Do you smoke?

Gary Cox72 said:Moving in with the wrong crowd, I see. 😁

But in all seriousness—what kind of friends are they if they find it difficult to step onto a balcony when the craving hits? Just ask them nicely. That's it.
For instance, my partner isn't a smoker, and neither am I (she's particularly sensitive to it), yet our smoking friends always respect our space when they visit. Our house isn't empty because of it.

They aren't my people, they're his. Most of his family too. He smokes, and to them, it’s perfectly normal for everyone to light up. What are they like? Some of them probably smoke right in front of their kids and then wonder why they can't get rid of bronchitis... I don't know. It's fine by him, and I guess it's fine by them, but if he won't tell them, I will. In my house, there's no smoking. Period. I hate it when everything smells like cigarettes for five days straight—when the scent gets trapped in the clothes, the carpet, the curtains, the couches... Not to mention having to repaint constantly because the corners near the ceiling turn black. Disgusting. Like I said, plenty of people here still don't get it—they lack any empathy for non-smokers since they're the majority—so it wouldn't take much for someone to take offense if you told them smoking isn't allowed indoors.
My biggest fear is being the lone voice against the majority while he... well, I know he'd just say "let it go." I'm worried I won't be able to hold my ground alone. And what happens in the winter when it's freezing on the balcony? But they insist on doing it inside because they have to burn through two packs a day? Just pathetic, really. My friends don't smoke. Now that I actually think about it—not a single one of them.

jadetiger10 said:Around here, things have changed smokers have been phased out long ago👍 so there isn't really much point in reminding anyone not to smoke indoors anymore😁

I can't even imagine someone smoking right under my nose at work 😲 honestly, I feel like they'd probably end up swallowing whatever they just lit

Yeah, haha. Especially if your boss is the one doing it and you tell him to knock it off. That’s an instant firing right here. Luckily, nobody is pulling any weight at this firm—though in my last one, it was a different story. Even with inspections and people reporting them, nobody gave a damn. I couldn't believe it—they just sit there in their cubicles with smoke drifting over their heads. Disgusting. It's a massive corporation, famous across the US, and yet no one can touch them. You say something and people start shaking because they don't want to rock the boat since they're in the minority—even though legally you're 155% in the right, given that smoking isn't allowed in indoor spaces here either.

Nathan Kern77 said:They aren't my people, they're his. Most of his family too. He smokes, and to them, it’s perfectly normal for everyone to light up. What are they like? Some of them probably smoke right in front of their kids and then wonder why they can't get rid of bronchitis... I don't know. It's fine by him, and I guess it's fine by them, but if he won't tell them, I will. In my house, there's no smoking. Period. I hate it when everything smells like cigarettes for five days straight—when the scent gets trapped in the clothes, the carpet, the curtains, the couches... Not to mention having to repaint constantly because the corners near the ceiling turn black. Disgusting. Like I said, plenty of people here still don't get it—they lack any empathy for non-smokers since they're the majority—so it wouldn't take much for someone to take offense if you told them smoking isn't allowed indoors.
My biggest fear is being the lone voice against the majority while he... well, I know he'd just say "let it go." I'm worried I won't be able to hold my ground alone. And what happens in the winter when it's freezing on the balcony? But they insist on doing it inside because they have to burn through two packs a day? Just pathetic, really. My friends don't smoke. Now that I actually think about it—not a single one of them.

If that's the case, your only move is to tell them you might just invite Sarah James4 over too, "so they can get handled that way". 😬 🤣

I actually appreciate heading out to the strip because when I get home, I don't reek of smoke. If I just grab a coffee at a cafe in Chicago, I end up smelling like a walking chimney for the rest of the day.

But honestly, if we're being real—especially since I've noticed this in the city—former smokers are way more high-maintenance than non-smokers. When they actually used to smoke, they’d just blast the smoke right in your face and nobody said a word.

I let people smoke in my apartment, but since cigarettes are so expensive now, hardly anyone does it. On the rare occasion someone lights up, it's maybe two cigarettes for the whole evening.

Raymond Kelly44 said:I actually appreciate heading out to the strip because when I get home, I don't reek of smoke. If I just grab a coffee at a cafe in Chicago, I end up smelling like a walking chimney for the rest of the day.

But honestly, if we're being real—especially since I've noticed this in the city—former smokers are way more high-maintenance than non-smokers. When they actually used to smoke, they’d just blast the smoke right in your face and nobody said a word.

