Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 66 total)
  • As an ex-smoker I am beginning to realise how offensive my old habit is…
  • Hohum
    Free Member

    I gave up smoking 4 months ago today and I know that it is a bit of a cliché, but it is one of the best/hardest things I have ever done.

    Anyway, I was the only smoker in the Ho hum household and also with the ban on smoking in public places I very rarely come across smokers nowadays.

    Last week was different though as my family and I were on holiday in Majorca, where there is not a smoking ban in public places.

    Hanging around by the pool during the day and watching the entertainment in the evening with loads of smokers around me made me realise just how much cigarette smoke stank and how pervasive it is. No matter how much a smoker tries to wave his/her hand it does little to really disappate the smoke and smell.

    Certainly in the last 10 years or so I have become aware of how offensive my habit was and as a result I used to find areas away from people to have a smoke, but when I was younger I did not really care that much about where I would light up. Then, as my habit became an addiction and I virtually lost all sense of taste and smell, I became oblivious to how much it stank.

    I guess the 5 ages of my smoking career have been:

    1. non-smoker
    2. psychopathic smoker
    3. oblivious smoker
    4. conscienscious smoker
    5. ex-smoker

    Now it would be hypocritical of me to say ban smoking completely and I people should be given the choice about whether or not to smoke, but I do wish that psychopathic and oblivious smokers could be made to realise how annoying their habit is to non-smokers and modify their behaviour accordingly.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Good show on improving your life mate.

    But yes – cig smokes stinks, but for me stale (ie more than 2 mins old) smoke is one of the most disgusting things.. when colleages come in from a fag break then lean over your computer to do something… Gag! Vom!

    badnewz
    Free Member

    For some reason I don't mind the after-smell of golden virginia, but yes the direct smoke from ciggies is a fairly putrid smell. The worst is when you wake up the morning after, having not smoked, but you still stink of cigerettes to make that hangover even worse.

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    scu98rkr
    Free Member

    doh !

    failedengineer
    Full Member

    I gave up 20 years ago, but have always had the odd one 'socially'. I haven't had one at all for about 4 months, but I'm off to Greece in a couple of weeks and fully intend to buy some golden virginia and some papers and enjoy a roll-up in a country where smoking is positively encouraged. I think the main reason I didn't cut it out completely was the fact that I like the smell and I like to see people smoke! I'm weird though.

    Midnighthour
    Free Member

    Well done on winning out over something you found so hard. Congratulations. Your thoughts on its effect on others are interesting too.

    TheSouthernYeti
    Free Member

    No the worst is sleeping with a girl who smokes!

    jimmyshand
    Free Member

    Smoking is one of the most disgusting habits out there in my opinion. Well done for quitting though.

    BigDummy
    Free Member

    I smoke very, very occasionally with people who (at worst) smoke very occasionally. Done like that I really rather like the smell. I like the intimacy of sharing cigarette lighters, the paraphenalia of smoking, the smell of tobacconist's shops and actually rather like to watch people who smoke well doing so.

    People smoke far too much, that's the problem. 🙂

    jon1973
    Free Member

    Stick with it. 4 months means you're still in the 'giving up honeymoon period'. I gave up about 4 years ago, and I'm pretty anti-smoking.

    tree-magnet
    Free Member

    mmmmmm, ciggys, you delicious smokey bastards.

    samuri
    Free Member

    You wanna have a fag?
    GO TO RUSSIA! And have a shower before you come back.

    Being an ex-smoker is great.

    verses
    Full Member

    The Southern Yeti – Member

    No the worst is sleeping with a girl who smokes!

    Some form of lubricant or going more slowly could help.

    I would get my coat but it's a bit too warm for one today…

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    Now it would be hypocritical of me to say ban smoking completely

    also as we well know prohibition doesn't work, and won't until everyone is too happy with their lives to bother with drugs.

    stumpyjon
    Full Member

    I've just come back from Greece (Rodos) and it was a bit of a shock to be surrounded by people smoking again, particularly in restaurants. I think the smoking ban in the UK has significantly reduced our exposure to smoke in areas not covered by the ban. it's going to be quite a while before some other parts of Europe catch up though.

    Congrats on quitting, no mean feat.

    tree-magnet
    Free Member

    *sparks up a bine*

    toys19
    Free Member

    I'm an ex smoker, I say let them smoke as long as it doesn't affect me..

    pegasus
    Free Member

    I gave up smoking 2 days ago. I'm 43, been smoking since my teens, when we smoked loads of bongs and chillums (sp), and I've been a heavy rollie smoker ever since. It must be my fifth attempt, gave up for a year once. I absolutely hate smoking and with every drag was terrified of triggering cancer. From experience I have found the first couple of months the easiest and then the 'novelty' of not smoking wears off and one small thing can make me start again. However, I start each attempt with conviction and a sense of realism and an awareness of the danger zones. But I'll never give up giving up and one day I'll crack it. I want it to be this time.

    highclimber
    Free Member

    I resent smoking with a passion. I particularly hate those smokers who think its ok to put out their death sticks and throw them on the floor thinking it will instantly dissolve into the pavement never to be seen again.
    There has been a significant increase in smoking litter since the ban and its unsightly and stinks!

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    No the worst is sleeping with a girl who smokes!

    +1

    It really does my head in, she said the other day "I haven't smoked for 4 days and you haven't even noticed, why should I quit?"

    Took a lot of mental restraint not to reply "I've never coiled one off in your bed, you've never complimented me on that, doesn't mean I should start?"

