Comments on: oh you pretty things

oh you pretty things

plexi — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:13:15 -0800

Smoke if you got 'em. Today is the Great American Smokeout, a time to reflect on how great people look when smoking, and the terrible things (NSFW) the additives do to you.

By: ghost of a past number

ghost of a past number — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:21:03 -0800

Your third link is slightly creepy, and your last link is broken.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:22:12 -0800

Don't smoke because you may turn into a young Asian woman! Also the cancer.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:22:19 -0800

I love the smoking fetish videos on YouTube. Suitable for work? I haven't the faintest idea.

By: felix grundy

felix grundy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:25:39 -0800

I am firmly of the belief that this Luc Sante article could make even a committed ex-smoker itch to have a cigarette in her hands.

By: Octoparrot

Octoparrot — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:27:22 -0800

When I was trying to quit the worst thing in the world was when people mentioned cigarettes, even in a "That's so great that you quit smoking". All it did was remind me how much I love to smoke. I finally broke the addiction by taking good ol' Wellbutrin and laying off the sauce for a couple of months although I do have the occasional cigarette when I hit the bar. Friendly reminder to the friends/family of a quitter - Only bring up smoking if they bring it up first.

By: solipsophistocracy

solipsophistocracy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:31:16 -0800

Suitable for work? IT NSFW Monitor Guy: Yeah, we caught Jenkins looking at these videos. Boss: So? IT NSFW Monitor Guy: Well, clearly they're inappropriate. Boss: Huh? IT NSFW Monitor Guy: Don't you find them to be incredibly... erotic? Boss: Uh, you're kind of creeping me out, IT NSFW Monitor guy.

By: DU

DU — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:34:50 -0800

Ummmm...NWFEasilySquicked on the "terrible things" video.

By: buzzman

buzzman — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:36:21 -0800

Smoking is one of the last things that can be done that is !00% American. Zippo lighter, bag of Natural American Spirit, a line and a Zebco. Gotta support our few remaining manufacturing jobs, yo! - Vile habit, kills 500,000 a year painfully. Moderation moderation.

By: chillmost

chillmost — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:38:22 -0800

I don't thinks Germans have heard of this day. *sticks head outside* Nope.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:39:35 -0800

Shouldn't that say "Don't Smoke if you got 'em?" I mean it is the Smokeout not the Smokein, even if you are a smokin' young asian woman.

By: King Bee

King Bee — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:45:04 -0800

Buzzman beat me to it. Natural American Spirits are the greatest cigarettes on the planet. If you go to their website, you can get gift certificates; enough to cut the price of a carton in half in some states.

By: Betty_effn_White

Betty_effn_White — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:45:41 -0800

Ha! I live in the Czech Republic, smoker's paradise. People look at you funny if you go outside to smoke. You can even do it in mall food courts. I love this place. I think the EU wants the country to stop, but the general consensus seems to be suck it.

By: King Bee

King Bee — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:46:32 -0800

should be this website, I guess.

By: Sassyfras

Sassyfras — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:48:33 -0800

Ahh what I wouldn't give for a drag! Just one drag!

By: ottereroticist

ottereroticist — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:49:57 -0800

That third link (and the title, ick) says way more about plexi than it does about The Great American Smokeout.

By: bitteroldman

bitteroldman — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:50:54 -0800

sigh! I really miss smoking, I really do!

By: cjorgensen

cjorgensen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:54:34 -0800

2004 Surgeon General's Report—The Health Consequences of Smoking

By: Cat Pie Hurts

Cat Pie Hurts — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:58:37 -0800

Smoking related cancer never killed anyone in my family. Smoking related COPD, on the other hand... If it makes you happy, smoke all you want. We all know the risks at this point. Just be considerate to others. Having to breathe the smoke that gets sucked in to the grocery store every time the automatic door opens because someone can't be bothered to walk 10 feet away is tiring (literally..it makes my asthma go nuts). That said, I've been getting some crazy cig urges lately.

By: dunkadunc

dunkadunc — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:08:39 -0800

I quit smoking and fell off the wagon when I met a cute girl who liked to get drunk and kept on offering me cigarettes. When we both moved to different towns, I quit smoking almost without thinking about it. Makes me wonder how addicted I was to the nicotine versus the behavior.

By: tractorfeed

tractorfeed — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:12:19 -0800

how great people look when smoking... yeah, that third link really drives home the point that even an eight year old Laotian girl looks better when smoking: so sexy! so chic!