I let people smoke in my apartment, but since cigarettes are so expensive now, hardly anyone does it. On the rare occasion someone lights up, it's maybe two cigarettes for the whole evening.

It’s the same deal in Italy, where smoking is banned in most establishments unless they have a dedicated smoking room. It's a world away from what you're describing in America—where, as you noted, the smell clings to you all day long. Over there, the crowds in the bars just smoke like there's no tomorrow.

Man, oh man, you guys have sure covered a lot of ground talking about smoking. Believe it or not, I used to be a smoker myself back when I was just a kid, maybe 12 or 13 years old. I actually picked up the habit while I was living in Italy, but finally kicked the habit back in '72.

I still remember when I first moved over to the States back in 1960. Back then, a pack of 20 cigarettes would set you back about 32 cents—practically the same price as a gallon of gas. Nowadays, a gallon of gas is around $3.50 and a pack of smokes will run you about $8.00.

I hope people back home in America don't take this the wrong way, but whenever I visit, it honestly feels like the entire country is constantly puffing away. And you know what the absolute worst part is? When you're out hanging with a group; even if they know you don't smoke, nobody ever bothers to ask if it's okay to light up right next to you.

Until cigarette prices go up and we see more laws and education campaigns, nothing is going to change. It’s just a fact. In the West, smokers are basically treated like second-class citizens. That isn't how things work here yet.

The cheapest packs should be at least $6 or $7. I can barely remember all the brands anymore—Columbo, Benson, Walter... I don't even know what else is out there.😬

As soon as the war wrapped up, I packed my little one onto a plane and headed straight for America; at the airport in Frankfurt, the kid experienced a total shock:

Some lady in a heavy coat with a mustache under her nose!! I don't even have enough room here to describe his reaction when he saw someone with a cigarette for the very first time in his life! Because up until then, in his three and a half years of life, he hadn't seen anyone anywhere in the US smoking 🙂

I quit smoking myself once I moved to Los Angeles and found out I was pregnant; before that, I’d spent over a decade telling myself I was just a social smoker and that I only smoked because:

--- everyone else does: I didn't want to breathe someone else's smoke, better my own
--- and my grandmother smoked—from the thirties (just a few puffs) all the way through the seventies (they had to amputate her legs toward the end; she ended up with heart disease)
--- an aunt from Chicago used to smoke (she passed away a long time ago)
--- my dad (who was already getting some wrinkles by his third decade) offered me a cigar with coffee, saying, "Come on, kid, light up, don't go sneaking off behind the school building to do it secretly"

👎 👎 👎 👎

My husband never smoked: he never even thought about it, let alone worrying about whether he had a cigarette and a lighter in his pocket... 👍

When I came back from the outback to Los Angeles, I started smoking again after eleven years of being smoke-free; I’d be sitting outside having a smoke, and my son was absolutely devastated to see his mom doing it! He practically begged me to stop,

saying I looked "like a prostitute," or "like some bitch"
like a drug dealer
and how primitive it was,
how only low-class people and those who have no self-respect smoke
how there aren't any vitamins in a cigarette
and so on

I smoked for nearly a year—then suddenly, I tossed the whole pack and the lighter right into the trash can! (The Smith method—it's best to just stop that way, rather than saying "not tomorrow, I'll finish this one"—you just throw EVERYTHING away immediately!)
For a few years now, I've been free from that garbage, thank God for avoiding death!

Lily, if you need any help quitting, let me know 😘

My father hasn't smoked in ages; you saved his life! My mother never smoked; my sister and her partner never smoked either—people with character, they respect themselves! When they get the urge, they just snack on peanuts or munch on an apple!!

Nathan Kern77, good luck with your journey to stay smoke-free 👍 it isn't just about a lifestyle choice, it's truly a matter of life and death!

Raymond Kelly44 said:I actually appreciate heading out to the strip because when I get home, I don't reek of smoke. If I just grab a coffee at a cafe in Chicago, I end up smelling like a walking chimney for the rest of the day.

But honestly, if we're being real—especially since I've noticed this in the city—former smokers are way more high-maintenance than non-smokers. When they actually used to smoke, they’d just blast the smoke right in your face and nobody said a word.

I let people smoke in my apartment, but since cigarettes are so expensive now, hardly anyone does it. On the rare occasion someone lights up, it's maybe two cigarettes for the whole evening.

