Slave to the ciggies

dss62467

dss62467

Cathlete
Maybe it's because I've never been a smoker, but I just don't get it. Every day I come in to work at 7:00 a.m. and there's the same 3 people standing outside sucking on their cigarettes. It's below 0, and they're still out there. They look miserable. And they go out ALL the time. They're there when I come in at 7:00, if I go out for lunch, they're there when I leave AND when I come back. They're there when I leave for the the day. And since my office window is right next to the spot where they smoke, I can see that they're there a couple more times a day. I guess I could understand it in the 6 months a year where our weather is nice...

I've never had any sort of addiction. Well, that's not true - I sucked my thumb until I was 9. But if it meant that I had to stand outside in the freezing cold with the wind blowing, I would have given it up! As it turned out, it only took a little monetary bribe from my grandmother to give it up....

I really am extremely grateful that I was never interested in smoking cigarettes. I think I tried a couple in jr. high, but never saw the appeal.
 
I don't get it either Donna. This cracked me up last week: I was pulling in at the grocery store and there were these 2 employees standing out in the freezing cold smoking - with GLOVES on.
 
I was a "slave" for 18 years and was just like those people. It is very hard to explain, but it's just something a smoker tends to do. Come rain or shine, I needed a cigarette like every 20 min-60 min. I am now a non-smoker for almost 2 years, but can remember what that was like. Of course now i can stand back and say "why don't the just quit"? A lot easier said then done. If it was so easy I wouldn't have smoked for all those years. I am glad that I quit and really understand how hard it is to quit.

Aila
 
The "Why don't they just quit?" question when directed at smokers is about as realistic as eyeballing an overweight, deconditioned person and saying, "Why don't they just lose weight?"

Kicking any unhealthy habit, be it smoking, alcohol abuse, overeating, sloth, what have you, is difficult. And nicotine is one of the most highly addictive substances out there.

It's quite fashionable to bash smokers for their addiction right now. You can't really do that with alcoholics, obese persons, sex addicts, compulsive gamblers, compulsive shoppers, compulsive shopLIFTers, etc., without being perceived as exceedingly unsympathetic. They all need "help". But the smoker's addiction to nicotine is, from the popular rhetoric, merely something that can be "just" gotten over.

A-Jock
 
I am so glad I am not a smoker!I tried it but I think everyone does at some point in their lives.
At my last job, my boss would always go outside for her smoke and the samething,it would be freezing out.And get this,the other girl I worked with who is 40 YEARS OLD!, use to smoke when she was drinking (alot of people around here do)Then she went on a diet and started smoking more often, and of course she lost more weight.Then she became addicted.SO the two of them use to go out for their ciggies in the freezing cold.I use to give her a hard time b/c I understand when people are 16 yrs old and they think its cool to smoke.But what 40 yr old women picks it up? Then she went off of her diet,gained all of her weight back and now she is a smoker.She is more unhealthy now then she was before she started her diet.
At my new job there are two girls who smoke, only when they are at work.Weird! When I first started working there, I thought,is this job THAT bad that you have to smoke? When they are off they don't smoke.
My only addiction is sweets and I THINK (thats the magic word) I could quit if I wanted to.:)
Lori:)
 
My father smoked at least two packs a day until he died last year. He died of emphysema or COPD as they call it now at age 72. He had been to the hospital several times over the past 5 years due the COPD getting progressively worse due to smoking. He even had lung cancer and still smoked. Believe it or not the lung cancer went away...he still smoked.


Talk about denial. He would do his lung treatments and then smoke a cigarette after. DH asked him why he did that. He said the smoke broke his congestion up x(

In his last days my mother had the option of them putting him on a ventilator if he got better. I knew he would be one of those guys you see smoking through his windpipe.

It is a horrible addiction. Anyone who has learned to quit is my hero.
 
I echo Aila's thoughts...

I smoked for about 15 years and ATTEMPTED to quit 3,4, maybe even 5 times before I was successful and it was the single MOST DIFFICULT thing I have EVER done in my ENTIRE life!!! My DH quit about a year or so before we started dating and he would always tell me the same thing....he was so right!

People who never dealt with it do not understand it and that doesn't surprise me. It's not something you could possibly understand if you haven't been a smoker. Non-smokers just need to understand that for most smokers, it's NOT an easy habit to break! Quitting takes even MORE than every ounce of strength and willpower a person has!