By: middleclasstool

middleclasstool — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:17:16 -0800

This post prompted me to go check out quitmeter again, something I haven't done for a year or two now. Evidently I have now not smoked 32,780 cigarettes and, at a vastly-underestimated average cost of $3/pack, have saved my family just shy of five grand US. Most encouraging is that I couldn't remember the year I quit -- I had to check my resume to see when I was at my prior job in order to do the math. What I really need to do is google up the physical dimensions of the average cigarette and do some calculations on how long the line of smokes would stretch or how high a pyramid I could make out of them.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:22:48 -0800

Can't start to early I guess.

By: clearly

clearly — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:27:10 -0800

You only look good if the pack is rolled up in your sleeve.

By: middleclasstool

middleclasstool — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:27:53 -0800

Heh. Couldn't find the diameter, but found the average length of a king is 85mm. That's 2.7863km of cigarettes, or 1.73 miles. Them's a lot of smokes.

By: nowonmai

nowonmai — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:32:13 -0800

Definitely can't start too early.

By: tristeza

tristeza — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:35:17 -0800

I haven't had a cigarette since January 29. I love smoking. ::weeps::

By: Fezboy!

Fezboy! — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:38:00 -0800

Egads I loves me some smokey treats. On the one hand, quitting is so much easier if you have a group to quit with, someone makes the decision for you, and/or your environment makes smoking less acceptable. On the other, even after being quit for more than two years I still find things like today and the crusading of non- and ex-smokers to be incredibly grating. On the whole though I should probably just shut my pie hole. If someone quits because of this and is happy for the opportunity afforded to them, who am I to natter on? If only they didn't fuck up my lungs so badly, I'd welcome cigarettes back in to my life with open arms. [Un]fortunately, that will never happen.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:41:24 -0800

Here's when I quit smoking: About two years ago, I got a death call at a residence at about three in the morning. My dad and I put on our suits and drove the hearse to the home. The man, who had died of lung cancer, was propped up in a hospice bed in the middle of the living room. We discussed funeral plans with the family, and when they finally stepped out of the room, we took off our jackets and prepared to move the body. I took little notice of the gray (once white) towel at his side or the black drool at the sides of his mouth. You may be able to see where this is going, but I didn't. I took hold of the electric bed control and began to level the bed, so that we could move his body to the cot. As he reclined, I began to hear a gurgling sound, and I turned around to my father to ask him what I was hearing. He shouted at me, "Watch what you're doing!" and I turned around to the body just in time to see a torrent of viscous black fluid and foam oozing out of his mouth. His head flopped to the side and the inky gunk flowed out, down his bed and into a puddle on the shag living room carpet. Looking to my left, I saw a mound of gray, sticky towels and I grabbed for them. I mopped up as much as I could, but the damage was done. There was a large wet black spot in the middle of the room. I apologized to the family, but they kindly assured me that it wasn't the first spot on the carpet, and they they'd planned to have it professionally cleaned anyway. I've never been more embarrassed in front of a family. We wrapped his face with towels and closed his mouth the best we could. That was enough to stop the flow. When we got back into the car, my dad simply said, "Son. That's cancer. Smoking did that. I want you to remember that." And I quit.

By: i_am_a_Jedi

i_am_a_Jedi — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:42:22 -0800

As a pulmonary pathologist, I encourage everyone to keep smoking, and if you don't, please start. Most of the really interesting cases I get to see are directly related to smoking. I do love seeing the really great cases! Also, start working in more coal mines and with asbestos. Please get in more hot-tubs and work in grain silos and in electronics manufacturing. [But really, I've always thought of smoking as the 'tedious genocide']

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:42:36 -0800

(Having said that, I will sometimes smoke when drunk or fishing. But mostly out of boredom.)

By: docpops

docpops — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:44:33 -0800

I don't think too many people consider the risk of cancer when they smoke (but man, it's an ugly fucking death, as ColdChef points out). A more reasonable deterrant that I use for counsel is the unavoidable, absolute guarantee that smoking will age you so fast you'll look like you turned fifty in your mid thirties. And you'll feel it as well. It's remarkable just how worn out and lousy a person looks with more than a half a pack a day habit after a few years, but it happens graduially enough that the smoker rarely realizes it. The really amazing thing I hear time and again from smokers, when they come in with symptoms of feeling vaguely shitty but nothing else specific and I tell them to consider stopping tobacco, is "But I only smoke less than a half a pack a day". If I took one puff on a cig I'd throw up last week's dinner and wouldn't leave the bed for the rest of the day, and yet somehow they imagine that they can't possibly feel like crap because of a steady diet of carcinogens.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:44:58 -0800

Also: "Thanks for smoking. Support your local undertaker." This is a real business card that is passed out by a vendor I know.

