Friday, 27 February 2009

  • The Smoke Break As A Non-Smoker

     

    I can't say that I've never touched a cigarette before, because I have. 

    One week when I was seventeen, I went through the typical "I look cool" phase and decided to pick up smoking.  However, it was clear that I was an amateur: I coughed, couldn't inhale, and didn't even know how to hold it right. 

    After the long seven days, I think I had actually had two cigarettes in total.  After that, I decided to never touch them again.

    Now it's not even like I dislike the smell of smoke.  Of course I personally do not like smelling like smoke, but the actual smell itself reminds me of home (since both of my parents smoke regularly).  I'm of course aware of the health problems that are linked to smoking - especially lung cancer.  But aside from this, people smoking never bothered me socially.  At least not until I hit 21.

    The smoke break for a non-smoker is the worst fifteen minutes of the night.  You have two options:

    1. Pray to God that you already have your beer coat on, thus allowing you to go outside with everyone else and not be freeze during the Winter months.
    2. Sit by yourself at the bar, hoping that there will end up being another non-smoker in your group who you can make awkward conversation with until your real friends get back.

    I basically abhor the smoke break.  If I didn't hate smoking enough just from the Surgeon General's Warning, it now is affecting my social life in addition to my physical health.

    Have you ever tried smoking?  How old were you when you started?  If not, was it health issues that turned you off, or something else?

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Comments (51)

  • lotta_valdez@xanga

    I smoked for a while.  My purposes were more social than physical. 


    There are vices that are far more fun.
  • pterodactyl_Sex@xanga

    I picked up smoking when I was 16 and now i am almost 19 and have only just quit about three months ago..but it was actually pretty easy... i don't ever crave one anymore. I only stopped because it scared me that going up six steps got me out of breath and i'm pretty healthy person...i think that would scare anyone really.
  • godofthelost@xanga

    *shrug* never smoked.  I usually don't mind the smell if we're outside, unless some moron is blowing smoke right in my face.  If they're rude enough to do that, there's no reason for me to be around them anymore.

    I don't smoke because I'm a tuba player.  I need all the lung I can get, and I can't risk my lungs*shrug*.
  • Spyder_V@xanga

    I tried smoking for the first time when I was 9. My mom kind of made me. I hated it.
    Then, I was having a really shitty day last year in April and I decided to try smoking again. It wasn't too bad. Since then I smoke on and off whenever it's available. I try not to smoke, but when all my friends take a smoke break, what am I going to do? Sit inside by myself? No, I'll at least take a couple of drags off a bummed cig and talk with them outside.

    After bumming enough cigs, I'll get a pack and hand back cigs to the people I borrowed from and smoke the rest in 2 or 3 weeks. Again, I don't smoke much.
  • abcxunt@xanga

    started at 13. now 21.


    about a pack a day.
  • Random_Goldfish@xanga

    A cigarette once when I was really smashed...eww.


    My roommate smokes a storm though and I end up coughing myself awake because there's a plume in the bedroom and I happen to have quite the sensitive asthma.


    She's obviously not allowed to smoke in the dorm but she does even when it's warm outside. I love my roommate but there is the secert evil side of me that hopes she gets caught and learns a lesson...because obviosuly it's not enough when I ask her really nicely to go outside or when it gets bad enough that I have to drag the enhaler out...she just keeps lightin' them...not to mention she's never heard of an ash tray. I'm sweeping thoughout the day constantly.


    I don't want to pay a $500 fine because of her and potentially get banned from my dorm...because I plan on living here again next year...without her.
  • tokyoexpressman@xanga

    I've been smoking since I was 18, though I've had 6 month periods where I decided to quit smoking (always relapsed). I find in my case it's initially a nicotine dependency and then a social thing; I have periods of time where I get cranky and ornery without cigarettes and then it passes. The problem is if I'm surrounded by people who smoke, then it's very hard not to join in.

  • just_the_average_jane@xanga

    Heart disease is actually the major health concern with smoking, not lung cancer.  You'll die of heart disease long before you get cancer.

    I have not tried smoking, nor do I plan to.  it seems like a very expensive habit with not much pay off. 

  • tubbz87@datingish

    I only tried smoking once about 3 years ago when I got curious and smoked half a cig that I got from someone. It was pretty disgusting. My grandpa and uncle both died from lung cancer because they smoked heavily. My best friend's dad is in the advanced stage of lung cancer because he smoked a lot too. This is enough to deter me from smoking again.
  • irishgrrl690@xanga

    When I was 13, but it's been sporadic (is it fair to say I was never addicted?) and now I'm over it.

    It can be really tough to be the only person in a social group who doesn't smoke. The smoke break is just one situation where you're the odd man out EVERY time.

