Do you smoke cigarettes?

[goofyforlife]

My in-laws smoked that much...... The smell in their house was so bad we couldn't stay there more than even a half hour at a time.

My MIL learned she had in-operable terminal lung cancer in Sept 2004.

She passed away less than 4 mths later....

Pear pressure or not - I don't think my DD will ever smoke after seeing that...

 

[Virgo10]

Do you drink alcohol?

I don't. I grew up with parents that were both very heavy drinkers. Then, as the teenage years approached, my friends all started drinking. Even from the time I was a kid, I was always totally grossed out by drinking so I never even tried once. Not that it really matters because I was surrounded by 20 years of drinkers when I lived at home!

My DH doesn't drink either, thank goodness.

Now that I'm in my 50's, I'm super-sensitive to that horrible alcohol smell. When friends go out and drink, I can smell it on them. Thank goodness I don't have to visit my parents any more. They're both dead. All I use to be able to smell was that horrible alcohol smell until I had an opportunity to change my clothes (usually the exact moment I get home!). I could smell it in my hair until I shampood it. I could smell it on my purse. Ugh, I wished they would have quit. If alcohol was doing that to clothing, I can't even imagine what it was doing to their liver. But, sadly, they were so addicted that they never quit.

Feel free to insert the target group that you look down on. I prefer to use up those points on people like child molesters and murderers.

 

[C.Ann]

Well in my case, it would depend on who you ask.. I've made many, many changes in my life in the past year or so - I just haven't chosen to discuss them openly.. Some changes have been significant - others so small you wouldn't really notice unless you knew me extremely well.. Some changes have been recent - some not so recent.. Some are "in the works".. Bottom line is I'm all about "change" these days.. Building a new life can be VERY interesting.. Scary at times, but refreshing and exciting as well..

As for smokers in general - until it's against the law, I will continue to defend the right of any adult to engage in doing so as long as they are considerate of others while smoking.. I will not insult them - or their intelligence.. I will not label them nor will I discriminate against them.. Most of all, I will not "lecture" them..

And what's up with the smilies again today? I can't use my favorite..

 

[Miss Mickey Mania]

First, to the person who asked what was the point of this thread. The community board is open to ANY reasonable topics, as a means of conversation between members. I don't see the problem asking the question. At least the OP posted it on the correct board.

My answer - no I don't smoke, and have never tried it. Nobody in my immediate family ever has but 2 sets of aunts and uncles have been able to quit in the past few years. They did it cold turkey and I know they really had to fight hard with their willpower and cravings. They succeeded and have never looked back.

Just for some extra information, here in Scotland many restaurants still permit smoking. Some have non-smoking areas, but that sometimes means you can have two tables side by side, one with an ashtray and the other without. This is all going to change next year when a ban on smoking in most public places is introduced. I'm not commenting on this at all, just throwing it in as a little international fact .

 

[MoniqueU]

I quit over a year ago. It was super hard to quit but after about a month or two the urge just isn't there for me. My husband still smokes. I can smell it on him but it doesn't bug me near as much as the knowledge of what it is doing to his body. I wish he would quit for his health.

 

[Minnesota!]

Not anymore. Quit on January 21, 2001. Had my last cigarette outside the Orlando Int'l Airport I had tried to quit on January 1 of that year, but we went on vacation and the temptation was too great. So, we bought a few packs at the store in ASSports and then I had the last one in the pack right before we went into the airport. Wasn't bringing that nasty habit back home with me. I started smoking at age 11 or so and I quit at age almost 23. Got DH to quit on September 17, 2002. All it took was a promise of a big screen TV if he made it a year. He did and we still haven't gotten the TV

I think smoking is VILE!! All of my friends have quit, but my mother and brother haven't. They smell all the time.

I think that people who do smoke are doing a injustice to not only themselves but to everyone around them who loves them. I have seen more people in my life die of cancer than I care to talk about it. 95% of them were smoking related.

And don't get me started on people who smoke around their kids (or any kids)...especially in cars. Makes me want to call CPS.

 

[MeetingMickeyin2006]

Both of my parents smoked. My mom has horrible asthma and she still smokes. I lost my dad to cancer.

I started smoking when I was 15 in April of 1994, and I smoked my last cigarette on December 26th, 2004.

I've never felt better about anything, but MAN IS IT HARD!!!

 

[DISshopkeeper]

Folks....Sorry, I never meant to offend anyone with this post, believe me. Please don't think that I wrote it for that reason.

I know so many people that smoke and that I love dearly. Just wish they never started.

I used to smoke and I am not the least bit offended by the tone of your post. No need to apologize again! You speak truth.

 

[lissawynn]

When I was into my drinking days (a way long time ago), I would sometimes smoke a menthol cig. while I was drinking. Now I find smoking totally sickening and would kill my son if he ever tried it.

 

[Kitty 34]

I did.

But I quit 9 years ago!!!

 

[catsrule]

nope.

 

[Marseeya]

I don't think the topic/tone of the thread is demeaning.

I grew up in a house where my parents were very anti-smoking, anti-drinking, and anti-sex. Guess what I rebelled against?

I started smoking when I was 12 and continued off and on throughout my teen years, then got into it pretty heavily in my 20s. I quit with both pregnancies, then started back up. With my son, I started about a month after he was born and with my daughter, I started as soon as she weaned herself from breastfeeding. It was pretty traumatic for me. I quit in 1998, but started back up in 99 when my DH and I went through a nasty separation, then I quit again for good in Dec. 1999 after we got back together.

It was rough, but I used a lot of creative visualization to keep on track, as I couldn't afford any stop smoking aids. It was a tough battle for a while, but I went on Wellbutrin for depression in 2003 and it's been smooth sailing ever since. I went off the Wellbutrin last May and the cravings started up as strong as ever, but now I'm back on it and fine again. I highly recommend it!

 

[aprilgail2]

No I don't. I grew up with a father and uncle who lived here that smoked all the time. I remember trying to crack the car window to breath fresh air when they were smoking in the car. The house stunk, their breath stunk, clothes stunk..I vowed I would never subject my child to that. When my father died at 55 years old and my Uncle died a few years later at 53 years old it took YEARS for the house, furniture and everything else to finally stop stinking like smoke. We had the furniture cleaned numerous times when they died but could never get rid of that ground in smoke stink. We did get the ceilings and walls painted pretty quick since they were yellow from all the smoke!

 

[olena]

Never tried it, never will.

 

[ckret01]

Yes I do. I have been since I was 16 I am now 32

 

[grinningghost]

No.

 

[crs7568]

I do not smoke and I truly detest the smell of it. I am a teacher and my heart breaks for some of my students who come to school smelling like cigarettes because their parents smoke at home or in the car.

 

[AuntieM03]

I don't, but my mom and grandma were heavy smokers. When I was 9 or 10 (back in the non-politically correct 70's) I told my mom I wanted to smoke when I got older. She handed over her cigarette and made me smoke it until I turned green. I never had a desire to have another.

 

[wdw4us2]

Never smoked, didn't even try it one time.

My father was a heavy smoker and I hated it. I never had any desire to try it, even when all of my friends did.

 

[Deb in IA]

Never have, never will.


In gross anatomy lab in medical school, it was quite easy to pick out the cadavers who had smoked in life, versus the non-smokers.

There is nothing like seeing a lung gray, emphysematous, and filled with charcoal to see what smoking does to you . . .