I am glad I was finally able to quit as I know I am much better off but I will *never* bash a smoker or back any of these ridiculous new laws they are implementing or want to implement in the future. If you ask me, either outlaw smoking completely or leave it alone! It's going too far IMO.:)

Have a great work out!

~Wendy~

I smoked my last cigarette on March 17, 2004 at 10:00 pm!

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?WENDYMIN

http://lilypie.com/days/050519/1/0/1/-5/.png[/img][/url]
 
22 year addiction here. I quit 3 years ago (well, it'll be 3 years as of May 1) & not a day goes by w/o my thinking of it. In fact, probably not an hour goes by w/o my thinking of it.

And bad weather certainly never stopped me. NOTHING stopped me until I started getting smoker's wrinkles.

See, there's that vanity at work again.........:p
 
My mother, DD and sister still smoke. I was very upset with them after my father died because they continued to smoke. I realized there really is nothing I can do about it. Just like any other addiction, they have to be the ones to decide to quit.

They will suffer the consequences of their smoking but it does affect other members of the family. I just hope granddaughter deciding to join them is not one of the consequences ;( .
 
They are out there smoking in the cold because if they do not, it will feel like their scalp is leaving their head and they will become extremely bitchy.

I am happy to say I have not smoked in 7 years, but the previous people are right, It is a VERY TOUGH habit to break.
 
And the good thing is that they are outside smoking and not in the office. When I was 19, working in an office, people all around me were smoking. Now, if they could just change the law to end smoking in all public buildings. Minnesota is getting there slow but sure, but not fast enough for me.

Joanne
 
> Now, if they could just change
>the law to end smoking in all public buildings.

No offense to anyone meant here b/c everyone has a right to their own oppinion but I have to say that these are exactly the types of laws they are trying to pass every where that make me crazy! If the government wants to take smoking bans THAT far than just make it COMPLETELY ILLEGAL and force everyone to quit...except ofcourse, those who will continue to buy it like one would purchase other illegal drugs...but we will never be able to put a stop to that and that is not the point of this post anyhow...:)

Have a great work out!

~Wendy~

I smoked my last cigarette on March 17, 2004 at 10:00 pm!

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?WENDYMIN

http://lilypie.com/days/050519/1/0/1/-5/.png[/img][/url]
 
I just wanted to add that I don't care if people smoke 100 packs a day. I just don't want to breath it in. If I have a drink, I'm not making the person next to me have a drink. It is against the law to have animals in restaurants because of health issues. I don't understand why they allow cigarettes.

Wendy, good for you that you have quit!

Joanne
 
I don't have a problem with being around smoke personally, but I totally understand your point, Joanne which is why I believe it should just be completely illegal instead of making it illegal to smoke in PUBLIC places only....

Thanks for the kudos, BTW! Makes it even more worth it when the accomplishment is recognized!:+




Have a great work out!

~Wendy~

I smoked my last cigarette on March 17, 2004 at 10:00 pm!

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?WENDYMIN

http://lilypie.com/days/050519/1/0/1/-5/.png[/img][/url]
 
I kind of "get" why people are willing to risk frostbite for a smoke: it's supposed to be more addictive than heroin, and they are addict.


Now, if they could just change
>the law to end smoking in all public buildings.

I agree, Joanne. Non-smokers' rights should take precedence over smokers' "rights."

At our university (and I assume most universities?) no smoking is allowed in any buildings anymore (though one arrogant faculty member in the English department still smokes in his office. How he gets away with it--there's no mistaking the odor and where it's coming from...thankfully NOT on my floor---I don't know). Unfortunately, some of the smoking areas are right outside the entryways. I often have to walk by or even through a group of several people smoking at one of the entrances I use (and I hold my breath the entire way, but that doesn't keep the (@!*# smoke out of my hair or off my clothes).

Urbana Illinois was trying to pass a law to outlaw smoking in all public buildings, including bars! That one didn't pass.

I agree with Wendy (though maybe she didn't mean it this way;-) ) smoking should just be made illegal.

A thought: Maybe if we had grown opium poppies in the US in the early days instead of tobacco, heroin would be legal now instead of tobacco!
 