    I quit because it was expensive, it wasn't helping my chronic bronchial illness and now I'm done for good because it's a pact I've made with my SO. He's really serious about not smoking himself (See above: He's the tuba player) and I don't really want to get caught in that rut either! The smell mostly.. I hate the smoker smell.
  • SherylM@xanga

    I started smoking at the age of 11 and quit after 30 years.  That was 11 years ago.  One of the reasons I quit was because of how pathetic I thought it was that I would suffer the freezing cold for the sake of a smoke.   Second-hand smoke is dangerous, too.  I'd say stay inside and strike up a conversation with another nonsmoker in the bar.  You may make some nonsmoking friends

  • WikkedAce@xanga

    Bleh. I was smoking at 18 when I started working at a pub... the only break you got was if you smoked so it became regular for me! I still smoke.. at 22... usually between 3-8 smokes per day but I'm almost ready to quit (cuz you gotta be "ready" or it won't work) almost there! xo
  • ghostinparis@xanga

    I smoked before it was cool to do so- when I was about 13. I continued this for about three months, and I would smoke about a pack a day.
    I quit for the same reason I started- there was no reason.


    Now, my friends regularly smoke. Sometimes I go out with them when they go for a smoke, mostly because it's a good chance to get some conversation in without having to yell.
  • SherylM@xanga

    @just_the_average_jane@xanga - Actually, from the National Institutes of Health: In a research study, deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ranked highest, then coronary heart disease, then lung cancer, then stroke.  But ANY of these should scare a person away from smoking!
  • Pcgecko85@xanga

    I don't smoke but ill hang out with my friends when they do smoke if everyone is doing it.  Usually I have another friend or 2 that doesn't smoke. 

  • NightCometh@xanga

    Smoking is disgusting.  I've never done it, and never will.  This is really important because I'm a professional singer.
  • bda16981@xanga

    I tried when I was like 11.


    This never made sense but both of my parents smoked heavily, in the house but chastised me when they caught me taking a drag off one of their lit cigarettes. Ive smoked on and off since then, quitting for months or years at a time and then once in a blue moon(like 4-6 months) I will have a cig and a beer with the hubby after the kids are asleep.


    I quit smoking the first time cause I just wanted to quit


    I quit again before I got pregnant and didnt smoke until after I stopped nursing (18 months)


     I have only smoked like once or twice in the past 6 months and I never smoke at home or around my kids
  • my_final_username@xanga

    I have never smoked in all my life,   I don't usually go outside when people have their smokers break, all the places I have been to either training course or when I have work have been offical breaks (i.e lunchtime, morning or afternoon break)


    I would never ever smoke in my life,  it is disgusting and a waste of money. 
  • Secretly_Lighting_Fires@xanga

    I have never smoked in my life or ever plan to.  As with smoking breaks, I won't go outside with my smoking friends because I can't stand to be around the smell.  
  • pillowpixies@xanga

    I've tried it, and it just seemed pointless to me.
  • ItsThatObviouz@xanga

    My grandpa died from smoking too much and my grandma who still smokes despite being sick, is just UGH. That hurt so much that I refused to ever lay my hands on a cigerette. Plus, it makes my eyes water sometimes and it just completely turns me off.
  • Sezwick@xanga

    I quit smoking about a month ago. I started smoking at 16, just a few each month, but by mid 17 I was going for almost half a pack a day. I'm 18 now, and a little over a month ago, the smell started making me very sick, the action was worse. I took the oppritunity to stop.


    The smell still makes me sick. Maybe I just had too much of it. My fiance smoked more than I did, and when he would come in from it, it was very difficult to sit close to him. Becuase of my neausia, he's quitting aswell, he's cut down significantly. It's... astoundingly sweet.
  • BarniganFlarn@xanga

    I had the exact same problem in college! Almost all of my friends smoked. Sometimes I'd go out there with them just to keep 'em company but I always felt foolish without something to do. It was better if I had a beer or coffee in hand though, because then when they smoked I'd sip a warm or tasty beverage.

  • anorexique_xo@xanga

    @NightCometh@xanga - first of all, good decision not to smoke because it's bad for you. not to start an argument or anything, but i think it varies from person to person how much smoking negatively affects their voice. i've definitely heard people with voices clearly damaged by smoking. however, i've been smoking for almost three years now and the only thing that has happened to my voice is that i can sing quite a few notes lower than i used to be able to. my upper register hasn't changed at all. i'm not a professional singer, but i've been classically trained and i have about a 3 octave range, maybe a few notes more on a good day, so i'm not completely bullshitting you or anything. my voice startd to mature when i was relatively young and probably was completely matured by age 15 so i attribute those new notes completely to smoking. the only vocal problem that maybe i can attribute to smoking is that when i get sick it almost alway effects my throat and, subsequently, my voice. unlike you, it's not really a big deal for me because i don't sing for a living. i've found that a lot of singers smoke though. when i was high school-age i was in an international ranked choir of about 40 voices and i'd estimate around half of us smoked. before and after concerts we would go outside to smoke and our conductor would always go mad about it because we rarely took the time to change out of our concert attire. it would be a sea of black tuxes and shiney gowns crowded outside the backdoor of the concert venue in a cloud of smoke. i imagine we looked silly. i love irony. anyway, most of this response was completely pointless, but thanks for reading anyway. good luck with the singing.
  • ElliottStrange@xanga

    The smoke break takes 15 minutes? These people are really taking their time.

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