Replies

Thank you very much for eloquently putting words to the faces behind the smoke. I have been smoking for 16 years and, while I am not proud of it, I am considerate about it and feel it is for ME to decide when, how and if I quit.

My own children have been brainwashed by the schools with the mantra, "Mommy's going to die if she doesn't stop smoking!" My 10 year old came home from kindergarten 5 years ago crying about it. My response? "I could also step off the sidewalk and be killed by a bus. We are all going to die someday whether we like it or not." Why should my children have the threat of losing a parent preached to them in the name of anti-smoking?

Would I want my kids to smoke? Never. Do I lie to them about the dangers? Nope. I tell them it is my decision, it is a poor decision and I regret having ever started and hope they will never consider it. Yes, it's a do as I say, not as I do message, but my mother, 4 aunts and maternal grandparents were all raging alcoholics - am I? Nope.

We all make choices - good, bad or otherwise. I was 15 when I picked up smoking because a) I could bum smokes off cute guys and, b) I knew smoking helped relieve "stress" - a message from my 3 pack a day step mother. Not a single one of my parents (I have 3 moms, 2 dads thanks to divorce/remarriage) ever expressed their wish to me that I would make a wiser decision. Luckily, all of my parents have quit smoking and I'm the black smoking sheep of the family. I'm fine with that.

Some day, God willing, I will find the strength to just say no to my best friend... my friend who is there no matter what happens. My friend who never passes judgment but just listens. My friend who has been with me in the dead of winter in the blowing snow as I have to be outside to smoke. My friend who MAY someday kill me, but who is my companion none the less. I love my cigarettes for always being there for me - it's more than I can say for all the parents I've had!

Some day, God willing, I will find the strength to just say no to my best friend... my friend who is there no matter what happens. My friend who never passes judgment but just listens. My friend who has been with me in the dead of winter in the blowing snow as I have to be outside to smoke. My friend who MAY someday kill me, but who is my companion none the less. I love my cigarettes for always being there for me - it's more than I can say for all the parents I've had!

Hey! Do you want me to add you to my ping list?

Well, I, too, started smoking when I was 16. (Peer pressure). I wish I hadn't started, but I did and I can honestly say that I really enjoy it. When the day comes that I no longer enjoy smoking, I will quit. But it's mighty hard to give up something when you enjoy it, so I won't even try. I did quit once for 5 days, and those were the most miserable 5 days of my life.

Others in here that know me have heard this before, but: My one grandmother smoked three packs of unfiltered Camels a day and lived to be 86. My other grandmother never smoked, and she died full of cancer at age 42.

Good morning.

You could always try the smoking cessation technique that worked for me.

I had a major stroke in April of last year. In the ER I was dying for a smoke, so to speak. My wife says I was trying to beg for a Camel. While the words were barely intelligible because the left side of my face wasn't working, the puffing gestures I was attempting to make with the right side of my body were ok.

When I came out of sedation the next morning I found that my addiction was gone. You have to have suffered through withdrawl to understand how amazing it was to not be suffering. Even in the condition I was in I recognized what had happened.

I had smoked Humps for 37 years. I once initiated contact on a VC because he was smoking a Ruby Queen when he walked into our kill zone and we hadn't had a smoke in two days. That was proof positive that smoking can kill you.

I guess if you are going to kill part of your brain, zapping the part that deals with nicotine is the way to go.

Michael Frazier

I know how you feel. If you want, please see my post 643. Cigarettes are not your friend. Your emotional reaction of getting comfort is all inside you -- the cigarette is just a plant wrapped in a piece of paper. I loved smoking, smoked for years, and eventually quit. If I can do it, anybody can -- you just have to find your own personal reason. Good luck.