# Smokers: Any Regrets? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 25, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507 "2003-08-25T13:45:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/21 "2003-08-26T00:49:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tortuga \* > \*\*Cigarette smoke makes many people physically ill, and being trapped in an enclosed area (e.g. an elevater) with someone who smokes is horrible, \*\* Smoking isn’t permitted in elevators (at least not where I am). ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/22 "2003-08-26T01:25:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arcana \* > \*\*You may not get many responses simply becauses a lot of long-term smokers are dead. Then there are those who will insist that they have no regrets even as they are being hooked up to that final respirator. Good riddance. \*\* Jackass! I tell you what…find someone who has had someone close to them die from lung cancer and tell them that. Tell em Good riddance they did’nt need a father, mother,sister,etc who was addicted to nicotien. I lost someone I loved dearly to lung cancer. GOOD RIDDANCE?! BITE ME! ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/23 "2003-08-26T01:37:13Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by rolandgunslinger_ > I lost someone I loved dearly to lung cancer. GOOD RIDDANCE?! > BITE ME! May I second all of that? My mother died of lung cancer almost 15 years ago. I was holding her hand when she died. The real bitch of it is that she quit smoking 10 years before it killed her! My father died 4 months ago from emphysemia. He never did manage to quit; however, he never asserted his love for the cigarettes while he was on oxygen. So, yeah, good riddance to both of my parents. Guess the earth’s a better place without them around to foul the air, huh?:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/24 "2003-08-26T07:25:26Z")
I quit a little more than 3 months ago after 12 years of ~1 pack a day habit. It was hell of a lot easier than changing my diet or starting to excersise which I was also supposed to do on my 30th Birthday. My change in diet so far has consisted of me actually eating breakfast most days and it has been “healthy” cereal at least 1/4 of the time(hmmm Soft Batch cookies the rest). Quitting smoking was suprisingly easy. Of course I have cheated a few times. A puff here and there from my wifes cig. And I smoked a whole 2 cigs when I got very drunk 2 weekends ago. I think about it every couple of days, but for the most part its been cake. As per the OP, do I have regrets? About smoking? Nah. Maybe I wish I had the money I blew on it back, that would be it. I ENJOYED smoking. I think that is something the anti smoking brigade doesn’t understand. It _feels_ good to smoke. It can be one of the greatest things in the world after a big meal or big nooky. Or on a chilly November morning, standing outside as the day comes alive. I regret quiting more than I regret starting at this point. Especially because it was so damn easy to quit. But thats a pretty stupid reason to start again. So I just sit around wishing I could smoke, but not mentally freaking out about it. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/25 "2003-08-26T08:19:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arcana \* > \*\*You may not get many responses simply becauses a lot of long-term smokers are dead. Then there are those who will insist that they have no regrets even as they are being hooked up to that final respirator. Good riddance. \*\* At the risk of invoking the mods’ wrath - kindly fuck off. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/26 "2003-08-26T11:41:32Z")
I am not a smoker and don’t intend to say much about the habit (that’s not the purpose of the OP) but I do have to wonder about the _expense_. Not bringing anything else into it—just the EXPENSE! I have had co-workers who smoke about a pack a day and _trust me_, we don’t make a lot of money, and I wonder—how do they _afford_ it? True, I piss my money away on DVDs and computers, but at least these have resale value and some staying power. OK, I can understand that a lot of people do piss a little money away on some treat like coffee at Starbucks, but enough of that kind of pissing money away of food indulgences and you’re really sunk in some cash. And at least with caffeine addicts, there are cheaper alternatives. Aren’t cigarrettes, even the cheap ones, several bucks a pack? How do those of you with lower-paying jobs or lots of bills _afford_ them? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/27 "2003-08-26T11:54:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yosemitebabe \* > \*\*How do those of you with lower-paying jobs or lots of bills _afford_ them? \*\* You just do. They’re the priority spend: it’s not a choice once you’re an addict. Put it this way - if I was down to my last €6 (that’s how much a pack is over here), and I had no cigarettes or food, I’d spend it on a pack of cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/28 "2003-08-26T12:10:24Z")
I really enjoy smoking, but yes it is the financial side that is the killer and will finally get me to quit. Well it’s more likely to be that then people who insist on rabbiting on about how much smokers smell. Get over it. Not everyone smells lovely and smoking is often not a factor, you want to make under arm pong illegal? My Grandma died of emphysemia at 89, not a bad wicket really. My mother’s cow-orker’s daughter died last week. She had a stroke while jogging. She was 35 and had never smoked. On Oprah last week (possibly several mths ago for Americans) there was a family of 4 children, the youngest was 93 and the oldest was 101. The oldest still smoked half a packet a day and claimed she hated vegetables. Smoking is BAD FOR YOU but jeeeeeeeeeeeeez some people need to try being less sanctimonious about it. I don’t think there is a single smoker who doesn’t understand the possible health impacts, the definite finacial impacts and the ever increasing social impacts of their “filthy habit”. I know personally I would love to just have the odd fag rather then a regular habit just to save money. But I think most smokers would agree that having non-smokers preach about the evils of smoking does not inspire them to quit one little bit. