Defend the Indefensible: not wanting to quit smoking

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Ah well I'm getting old and boring and conventional I guess, but I'm having more and more trouble defending my lack of even a desire to quit. Yes, we're all gonna die, yes they taste good, fuck a militant non-smoker -- but then there's LUNG CANCER EMPHYSEMA HEART DISEASE, non-militant non-smokers who are bothered by the smell, and the expense of it.

Is at least wanting to quit a requirement of a sane take on smoking?

― Aaron A., Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:25 (twenty years ago)

No, most people who keep saying they "want" to quit are a bunch of fucking liars anyway, just quit then if you want to so freaking bad.

― Allyzay Subservient 50s-Type (allyzay), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:28 (twenty years ago)

i quit but i didn't want to, i figured i'd never want to!

3 weeks and counting

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:33 (twenty years ago)

yeah no I plan to quit but I have no desire to do so, just a knowledge that I should.

― Allyzay Subservient 50s-Type (allyzay), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:34 (twenty years ago)

i have no plan to quit AND no desire to do so either! FUCK ALL Y'ALL QUITTIN MOTHERFUCKERS.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

ima live long like eubie blake (who smoked like a chimney till he was 100) or my grandmother (didn't live THAT long, but long enough!)

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

I quit because it's unhealthy but I fucking LOVED smoking.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/01/28/russia.smoking/story.smoking.jpg

THIS is Russia.

― andy --, Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:45 (twenty years ago)

I'm not smoking a half pack a day anymore. Down to like maybe that much a week....

― absolutego (ex machina), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:46 (twenty years ago)

yeah seriously the only point when you should actually desire quitting is when yr doctor tells you to (ie there is an actual physical complication) OR when you, you nkow, don't even enjoy it at all enymore but are just burning cash to satisfy habit and physical cravings.

eisbar otm.

― beached awhale., Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:49 (twenty years ago)

yeah no I plan to quit but I have no desire to do so, just a knowledge that I should.

Yup, that's me.

― M. White (Miguelito), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 20:09 (twenty years ago)

The only benefit I can think of is the excuse to take breaks from work and/or groups of people during social occasions. But that's not really worth all the other stuff.

That said, I can sort of understand people who have no desire to quit. I have mild athsma, so smoking exacerbated all sorts of respiratory problems. If I didn't have that, I'm not sure I'd have been as motivated to give it up.

― Dave M. (rotten03), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 20:40 (twenty years ago)

I quit and I didn't want to.

― luna (luna.c), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 20:43 (twenty years ago)

I quit smoking because I was going to get dumped if I didn't. Fortunately, I only smoked maybe one cigarette every two days so it was amazingly easy to stop.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 20:43 (twenty years ago)

I quit, but I didn't want to - i love(d) smoking. I have since tried it, and I don't like it anymore.

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 20:43 (twenty years ago)

Six weeks! I took one drag off a hot girl's Parliament last Saturday, but it actually yukked me out a little bit.

― Remy (x Jeremy), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 20:46 (twenty years ago)

"Would you be happy for your children to smoke? If not, then you clearly wish you'd never started yourself." - some guy in the pub a few nights ago. I have days when I think I might quit imminently and days when I know I'll just continue until something happens, like I have children or contract something that makes me cough blood.

― beanz (beanz), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 21:30 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I tell myself I'll quit when I have a child, too. I believe I will...

― Aaron A., Tuesday, 5 April 2005 21:34 (twenty years ago)

I'm thinking of learning how to knit (serious) so I'll have something else to do with my hands, so I stop smoking just by the by instead of on purpose.

I dont like smoking much, but I do anyway - and when a millitant antismoker gets in my grill I am even more determined to smoke!