By: steef

steef — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:52:08 -0800

Smoking really can make anyone look like Bogart. (My hat's off to anyone who stops or quits today.)

By: netbros

netbros — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:52:51 -0800

Two old ladies were outside their nursing home, having a smoke when it started to rain. One of the ladies pulled out a condom, cut off the end, put it over her cigarette and continued smoking. Lady 1: What's that? Lady 2: A condom. This way my cigarette doesn't get wet. Lady 1: Where did you get it? Lady 2: You can get them at any drugstore. The next day ... Lady 1 hobbles herself into the local drugstore and announces to the pharmacist that she wants a box of condoms. The guy looks at her kind of strangely (she is, after all, over 80 years of age), but politely asks what brand she prefers. Lady 1: It doesn't matter as long as it fits a Camel.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:54:39 -0800

You know what sucks? The fact that you can't buy loose cigarettes anywhere. Sometimes you just need a smoke; maybe some stupid girl turned you down, maybe somebody pissed you off, or maybe you're just having a good old fashioned bad day. You want a smoke, damnit! And your only option is to buy a full pack, or try and bum one - a humiliating endeavor in this age of $10-a-pack. So you buy the full pack, and of course you can't just smoke one and throw the rest away. Before you know it, you're sorta hooked again, and all you wanted was one damned cigarette. Thanks Puritan America! According to Luc Sante, you used to be able to buy loose cigarettes ("loosies") at NYC bodegas. That just sounds so awesome and so Old New York.

By: everichon

everichon — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:04:26 -0800

Sometimes you just need a ~~smoke~~ vicodin This is true.

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:08:42 -0800

With the exception of a six month period in 2002, I haven't smoked in 13 years. I have said, repeatedly, that if the bombs are being dropped and we have only minutes left to live, I'm going to the nearest drugstore, buying a carton and lighting the hell up. My father, who quit smoking over 25 years ago, agrees with me.

By: nomisxid

nomisxid — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:12:59 -0800

I used to cover the cost of my coffeehousing by selling loose Sampoerna Extras, possibly to Afroblanco.

By: cjorgensen

cjorgensen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:14:40 -0800

2 Year Old Smoking.

By: cjorgensen

cjorgensen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:16:18 -0800

Crap. Already linked.

By: ericb

ericb — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:23:07 -0800

In 1977, the American Cancer Society offered smokers even more support, launching the Great American Smokeout on the third Thursday in November. Snuff out your cigs and grab a glass of wine instead! The third Thurday in November is also Beaujolais Nouveau Day!

By: dog food sugar

dog food sugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:24:21 -0800

i_am_a__jedi: Please get in more hot-tubs... What do hot tubs do? Is it the chlorine in the water or something getting into lung tissue? I need some pathologic enlightenment.

By: Dormant Gorilla

Dormant Gorilla — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:26:31 -0800

According to Luc Sante, you used to be able to buy loose cigarettes ("loosies") at NYC bodegas. That just sounds so awesome and so Old New York. You still can at a lot of places in certain neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

By: Salvor Hardin

Salvor Hardin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:41:24 -0800

Neat! A weird fetish on the internet? What will they think of next.

By: raysmj

raysmj — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:48:55 -0800

Haven't smoked since late 2000. And if unemployment, breakups (including one with a person suffering from major depression), four root canals in a row when I didn't have a dental plan, getting sideswiped by a car and left looking like a zombie for a week (left only with a slightly numb lower lip and a barely noticeable scar over one eye--great doc), etc., completing a doctoral dissertation in PoliSci and all the course work and two years of research leading up to the defense, the editing of that document until 4 a.m. on the last day before summer tuition charges would have kicked in, and later teaching social science research methods to undergraduates, etc. (not that the timeline here is completely chronological; it's all a blur, sometimes), haven't forced to me to go back to smoking, you can stay off, even if you meet a great new dating interest who smokes. All I have to think about is the coughing, the increased anxiety, the mindless expense of cigarettes, etc. It takes no will power by now. Smoking sucks.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:50:19 -0800

You can still by loosies in plenty of Philly neighborhoods. Maybe I'll smoke a cigar later.