So it sounds like things are back to normal. Ever since I moved back to France, I haven't even stepped foot outside yet, but man, everything was still smoking everywhere right up until February.

Raymond Kelly44 said:I actually appreciate heading out to the strip because when I get home, I don't reek of smoke. If I just grab a coffee at a cafe in Chicago, I end up smelling like a walking chimney for the rest of the day.

But honestly, if we're being real—especially since I've noticed this in the city—former smokers are way more high-maintenance than non-smokers. When they actually used to smoke, they’d just blast the smoke right in your face and nobody said a word.

I let people smoke in my apartment, but since cigarettes are so expensive now, hardly anyone does it. On the rare occasion someone lights up, it's maybe two cigarettes for the whole evening.

When I head over to the States for a weekend and spend a couple of hours outside smoking with friends, it’s a nice change of pace. It's hard to believe I used to spend my days and nights in those suffocating indoor spots.
Now, I just can't picture it.

Unfortunately, I’m still smoking, even though I told myself I’d quit the second I moved to Chicago...
That was over six and a half years ago...

Every single year before winter hits, I try to psych myself up to quit—you know, thinking about who would actually want to stand outside in -30 degree weather just to light up. But then the first snow falls, I hit a bit of a funk, and suddenly I don't mind standing out in the freezing cold at all.👎

Look, I smoke despite knowing perfectly well how bad it is for you, and anyone who’s ever picked up a cigarette knows there is a certain undeniable pleasure in it. About a decade ago, I spent some time living in England, and I remember visiting this one English family with two sons, roughly 13 and 18 years old; neither of them touched a cigarette, yet they were quite happy to knock back several beers every single day, which was treated as completely unremarkable and nobody even blinked an eye, though my smoking was viewed as nothing short of absolute savagery. Now, I am fully aware of all the lectures regarding secondhand smoke and all that nonsense, but, honestly, it strikes me as far from normal to see a kid of 12 or 13 swigging beer instead of water.
Speaking of smoking and all that other stuff:

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE -
1940's, 50's, 60's and 70's

First off, we managed to survive being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant with us.

They popped aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, canned tuna, and didn't bother getting screened for diabetes.

After surviving that initial gauntlet, our baby cribs were often coated in bright, colorful lead-based paint.

There were no childproof caps on medicine bottles, no locks on doors or cabinets, and when we hopped on our bikes, we didn't wear helmets—not to mention the sheer audacity of the risks we took hitchhiking.

As kids, we’d pile into cars that lacked seat belts or airbags.

Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a sweltering afternoon was always considered a special treat.

We used to drink water straight from the garden hose rather than from a bottled source.

We would share a single soda among four friends, passing one bottle around, and surprisingly, NO ONE actually dropped dead from it.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, and real butter, and we gulped down sodas loaded with sugar, but we didn't end up overweight because...

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would head out in the morning and stay out all day, provided we were back home by the time the streetlights flickered on.

Nobody could track us down all day long, and yet, we were O.K.

We would spend endless hours constructing soapbox derby cars out of scrap wood and metal, racing them down hills only to realize we had forgotten to install the brakes. After crashing into the bushes a few times, we eventually figured out how to fix the problem ourselves.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo, Xbox, we had no video games whatsoever, no 99 channels of cable, no VHS movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or online chat rooms........ WE HAD FRIENDS and we actually went outside to find them!

We tumbled out of trees, suffered cuts, broken bones, and lost teeth, and there were never any lawsuits filed over these little mishaps.

We ate worms and played with mud pies made of dirt, and those worms didn't end up living inside us forever.

We were handed BB guns for our 10th birthdays, invented games using sticks and tennis balls, and even though we were warned about it, we didn't accidentally poke out too many eyes.

We would ride our bikes or walk over to a buddy's house and knock on the door, ring the bell, or just holler for them!

football Had tryouts and not everyone made The team. Those who didn't make the cut had to learn how to handle disappointment. imagine that !!

The notion of a parent swooping in to bail us out if we broke the law was totally alien. They actually tended to side with the law!

This generation has turned out to be some of the greatest risk-takers, problem solvers, and innovators to ever exist!

The last 50 years have seen a massive explosion of innovation and fresh perspectives.

We experienced freedom, failure, success, and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

todaytonight said:Try thinking about this next time you light up—you aren't just burning tobacco, you're burning dollar bills!

