of cigs, my body CRIED out for more, my nicotine centre needed feeding, I was HOOKED.

I started smoking aged about 13, I also used to build model aircraft at that age…that was a hobby. What I have now is
most certainly a HABIT of smoking cigs not making model planes.

Incidentally the buying of, putting into mouth of,lighting of and smoking of is a deliberate decision to indulge in my habit.
That is all.

64

Ok, this is the goofiest thing I’ve read all day.

“I didn’t mean to smoke the cigarettes - they just flew into my mouth and spontaniously lit!”

“I didn’t mean to have sex with that hooker - I tripped and my dick slipped into her!”

“I didn’t mean to drink 27 shots of tequila and projectile vomit all over your new sofa - the bottle upended itself into my mouth!”

Dude - at least own your addiction. Saying “It’s not my fault!” just makes you sound like a big sucky.

65

I firmly believe that any apparent pleasure derived from smoking is nothing more than the alleviation of the actually rather mild symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. After a while Pavlov does his magic and you come to associate cigarettes with this pleasant sensation (e.g. “they help me relax”), but it is the same sort of “pleasure” you get if you stop hitting your thumb with a hammer.

I’m an ex-smoker and I’d often find myself stopping mid-cigarette and wondering why I was smoking it. After the first couple of puffs to feed the craving, what does tobacco do? Doesn’t alter your mood like other drugs, doesn’t really taste of much except… well, smoke, and it’s no more stimulating than a cup of tea. It’s just pure habit.

66

ALICE: Of course I chose to smoke the bleeding cigs.

Back down your hole girl…now, and stay there until I tell you to come out.

BTW It is my fault and I never said it wasn’t, so there. I’m gonna have ANOTHER cig now

blows raspberry

67

I’m gonna come out of this hole and smote you with a day-old trout in a second if yer not careful, Mr!

NB - Be advised that the aforementioned Trout Smoting should in no way be construed as a death threat. The actual event will involve mostly smelliness and fish scales, as opposed to flaming death. Void where prohibited by law. Those who have a Trout Smoting addiction are encouraged to contact TA (Trouts Anonamous). et al. etc. ad infinatum
:smiley:

68

Yeah, it’s YOUR addiction. So YOU deal with it. Why should society be accomodating to a habit that is harmful to everyone involved and without any positive effects?

I’m certainly not going to be accomodating. And neither are the rest of those who, like me, dislike smoke, litter, and people who for some reason take tremendous pride in their ability to give themselves cancer.

Go ahead and bitch, if bitching will make you happy. After all, as the world turns increasingly rational in regards to cigarettes, bitching is really all you can do, isn’t it? Sad…

69

This is akin to having a “no urinating” section in a public swimming pool.

70

If I lived in Kentucky I’d feel the same way.

If a person wants to smoke, go ahead. I’m not preaching to have people stop smoking, or make cigarettes illegal. I’m for making ALL drugs legal.

Just stop blowing smoke in my face, then bitch at me because I’m somehow taking away your “right to smoke.”

You can drink alcohol if you want too. But you can’t drink in public, or tell your boss you need a break to take quick hit from your flask because you’re addicted, and it’s legal, and it’s your right to drink anytime you want, or anywhere you want. The same should go for cigarettes as well. The privacy of your own home/consenting adult thing.

I’m sorry about your parents. Cigarettes aren’t the only thing that causes cancer. Many causes of cancer are of course unknown. But if you look at pack of cigarettes, on the side of the pack it says it says – SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy.

You want to run the risk, well it’s your life and death. But again, just do it when I’m not around.

Thanks you for your consideration

71

Fuji: exactly.

Reminds me of a story where some kids wanted to see an R-rated film. Their argument was that there was only a teensy bit of swearing in it, and the rest of the film wasn’t bad, so what was the big deal about a couple of words? The next day, the father presented the kids with a batch of freshly baked brownies. There was, he explained, only a teensy bit of dog poop in the recipe, and the rest of the brownie recipe was chocolate, sugar and other good stuff, so what’s the big deal?

Derailment aside…

As an asthmatic I can tell you that I have very little choice in the air I breathe. I can’t sit there and pick out every healthy air molecule and ignore the unhealthy ones. Now, being a college student, it is pretty much a given that I need to attend class. In order to do so, I must enter the building. Now, when some putz who puts his selfish need to smoke so highly above our need to get to class (which we pay $14,000 per semester to do), I have to walk my asthmatic self through their haze because they were to goddamn selfish to realize that smoke doesn’t just “go away” when you’re outside.

I need to eat lunch on campus. The place I get my lunch from has outdoor seating… only. (hey, it’s California, we can do that) I’m sitting peacefully, trying to consume my lunch, and I get hit with the most awful stench! I look around and discover that 40 feet away, some table full of assholes are chain-smoking. I am literally forced to leave the dining area, and go find some dirty bench where I can eat my food off my lap, because some fuckwad can’t keep his dirty habits within the privacy of his own home. I’m convinced that smokers truly have no concept of how far that shit carries. One smoker in a crowd is ruining the air for (and pissing off) people within I’d say a 50 foot radius. Even farts don’t carry that far, nor does one fart continually for 15-20 minutes.

Perhaps I’d like to make model airplanes, but you don’t see me uncapping a tube of noxious, stinky glue in a crowd, do you?

