Saturday, September 4, 2010

Irrewind, 20100904: Smoking

I'm a recovering smoker (and given how far in advance some of these posts are scheduled, I hope I still am by the time anyone reads this). I started smoking sometime in late 1999 and have been actively trying to quit since sometime in 2000. There have been high points (including a 10-month span completely nicotine-free in 2006) and have been low points (pretty much anytime else) in my efforts, and I often found myself whining (or whinging, pending your location) about it here at Irreverent Irrelevance.

Anyway, in light of a friend trying to quit herself (or, at least, claiming to want to), I figured to post some of my observations - both personal and otherwise - concerning the topic.

"One Billion Tobacco Deaths? Big Whoop"
I don't mean that in a bad way, but seriously, one billion people? Over the course of a century? That's not too bad, if you ask me. In fact, it helps out another "problem" that the World Health Organization is worried about: overpopulation. Not only that, these smokers are dying from something that, in all likelihood, THEY WANT TO DO... Read More

"Cigarette Musings"
Strangely, I didn't have another cigarette until two days later, when I returned to my real job and suddenly became very depressed. I know, I know... that's not an excuse, but it's what happened, so shut up. Since then, I've had about 40 cigarettes... not a high number, given the usual number of cigarettes smokers light up in a day, but... Read More

"Off the Wagon... Again"
Of course, I can always use the excuse "but all people on set smoke" (see: "but all soldiers smoke" for my military excuse), but the fact of the matter is I just felt like it. Maybe I just felt like it because I usually hate Atlanta (I loved it this time) and needed some edge off, but it's probably just because I'm a fucking moron... Read More

"A Cigarette When You Don't Want One"
 Smoking's a crutch in so many ways. It's an excuse, an abuse, and a reason to drink more coffee. People trying to quit, like myself, look for anything negative or otherwise not ideal to serve as motivation to light up a smoke. I had a bad day, for instance, which is why there's a pack of fresh Camel Turkish Silvers on my desk. And, yeah, I hate... Read More 

"Marijuana versus Tobacco: A Great Irony"
I fully believe that smoking cigarettes is bad for you. I fully believe that smoking marijuana is bad for you. And I fully believe that both should be legal, regulated as little as possible, and available on the open market to be enjoyed wherever someone (someone being an individual or a business) provides a spot for them to be enjoyed... Read More 

9 comments:

Baino said...

I'm very proud of you for chucking it in. Although I have NEVER smoked more than 10 a day! You said you smoked 40? That's serious time on you hands. I figure 22 hours on a plane is a good start to cold turkey. Have the nicorette and a few good books. Wish me luck.

Megan said...

She's never smoked more than 10 a day? Then she ain't no smoker and doesn't even need to worry about quitting.

Tom said...

i am surprised at the amount of young people I see smoking. All the programs designed to stop kids from starting and all the bad press haven't put the cig companys out of work yet. That's alright, maybe someday someone will invent a safe cigarette.

She Writes said...

I recall being put on hold for you while you smoked a cigarette once :). I am so glad to hear you are still not smoking. Well done! No holding anyone else's cigarettes for even a tiny second. I will come back and read some of these another day. I see some I don't recognize.

Anonymous said...

Quitter!!!

annell said...

It's very hard. Something so simple, so pleasurable, and yet, so difficult to put down for ever.

Kate Hanley said...

Good luck with the quitting. I've been trying to quit myself for years and then I'll do a show and around the second week of rehearsals, I start bumming cigarettes, then buying... Something about the theater and needing a excuse to go outside and think.

Harnett-Hargrove said...

This reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut saying, 'Smoking is the polite way to commit suicide.' -J

Steel_Magnolia1 said...

I smoked for ten years. I decided after a decade of smoking that it was tie to try something else,like not smoking. It was harder than I thought, but after bumming the occasional cigarette, and the price increase... again, I was done. You can be too.

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