By: raysmj

raysmj — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:52:13 -0800

Vicodin, though. Taking that after one of those teeth that had a root canal, and another follow up by an endodontist, started acting up again for whatever reason (dentist thought it was just something microscopic) ... Vicodin was nice. But probably not good to be addicted to either, I would guess, if only for the Tylenol. Why don't we just legalize hash brownies, already, at least? They're safer. But no, workplaces test for THC use.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:55:42 -0800

Afroblanco, I used to run an all-night news-stand in Phiadelphia. I had a fairly constant stream of filthy street people asking me for loosies while brandishing a handful of pennies in a soiled cotton fingerless glove. Now some of these guys were friends of mine, and I'd just give 'em a smoke, but I never sold them because then I would suddenly be the "loosies" guy and have to deal with maculate coins clutched in snotted palms all night every night.

By: docpops

docpops — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:59:10 -0800

then I would suddenly be the "loosies" guy and have to deal with maculate coins clutched in snotted palms all night every night. posted by Mister_A at 9:55 AM on November 20 [+] [!] OK, maculate is the best word I've learned in a long time, here or anywhere else. And it doesn't even sound pretentious...yet.

By: Skot

Skot — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:04:19 -0800

Sigh. Tried quitting earlier this year with Chantix and had limited success--got down to four cigarettes a day, and then the prescription ran out. I tried to tough it through, but it all went to hell quickly. I'm planning on trying again in January when I have my next scheduled dentist appointment. He has pledged this time to extend my prescription. This is why doctors make so much money: insight. I snark, but man . . . what a bitch it is trying to kick. Here's a free, pointless anecdote: a couple weeks back I was traveling back home from France via Heathrow's gleaming, maddening new Terminal Five, and in the duty free (where I was, of course, buying cigarettes), there was a fellow clutching a carton of smokes. "Excuse me," he said to a clerk, "where is it that I can smoke here?" His fingers made little squeeching noises on the carton's cellophane wrap. I doubt he knew that he was ticcing with the nic fits. Moments later, after being told the awful facts: "You cannot smoke in here, anywhere? Nowhere?" Terminal Five is truly the shits for smokers, not only because you, you know, really can't smoke in there but mostly for this sinister detail: You're not allowed to even go outside.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:05:17 -0800

Please get in more hot-tubs This presumes that your local municipality is using chlorine instead of chloramines to sanitize the water. The former evaporate and can have nasty fumes, the latter largely stay dissolved in water.

By: Citizen Premier

Citizen Premier — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:21:59 -0800

I quit smoking a long time ago. The cool thing is, though, that now that I've quit, I can have one. Because I quit.

By: sondrialiac

sondrialiac — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:37:08 -0800

I can't wait until there is a good way to get recreational nicotine without actually smoking. Brrrrrrr, I love it, but it makes me sneeze.

By: quin

quin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:44:13 -0800

I quit about a year and a half ago, and the only thing I really regret is that I don't get the opportunity to use the smoke in my photography. It really does add a bit of depth and character to a shot. It's also fun when playing with soap bubbles. For those still trying to quit, I have a suggestion which may help: salted peanuts. They are an excellent substitute (especially when drinking), and for me got me through those three weeks when I first kicked the habit. raysmj : Vicodin was nice. Oh yeah, Vicodin is nice. If I ever decided to pick up a really quality new addiction, I think I'd go for hydrocodone. The last time I had it was a couple of years ago when I got my wisdom teeth removed, I was waiting for my buddy to come back with some rented movies, and I just lay down in on his back lawn and relaxed... in the rain. I didn't care, everything was good. I felt no pain and the world was a happy place. For me, that was the genius of the drug. I didn't really feel like I was high, it just took all the little aches and pains that you learn to ignore everyday, and it made them go away for a while. It was bliss.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:44:42 -0800

Nicomarket Been quit ten years and most of the time I forget I even smoked at all... very occasionally get nostalgic about the old cigs, but being able to breath and the cost of the things means I'll never go back. Don't wanna sound too evangelical but it took me a long time and several attempt and false starts to final quit so don't give up. Allen Carr's book is pretty good

By: i_am_a_Jedi

i_am_a_Jedi — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:55:25 -0800

What do hot tubs do? Is it the chlorine in the water or something getting into lung tissue? I need some pathologic enlightenment. Hot tub lung. Caused by mycobacterium avium intracellulare, closely related to Lady Windemere Disease. It's a subset of hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