And while I’m on the subject: I sincerely hope they DO ban smoking in cars. First of all, a hand holding a cigarette is NOT holding a steering wheel, why should cell phones be banned when ciggies arent? Especially considering the fact that, if necessary, you can drop a cell on your lap to grab hold of the wheel… kinda hard to do with a lit cancer stick. Secondly, I CAN STILL SMELL THAT SHIT, and I’m in the car behind you with my windows rolled up. I can’t be expected to turn off my AC and lock myself into recirculating air on a 95 degree day just because YOU were irresponsible enough to take up smoking.

Oh, and if you deign to blow smoke in my face, as an asthmatic, I consider that to be a form of assault. That is, you are intentionally causing damage to my already problematic lungs, which could lead to an asthma attack, endangering my health and, if I was worse, my life. I have a right to defend myself, and have no problem wiping that smirk off your face with my fist.

72

Oh, I hate being behind a smoker in traffic. The smell always carries into my car.

73

Usram - I gotta disagree with your theory. Why does it work so well before you’ve smoked enough to get a habit?

Nicotine is a miracle drug, as far as pleasure goes. It wakes you up when you’re tired, chills you out when your stressed, and generally gets you vibin’ nice.

And by the way on the addiction front, I enjoy cigarettes a lot, but they’re a luxury, and a seriously unhealthy one at that. When I don’t have the money to spare (which is not a rare occurrence), I may go for weeks without smoking more than one or two cigarettes bummed at some party or something. Sometimes I decide that this month I’d rather go to a concert or have a couple CD’s than a carton of cigarettes. I know what it feels like to suddenly go completely without after averaging half a pack or more a day a day, and while it’s not the greatest feeling in the world, it ain’t that bad either.

LC

74

Don’t you anti-smoking brigade realise that wothout cigs we would have lost both World Wars.

In every war film you see the Brit/Yank hero ALWAYS has a cig glued to his lip.

Think on that. :smiley:

75

Jesus, Morigoon, calm the fuck down.

First of all, are all of the eeeeevil selfish smokers you’re bitching about smoking in designated smoking areas? If so, then you have no beef. They’re doing their part by remaining in a designated smoking area. For the record, if there’s an astray there, it’s generally considered a designated smoking area.

And what smokers have you seen driving that aren’t holding onto the steering wheel? Not everyone holds a cig like they’re at a fancy party. You can easily hold a cig and the steering wheel at the same time, unless you typically clutch the wheel with both hands until your knuckles turn white.

Comparing talking on a cell phone while driving with smoking while driving is just silly.

As far as your asthma goes, read the previous posts in this very thread about it.

Good god, self-righteous anti-smoking nazi’s irritate the hell out of me…

76

On that note, I’m headin’ to Flavor Country. :: runs for the door ::

77

** lezlers ** I think I love you and want to bear your children

78

What lezlers said.

If outdoor smoking areas on your campus seriously inconvenience you, Morrigoon, take it up with the administration.

A local college where my wife works has four gazebo-type structures, the only areas where smoking is permitted on campus. You might suggest this to the administration.

Also, when I smoked, I never smirked when I blew smoke in some nag’s face as I was having a smoke in a designated goddam smokers’ ghetto, I was responding to an insult. One asshole decided to try to escalate physically. I decked him. :wink:

79

I flick butts. All the time. Out of my car window, onto the ground as I’m walking through campus or downtown. What else can I do? To discourage people from just loitering right in a storefront smoking, which some patrons don’t like and could deter business, alot of businesses don’t have ash canisters in front. Walking around downtown there just isn’t anywhere but the street to toss our butts.

Anyways, they all seem to disappear somehow eventually. I think the street sweeper machines get them. Meh, it’s public property anyways, I’m just doing my part for the “tragedy of the commons” :wink:

For whatever the cost of littering, it’s probably made up by all the money and jobs generated by smokers. I worked at a convenience store for awhile, a huge chunk of my customers just came in for a pack of smokes, if it wasn’t for smokes the store would probably be better off going down to one person on the evening shift after the 5 o’clock rush. So a bunch of people on the retail end owe their jobs to smokers. And all the tobacco farmers surely enjoy the benefits of the cigarette economy, as does the trucking industry, local distributors, etc.

80

I’m a smoker. I always put my cigs out in ashtrays or trashcans (after removing the burning part and making DAMN sure it’s all the way out). I never blow smoke in anyone’s face. I sit as far away from the non-smokers as I can get. I don’t smoke around non-smokers unless I’m outside, it’s okay with them, and I’m downwind.

Even before I started smoking, I hated drinkers more than smokers (I only recently started smoking). Loud, rude, pukey, stupid, and then they’d drive home. I don’t know why I disliked them so much more. Maybe because smoke just has the smell, and it gets foggy in a restaurant if I’m in the smoking section (most of which I’ve been in are closed off), and I could chose not to be near them. A little whiff of smoke as I passed someone on the sidewalk never bothered me. But a drunk yelling obscenities and grabbing my ass was a completely different matter.

It takes a lot of 2nd hand smoke to kill someone, right? But one drunk driver can (not always will, but does regularly enough) kill entire families. Eh.

Lets see. I have the top 3 general killers (not “cancer” and “heart disease,” but general) memorized from when I was watching the news about 2 years ago, waiting for my friend to get out of the hospital.

  1. Obesity
  2. Smoking
  3. Hospital Infections (THAT made me feel REAL good while sitting in the waiting room).

So . . . should we outlaw fast food because it kills people, too? Food makes people fat, which kills them. Cars give off exhaust, but I don’t see them outlawing cars.

And we’re all going to die anyway, what’s the big problem? Hehe.

There are a LOT of things that kill people. Don’t just pick on one.