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    highclimber +1

    All the smokers who chuck their butts out of the window rather than using the ashtray or use their ashtray, but then empty the entire thing onto the road at a set of traffic lights.

    We went to Center Parcs a while ago & out the back of the apartments we were staying in the grass was absolutely littered with fag ends.

    GrahamS
    Full Member

    highclimber +1

    By the end of the day the car park at work is practically ankle deep in discarded butt ends.

    Minging!

    The poor janny has to sweep it all up every night. Personally I'd put a wall around it and force them to wallow in it till they got the hang of using the bins.

    Flash
    Free Member

    Before this degenerates too far:

    Let me smoke my pipe!

    brakes
    Free Member

    smoking is a filthy stinking habit which has left several members of my family to die horrid painful miserable deaths.
    it may seem cool when you're a teenager, but when you're 70, with tubes coming out of every orrifice, drugged up to the eyeballs, having spent the last 5 years literally coughing up your lungs and waiting to die, it won't be so cool anymore

    coffeeking
    Free Member

    Tis a vile habit to a non-smoker. Nicely ruined my evening last night when the neighbour walked down her drive smoking and the smoke drifted in my window, my whole lower floor stank all evening.

    nickc
    Full Member

    I'm a non smoker, smoking doesn't bother me in the slightest, my missus is a smoker…The vitriol of other non smokers does make me smile though, don't think I've ever had the energy to get that wound up about it.

    MrWoppit
    Free Member

    Should never have started, but gave up the weed 18 years ago. Sense of taste and smell now back where they should be, but it's left me with the lung capacity of a newt.

    jon1973
    Free Member

    How long did you smoke before you gave up Mr W? I thought your lungs were meant to get back to pretty much normal about 5 years after quitting.

    TheSouthernYeti
    Free Member

    thisisnotaspoon – I'm no relationship expert but if you start only kissing her when she hasn't smoked she'll get the message.

    grim168
    Free Member

    I have never smoked in my 42 years on this earth. I grew up with parents who both smoked. I can remember visiting relatives as a kid and having to go outside for fresh air as my eyes were so sore. Up till recently I would never have argued for banning it completely but since the ban I would. I prefer to sit outside in summer at both pubs and cafes but am finding I have to stay inside to get away from the stench. Ban cigarettes but you can keep cigars as I like the smell of them. Promised myself I would have a cigar when I turned 40 but never got round to it. Fathers had throat cancer and still smokes !

    mmb
    Free Member

    the nicest thing about being an ex smoker for me is saying i don't smoke to those who ask me for a light( not in a smug way of course) it makes me proud of quitting, i tried several times and found it very difficult until i took up mountain biking again! that gave me a very good reason to stop so i guess i owe a lot to this sport however i have now spent much more on bikes than i would have on ciggies but it's definately worth it!

    hora
    Free Member

    OP. Well done firstly. 10yrs clean here.

    It really is a disgusting habit. Utterly addictive and destroys the cells within your body. Smokers tend to rebel/fight against others who question their habit. I know I did. I started off thinking it'd make me cool/get girls, make me bad and then living dangerously. Finally in the last stages of smoking I thought it made me look like I needed something or showed when I was stressed.

    Funnily after I quit I went to work in sales. In the cornershop this week I noticed the smoking display has a wierd backlight- like a clean crisp light that draws your eyes.

    I wonder why they are doing that…… possibly for the kids when they look up from the sweet counter towards the shop keeper?

    coffeeking
    Free Member

    The vitriol of other non smokers does make me smile though, don't think I've ever had the energy to get that wound up about it.

    Really doesn't take any energy, you must be seriously lethargic 🙂 Might be all the passive smoke… 😆

    nickc
    Full Member

    you must be seriously lethargic

    it takes industrial strength coffee to jump start me in the morning

    cullen-bay
    Free Member

    im 15 years clean…

    scraprider
    Free Member

    been 4 years for me and mrs scraprider. sometimes the wiff of a fag with summit init. any ways that stopped when the smoking stopped ,and i have never had a crafty one since i stopped, well done you.

    hora
    Free Member

    Ah, yes I went towards espresso addiction 😈

    tinribz
    Free Member

    About 3 months here after a year of trying to stop, what has suprised me most is I still feel like one sometimes even now. Never having managed more than a day I honestly thought 3, 4 days max and that would be the end of it.

    Always have and still do find the smell appealing, even stinky ashtrays. Yes I can smell smokers at 30 yards now but it's not that unpleasant?

    Will never smoke again though because I've no desire to go through that first couple of weeks ever again, not to mention the anger and depression stages that last even longer.

    Now enjoying the instant extra 3mph average speed on the bike, hills, food, swimming & running, not constantly worrying about my health. Feeling smug in the presence of smokers.

    hora
    Free Member

    What genuinely annoys me is…

    your sat on a bench eating your lunch and reading the paper and someone shuffles up and sits next you then sparks up.

    Have they even the basic manners to know your not supposed to smoke when someones eating? Let alone onto the next aspect.

    No offence – smokers strike me like sullen kids who seem to think its 'us and them' and we should 'get over their addiction'. Free choice and all that. Or they think they are the grownup's and we are being childish whereas when you actually grow up, a smoker has an a
    apithinany and thinks 'I've been had all these years'…

    bravohotel9er
    Free Member

    I was never a heavy smoker, but gave up entirely a few years ago.

    I've never really been bothered if girlfriends smoke though. For one thing, up until a few years ago about half my circle of friends were smokers. Additinally, a disproportionate number of foxy types seem to have the vice and I've long theorised that girls who smoke are willing to put anything in their mouths.

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