By: notreally

notreally — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:34:58 -0800

OK. A personal how I quit story. It was a July 4th week end and I announced to one and all that my last cig. on Sun. night would be my last ever. Well, I lasted til about mid day Mon. before yielding to the nic. crave. A week later I again announced to one and all that this week end would be my last as a smoker. Mid day Mon. found me again puffing on my unfiltered Camel. By the end of August I was a standing joke with all my friends. But each week I doggedly announced I was quitting for good THIS time. And once again every one had a good laugh at my expense. Until November. I made my usual announcement about quitting after Thanksgiving dinner. That was in 1980. I finally succeeded and have not had one since. TADAA!

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:47:55 -0800

Ah, I see. Hot tub lung isn't from chlorine vapors but dirty hot tubs that are fertile ground for microorganisms.

By: dog food sugar

dog food sugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:03:59 -0800

Hot tub lung. ugh. Aerosoled bacteria. That is so gross.

By: kaspen

kaspen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:07:56 -0800

I mean, it's just, it's like jewelry... it's not really... I don't even inhale.

By: threeturtles

threeturtles — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:09:33 -0800

I'm quitting by March 21st. Really. I'm not going through a (cumulative) 12 hour plane trip as a smoker ever again. Anyone had any luck with Chantix?

By: eperker

eperker — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:44:24 -0800

If you're a lung surgeon then I'd say it was pretty SFW.

By: NikitaNikita

NikitaNikita — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:21:52 -0800

I recommend the quitnet.com website. They have a nifty information-packed tracker as well: Your Quit Date is:Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 1:00:00 AM Time Smoke-Free:1188 days, 5 hours, 5 minutes and 24 seconds Cigarettes NOT smoked:10694 Lifetime Saved:2 months, 21 days, 16 hours Money Saved:$1,871.10 *bow* (and I used a very modest price per pack estimate, btw.)

By: NikitaNikita

NikitaNikita — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:23:04 -0800

Not to mean I ONLY recommend the website, as I also endorse patches, gum, bupropion, and guilt.

By: wildcrdj

wildcrdj — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:25:52 -0800

I quit "regular" smoking years ago (as in pack-a-day smoking), but I still have several cigarettes a week, cause they're too damn awesome. I'm not a fan of additives either, but I don't like American Spirit. Nat Shermans, in fact, are the greatest cigarette on Earth, ands thats pretty much all I smoke now. (also additive free, though I think their tobacco comes from many countries. Even their "flavored" cigarettes have no additives -- the flavor is in the filter, not the tobacco). Not that additive free = healthy by any means, although it's probably slightly better, and at the very least tastes better. There was a time I smoked 1-2 packs of Sampoerna Xtras a day... even that I miss occasionally, although the last time I tried one again, years ago, I couldn't even finish it after being used to the comparatively light Shermans. Of course, you can't even buy Sampoernas anymore, at least in the US (damn Philip Morris). The physical addiction has never been a big deal for me, even now I can go days without a cigarette easy, and by then the physical addicition is pretty much gone. It's just the combination of the behavior and the drug effects that appeals to me.

By: clevershark

clevershark — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:59:00 -0800

A more reasonable deterrant that I use for counsel is the unavoidable, absolute guarantee that smoking will age you so fast you'll look like you turned fifty in your mid thirties. Well it's a good thing that, in my late thirties and having smoked for the past 23 years, I'm apparently immune to these "unavoidable, absolute guarantees". Perhaps people would be less prone to ignore such admonitions if the people making them didn't pull them out of their arses.

By: vrakatar

vrakatar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:00:31 -0800

AGH AGH AGH!!! I quit this last Monday, just three days ago, and the bodega directly across the street from my fracking house sells loosies, stop it stop it STOP IT YOU FIENDS.

By: monocultured

monocultured — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:01:39 -0800

Started 7+ years ago because of boredom and being too broke to buy enough booze to get a buzz. Quit two months ago because of asthmatic bronchitis which was just an awesome distraction from withdrawal symptoms.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:25:31 -0800

According to Luc Sante, you used to be able to buy loose cigarettes ("loosies") at NYC bodegas. It isn't that long since there were certain bodegas in Manhattan where you used to be able to trade your food stamps for cocaine. I bet those places don't exist any more either.