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 21:37 (twenty years ago)

This isn't indefensible at all. That said I am very happy that I not smoking.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 21:41 (twenty years ago)

Not wanting to quit(ie fully enjoying it for what it is) is the only sane mindset to have when one is smoking imo.
My wife's trying to quit(I quit in January) and all I can tell her is wait til she really finds herself wanting to quit, a moment of clarity or whatever, and seize the moment and milk that momentum for all it's worth. I had a total 'fuck quitting' attitude while consciously waiting for that moment and it came(or I willed it into being, albeit casually; it also helps to be in dramatic settings, I was on a plane). I still think smoking is great and it's a tragedy for the world that we can't enjoy it so yeah fuck a militant non smoker life is to be lived, not manicured.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 21:55 (twenty years ago)

addendum: sneering at/trying to undermine someone else's plans and rationale for quitting because misery loves company = indefensible
a friend(who I'm on the outs with for other reasons) pulled this shit on me last month

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 22:04 (twenty years ago)

"addendum: sneering at/trying to undermine someone else's plans and rationale for quitting because misery loves company = indefensible"

That is not only indefensible IT IS DOWNRIGHT FUCKING EVIL.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 22:26 (twenty years ago)

tremendoid OTM.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 22:37 (twenty years ago)

I slowly lessened my smoke intake every day, then stopped inhaling, then realized smoking was--for me, at the point--stupid. I was really just faking it at the end. Plus I had this nagging suspicion that I was smoking not because I needed or really wanted to do it, but rather I wanted to look like Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past. Sure, the voice is closer to James Stewart. The hair is all wrong. No trenchcoat. Unlikely to seduce a Jane Greer type. But still: Mitchum!

I doubt I'll ever light up again, I don't have any urge to do it anymore.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 22:42 (twenty years ago)

Gear, can I just say that people like you (who can quit and make it seem like they did it only half trying) make me very very angry?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 22:44 (twenty years ago)

usually I hear that without the parentheses.

it was a lot harder than I make it sound, really! I planned on quitting when I moved to L.A. in '99, then for the millenium, then people told me '00 wasn't the beginning of the millenium, that '01 was, so I put it off a year. And so on.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 22:49 (twenty years ago)

That's better then haha. At least TRY to pretend that you had to sweat for it!

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 22:50 (twenty years ago)

sanctimonious smokers are some of the saddest people of all.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 5 April 2005 22:56 (twenty years ago)

especially when they're clowns who have forgotten how to laugh.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 22:59 (twenty years ago)

Sanctimonious ex-smokers vs. sanctimonious smokers vs. sanctimonious non-smokers. Take your pic.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 22:59 (twenty years ago)

I'll take sanctimonious non-smokers for $200 Alex...

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:01 (twenty years ago)

I think they are all dicks, frankly.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:03 (twenty years ago)

Ranked in order:

1) Sanctimonious non-smokers are at least looking at it from an untainted rational perspective ("What the fuck are you DOING? Those things give you CANCER you IDIOT").

2) Sanctimonious smokers are some of the most deluded people on earth ("Smoking is awesome. Sure it gives you cancer and etc etc etc, but other than that, it's GRRRREAT").

3) Sanctimonious ex-smokers ought to know better, and should be taken out and shot ("Smoking is horrible and stupid. I just voted to ban it in public places. Me? PACK A DAY FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS.")

― Dave M. (rotten03), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:19 (twenty years ago)

what about him?

http://www.ffplaza.com/images/covers/torch/1v2.jpg

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:21 (twenty years ago)

I feel like there's a pressure lately since so many ppl. I know have quit or at least cut down a lot to pretend I'm going to quit. I know it's dumb for health etc. and someday, it will be important enough for me to do, for whatever reason.

Until that moment comes, though, I can't fake it.

Fronting like you're planning to quit is the most wishy-washy of all, if I wanted to do it, like REALLY do it, I'd just do it.

― scout (scout), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:33 (twenty years ago)

"if I wanted to do it, like REALLY do it, I'd just do it."

haha - yeah, that's what *everybody* says ("I can quit whenever I want! I'm not like everybody else! After all, I'm A SMOKER! I'm having a GREAT TIME!")

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:34 (twenty years ago)

i don't want to quit, but i do wish i'd never started.
"if i'd never known such riches..." etc

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:43 (twenty years ago)

Are you auditioning for the role of Mark C today, Shakey?

― Allyzay Subservient 50s-Type (allyzay), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:44 (twenty years ago)

not very subservient there, eh?

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:54 (twenty years ago)

JESUS WILL SOMEONE HAND ME A CIGARETTE!