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/29 "2003-08-26T12:24:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arcana \* > \*\*You may not get many responses simply becauses a lot of long-term smokers are dead. Then there are those who will insist that they have no regrets even as they are being hooked up to that final respirator. Good riddance. \*\* If you have a problem with smokers, take it to the BBQ Pit-_your_ opinion was not called for in this thread if you aren’t a smoker. To those of you who responded, especially **jimm** -you have a problem with someone’s post in IMHO, please use the _Report this post to the moderator_ link. Pitworthy responses will not be excused, even if someone else does it first. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/30 "2003-08-26T12:35:26Z")
Apologies, **Arcana** , **Czarcasm**. I withdraw my comment. ---
**Author:** ![manwithaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/31 "2003-08-26T13:13:56Z")
Re the OP, there’s little point in trying to convince someone of the need to give up smoking. I agree that in many ways it becomes harder to give up the later you leave it but in a funny way it also gets easier. I gave up in my late twenties and there was no way I could have given up any earlier. I was enjoying smoking and had no desire to give up - certainly there was no question of anyone swaying me with little details such as logic, good sense and facts. You have no real motivation to give up when you are younger. You feel immortal and the effects of smoking haven’t really kicked in yet. You need a better reason to give up than the fact that older smokers regret taking it up. Your brother-in-law may give up at some point but his motivation for doing so is unlikely to come from anyone other than himself. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/32 "2003-08-26T15:30:14Z")
I regret not having enough money to sample fine English pipe tobaccos directly in England. I regret not having enough money to have a fully-stocked walk-in humidor with a broad selection of Cuban cigars. ---
**Author:** ![toque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@toque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toque)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/33 "2003-08-26T15:48:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tortuga \* > \*\*Imagine someone who gets off on puking on or around people. > > They do it in part because they enjoy the rush that vomiting gives them, and in part because they just love to piss off the anti-vomiting Gestapo. \*\* That’s fucking punk rock! I would want that person to be my best friend. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/34 "2003-08-26T15:52:39Z")
Regarding the expense, when I quit I just pissed the money away on other things like snack foods since I got hungrier more often than before. Of course, I quit two and a half years ago, the cost of cigarettes here, had just gone up to $24.00 a carton from $15.00 a carton, so I guess compared to what some of you pay, I wasn’t paying that much to begin with. I also remember having cheaper alternatives on occassion. If someone I knew travelled, I could get a carton or two of sweet duty-free cigarettes. **jjim** , you’re paying 6 euros a pack?! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/35 "2003-08-26T17:44:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by brujo \* > \*\ ***jjim** , you’re paying 6 euros a pack?! :eek: \*\* Yup - high tax to discourage us. Doesn’t work. They’re only €2.25 in Portugal and €2.65 in Spain, so whenever someone I know goes over I get them to bring me a few cartons back. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/36 "2003-08-26T18:16:24Z")
I regret starting. I regret not having the willpower to quit. ---
**Author:** ![Tortuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Tortuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tortuga)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/37 "2003-08-26T18:27:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Seven \* > \*\*Smoking isn’t permitted in elevators (at least not where I am). \*\* Exactly my point–smokers don’t seem to realise (or care) how much they reek _after_ smoking (or worse yet, they’ll douse themselves in cologne to “cover” it, the most nauseating allergenic synergy) and being trapped in a small space with them is intolerable. Their clothing, their breath, their skin…they can’t smell it, but everyone else can. Course, one can make the same point just for people who overdose on cologne or underdeodorise/don’t bathe. **toque** 😉 I knew someone would say that–I think it’d be a pretty useful skill myself, especially when(though I don’t think they do this anymore) those perfume people in department stores spray you after you asked them not to or tried to avoid them. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/38 "2003-08-26T18:32:30Z")
I smoked for like ten years and I regret that I ever started. What I REALLY regret is how selfish I was. I used to smoke in the car with the kids in there and forced them to breathe my second hand smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/39 "2003-08-26T19:45:54Z")
I smoked for over ten years and enjoyed it. But I don’t quite believe the posters who say they don’t regret it. I mean, I know it’s pleasurable, but the addiction part sucks, don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507/40 "2003-08-26T21:18:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tortuga \* > \*\*Imagine someone who gets off on puking on or around people. > > They do it in part because they enjoy the rush that vomiting gives them, and in part because they just love to piss off the anti-vomiting Gestoppo.\*\* Bwahaha… this post is sheer genius. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-any-regrets/197507.md?page=3)