By: LastOfHisKind

LastOfHisKind — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:59:47 -0800

The vast majority of the pictures I have of my recently deceased father show him either smoking or with a pack of smokes and his lighter near by. You might imagine the range of emotions this causes when I tell you died of lung cancer. Every time I look at a picture, it's "Yup, that's what killed him. Right there." He actually quit several years, almost a decade, before the end but once confided to me how much he missed it. We all have our weaknesses and strengths I suppose, I'm sure some habit I've got will get me in the end, but it still makes me sad.

By: rodgerd

rodgerd — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:19:51 -0800

I don't think too many people consider the risk of cancer when they smoke Most likely true, although there's often a bunch of rationalisation ("Meh, those are the crappy years anyway"). What's interesting is the number of people I know who laugh at the thought of cancer but freak out at the idea of smoking-related gangrene.

By: popechunk

popechunk — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:21:18 -0800

I quit two and a half years ago after a twenty year pack-a-day habit. I wonder how long it takes my lungs to unfuck themselves, if they ever will.

By: MaryDellamorte

MaryDellamorte — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:40:51 -0800

Working at a bar, I observe how much of a mindless habit smoking is. People are lighting up and smoking without even looking down at the pack or the lighter. One after another. People don't even realize that they've run out of cigarettes until they reach into the box to find that it's empty. Happens all the fucking time. I'm sure the first morning cigarette, or the cigarette after sex are different, since you are consciously sitting there thinking about it...but at a bar it's vastly different. When I see 40 somethings looking like my fucking grandmother with the voice of a crow, I'm glad I never started.

By: SuzySmith

SuzySmith — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:26:32 -0800

Two years, two months, 21 hours, 49 minutes and 26 seconds. 31716 cigarettes not smoked, saving $6,010.57. Life saved: 15 weeks, 5 days, 3 hours, 0 minutes. I quit too late, though. I'm 33 years old and I have kidney cancer. One of the main causes of renal cell carcinoma is cigarette smoking. On December 1st, I'm having a radical open nephrectomy. And hoping and praying that there are no mets anywhere else in my body as kidney cancer is a killer, there is no chemo or radiation to go along with the surgery. Quit now, don't think it won't be you, don't think that lung cancer is the only way smoking will kill you. The damn cigarettes are not worth what I am facing right now. They are not worth it, I didn't know it when I was 11 years old and I first picked up a cigarette. I didn't care when I was a 15 year old with a chip on my shoulder. I thought I would live forever when I was 18. I knew I would quit when I promised my fiancee, at 22 that I would quit before our wedding. At 23 I was still smoking, and married. 25, I was still promising, all the way until I was 31, I sat down one night, at 2 am, realized I couldn't deal with the coughing and the stench anymore and put them down. I'm too late to not get cancer but that doesn't mean you are. Put the damn cigarette down.

By: tizzie

tizzie — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:58:53 -0800

You can still by loosies in Kentucky. It's considered unpatriotic not to.

By: Citizen Premier

Citizen Premier — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:32:01 -0800

I mean, it's just, it's like jewelry... it's not really... I don't even inhale. Way to reveal where I stole my joke. Jerk.

By: snoktruix

snoktruix — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:45:55 -0800

Smoke 'em if you got em.

By: epersonae

epersonae — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:05:11 -0800

When I was little, there were two absolutely verboten topics of conversation between my parents: politics and Dad's smoking. When I was 8, he died of a heart attack. After that, my sisters and I pretty much continually got the "don't smoke" lecture. None of us have ever (like not even once) smoked. (Interestingly enough, Dad was kinda heavy, too, and all of us girls ended up overweight. I think I'm the only one who made the weight - heart attack connection. Since I did, 18 months ago, I've lost 60 pounds. Losing someone really important when you're really young can be a powerful motivator in other arenas.)

By: sugarfish

sugarfish — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:24:02 -0800

My god, Suzy, I'm so sorry. I hope your surgery goes well.

By: SuzySmith

SuzySmith — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:06:29 -0800

Thanks, sugarfish. I sure am hoping the same. I have 2 friends who read this post on my website and put their cigarettes down. The more the better, and I'm glad that me having cancer convinced someone to stop.

By: SuzySmith

SuzySmith — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:57:42 -0800

Just a quick update here, the kidney and big ass tumor are both out. I'm doing fantastic for someone who has just had major surgery a few days ago. I'm a tough old broad.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:45:41 -0800

That's great Suzy! Are you going to get to enjoy wine anytime soon?