So, here we are... am I sensing a certain level of stinginess in the air, or is it just me? Cigarettes are pricey, they wreck your health, and why even bother with a checkup at the Mayo Clinic or a trip to the dentist... it all feels like throwing money down the drain.

By that logic, if cigarettes were free, would you be lighting up too? Just a curious thought.🙄

And honestly, who cares if dollars are going up in smoke... it's my money coming out of my own pocket.

Olivia Mitchell44 said:Unfortunately, I’m still smoking, and I told myself I’d quit as soon as I moved to Chicago...
That was over six and a half years ago...

Every winter, I try to psych myself up to quit—I mean, who wants to go outside in -30 degree weather just to smoke? But once that first snow hits, I just get depressed, and suddenly standing out in the freezing cold isn't even an issue anymore.👎

Steven, don't beat yourself up about waiting for the "perfect day" to quit, because you're actually hurting yourself twice: once from the junk you're putting in your mouth (and inhaling into your lungs!), and again from all this worrying!

Try thinking about how much cash you're burning every time a cigarette lights up—not to mention your lungs and your heart. With every puff, just remind yourself, without being too hard on yourself, almost cheerfully: you're killing yourself softly... eventually, you'll get sick of the struggle and just toss them in the trash.🙂

The sooner, the better:

every single

cigarette

hurts.

!

Does the cigarette burn out on its own in the ashtray, or does it need you to hold it? You don't even have to inhale—YES! That's how you know it's packed with chemicals (gasoline, misery, and all sorts of additives).

Hey, if you love it, more for you!

Eat at least four apples a day! That's how my old man quit smoking.

Susan Gomez33 said:So it actually worked. Ever since I got back to France, I haven't even stepped foot outside much, but up until February, people were still smoking everywhere without issue.

Smoking isn't banned in bars yet, just in public spots like the subway or at work... I think cafes and restaurants are next on the list for next year.

Even though people still smoke in cafes, it’s nothing like back home where everyone polishes off half a pack with their coffee. Here, if you want a cigarette, you just have one and move on.

Plus, I deal with chronic gastritis, so heavy cigarette smoke really messes me up. Since I moved to France, I haven't had a single problem!

I remember coming back to the States after being away for a while—friends dragged me out, and by the second day, I was a wreck. Couldn't speak, constant coughing, scratchy throat, red eyes, nose running like crazy... just gross. I’ve never been a fan of clubs or dive bars specifically because of the smoke and the crowds—even though I don't smoke myself—but the situation here is a disaster. Indoor ventilation is absolutely pathetic.
After that, I went to do some shopping at Macy's. I walked into a boutique and there's this woman sitting there, barking into her phone and—just spitting everywhere! The whole place stunk, and everything in the store smelled like trash. People are still smoking in shopping malls despite the ban on indoor smoking. It's especially bad if the mall has cafes inside. I can't speak for every shop—this specific experience was a few years back—but I know private grocery stores cut corners on this too.

It’s all in the hands of women—no wonder the fire departments never get a break 👎 because of those constant daily fires and small blazes

We really ought to establish some kind of task force to just patrol around and penalize anyone they catch with a cigarette 😎

And, oh yeah! We need to roll out those horror commercials against smoking, similar to what we used to see all the time in America: graphic medical depictions of organs damaged by smoke (total horror!), jump cuts, and footage of patients suffering from their own bad habits involving smoking!!!

Also, YES! Put threatening warnings right on the cigarette packs: SMOKING KILLS, SMOKING HARMS YOUR CHILD, and so on, along with disgusting images on the packaging, like lung cancer or smoker's lungs...

"Smoking is Sexy"

That funny anti-smoking ad

The Satirical Anti Smoking Commercial you

Tobacco doesn't always kill you instantly.

Lisa Morales4 said:We really ought to establish some sort of task force, just to have them patrol the streets and penalize anyone caught holding a cigarette. 😎

"Ought to"????

Or would you actually go through with it?

Just mark "everyone who isn't like me" with a big red star.

Who’s next on the list? The overweight or the thin? People with disabilities? Or maybe those with an IQ below average...

All that talk about how smoking is bad for you, the rising prices, and all that other junk is just total nonsense. The reality is people will always prioritize buying cigarettes over putting food on the table. Addiction is way stronger than anyone wants to admit.