That's the way it is in New York and I LOVE it! (There's one thing I like about New York). They passed a ban on smoking in bars last year and all the smokers and bar owners freaked out. I don't typically go to bars anymore, since I'm almost 38 and have a young child. But we went out on New Year's Eve this year and it was so awesome to not have all that smoke. And not having the stench in my clothes the next day was great!

I honestly get kind of ticked off when someone in a car near me is smoking and it comes through my vents. Or if I'm walking in a parking lot and pass someone who is smoking. Well, ticked off isn't probably the right description. More like annoyed.

If they could invent a cigarette that didn't infringe on non-smokers air, then I'd be just fine with people killing themselves. As long as they weren't my friends or family.

Oh, and now NY state is running these ads to try to deter people from smoking and they're so gross. There's this one where a dude is lighting up a cigarette from the burner on his stove, then they cut to a disection of an aorta where they squeeze this fat build-up out of it onto a table and say it came from a 30 year old smoker. It's so disgusting and they always play it when I'm eating my breakfast.

It makes me mad that those of us who were smart enough to never start have to be subjected to that.
 
>If they could invent a cigarette that didn't infringe on
>non-smokers air, then I'd be just fine with people killing
>themselves.

How about a "smoking suit?" Kind of like a haz-mat suit, with a helmet, so all the smoke would stay with the smoker and not bother anyone else. One benefit to the smoker would be that they would get more bang out of their buck, because one cigarette would have the effect of 3 or 4 or more (a whole pack?). The suit would also have an air filtration system to keep the smoke from the outside, and couldn't be opened until all the smoke had been neutralized.

I also hate when driving smokers through their cigarette butts (lit) out the window! What's up with that crap?

And the butts all over the ground where smokers congregate. I wonder what effects the nicotine (which is a poison) has on the grass or on animals or insects that hang out in the grass).
 
It actually comes as a surprise to me that there are some states that still generally allow smoking in enclosed public buildings. Minnesota is struggling with the restaurant/bar issue itself, and watching the debate continues to entertain me.

Regarding how smoking affects others: I sincerely wish that, in addition to banning smoking in public places, they also banned alcohol consumption in public places. The number of people who drive after drinking in these establishments, risking or actually hurting (sometimes killing) themselves and others, is astounding. The number of people who get into fights after drinking in public places, including bars, sports stadiums, etc., is astounding. The number of people who commit crimes after drinking in public places is truly astounding.

In fact, while tobacco smoking is criminalized, let's criminalize alcohol drinking as well. Alcohol addicts at least 10 percent of a population (often more, as there are certain populations more vulnerable to alcohol's ill effects), is present as a crime element in over 50% of reported crimes, causes driving accidents up to and including fatal ones (and often the fatalities are the non-drinking driver), ravages families, destroys brain cells, and can damages fetuses in utero. Among alcohol's other charms.

But wait a minute . . . that's already been tried. So I guess we should just target tobacco, because it's so darned popular to do so.

A-Jock
 
Now you just said on another thread that you like to eat Oreo Crisps at work and you decided to continue to have them two days a week. How is that any different from a smoker saying she is only going to smoke 2 cigarette's a day?

An addiction is an addiction whether it's sugar/food or smoking or drinking. The only difference is you aren't banned from eating cookies in public places so the government is enabling you to continue with your bad habit. Look at it this way, what if your doctor told you today that if you didn't stop eating cookies you would become a diabetic in six months. Diabetes is just as life threatening as lung cancer.

So, don't criticise someone else's addiction unless you are free from faults yourself.
 
I sincerely wish that,
>in addition to banning smoking in public places, they also
>banned alcohol consumption in public places. The number of
>people who drive after drinking in these establishments,
>risking or actually hurting (sometimes killing) themselves and
>others, is astounding. The number of people who get into
>fights after drinking in public places, including bars, sports
>stadiums, etc., is astounding. The number of people who
>commit crimes after drinking in public places is truly
>astounding.


A bit off-topic, but this past weekend, 4 of the bars in our town (a college town) hosted an early St Patrick's day celebration (since students will be gone on St Patrick's day for Spring Break). All 4 bars offered FREE Miller beer starting at 11 in the morning and going 'til who knows when. I stayed off the streets after noon that day! What brain-surgeon thought that having people who are loaded up on free booze (and if it's free, why not drink more!) go from bar to bar? (I hope there was at least a shuttle of some kind to transport them and they weren't driving all over!)
 
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