― Allyzay Subservient 50s-Type (allyzay), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:55 (twenty years ago)

http://www.bullybeef.co.uk/images/Cigarette_Vanisher_Large.jpg

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:58 (twenty years ago)

KEEP IT

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 23:59 (twenty years ago)

I just had a cigarette and it was gross. This is happening a lot lately. They're only dependably enjoyable a) in the cold, b) after a (good) meal, c) when drunk, d) post-coitum

― Aaron A., Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:02 (twenty years ago)

http://www.woodstocknation.org/jesus_cigarette.JPG

― Dave M. (rotten03), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:02 (twenty years ago)

http://www.localhost.be/photo/weblog/20040702.jpg

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:06 (twenty years ago)

They're only dependably enjoyable a) in the cold, b) after a (good) meal, c) when drunk, d) post-coitum

OTM! why is this? scientific reasons please.

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:12 (twenty years ago)

pros/cons of the last 3 weeks:

pros:
not one migraine (!)
not one puff on my asthma inhaler
smell somewhat better, presumably
happier gf
more $$

cons:
NOT BEING ABLE TO FUCKING SMOKE

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:15 (twenty years ago)

i never liked smoking in the cold (at least the bitter mtl cold) it made me cough

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:16 (twenty years ago)

Aaron and Slump the only reason any of those cigarettes feel better than the others is because you have to wait (and can't smoke) before you can have them.

― Dave M. (rotten03), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:19 (twenty years ago)

http://www.eyecandyforthebrokenhearted.com/smoking_cancer.gif

― WE ARE THE KATE!!!! (papa november), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:20 (twenty years ago)

(except possibly C if you are doing both at once, but if that's the case, of course you feel good - you're drunk. trust me, drinking is just as much fun without smoking.)

― Dave M. (rotten03), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:24 (twenty years ago)

trust me, drinking is just as much fun without smoking.

OMG I have walked MILES for a pack while drunk. I gott have my smokes when I'm drinking. It's non-negotible.

― Aaron A., Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

excuse typos please

― Aaron A., Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:27 (twenty years ago)

no no no i mean if you are quit and not craving them. running out of cigarettes while drinking is teh awful.

― Dave M. (rotten03), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:30 (twenty years ago)

Dave M i think you're right, but -in the cold- the enjoyment for me is the smoke iteslf being loads more visible and cool looking.

xpost

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:31 (twenty years ago)

i see. i look forward to the day I can go out drinking and not wake up the next morning with lungs hurtin'. xpost

― Aaron A., Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:31 (twenty years ago)

running out of cigarettes while drinking is teh awful.

which is why i willingly pay £5.50 for SIXTEEN goddamn smokes from those crappy machines. fuckers!

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:33 (twenty years ago)

GOOD LORD that's like $0.60/per in U.S.

― Aaron A., Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:34 (twenty years ago)

http://www.business800voicemail.com/canadian/wallet_burning_money_hg_wht.gif

― Dave M. (rotten03), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:37 (twenty years ago)

(i say this as someone who smoked five at once, to prove a point)

― Dave M. (rotten03), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:40 (twenty years ago)

what point did you prove?

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:41 (twenty years ago)

x-post to respond to Shakey Mo: the difference between me and everyone else who ever said this is I've never "tried". I'm not trying to say it's easy or that I will succeed, but I've never wanted to, so I can only assume that my eventual reason for quitting will be good enough that I will, ahem, quit.

― scout (scout), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:52 (twenty years ago)

I recently hit a wall with my smoking. I was up to nine, ten hand-rolled cigarettes a day. I was getting headaches and feeling like shit and not sleeping very well. That may be because I was smoking what (I'd guess) is the eqivalent of two packs of filtered cigarettes a day. Nasty, nasty. I have to either cut way back or go ahead and check myself into the hospital now.

Quit? Hm. I'll think very hard about it, okay?

― sunburned and snowblind (kenan), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 01:19 (twenty years ago)

I smoke Camel non-filters. About 5-6 per day. I'm fortunate that I don't reach for a butt until about 2 or 3 p.m. Having one now. I still walk up & down hills 3 miles every day. It's silly - but a habit I don't want to give up.

But I should. My wife, who smokes more, could really benefit from one fewer ash tray being in the house. And I really am in love with her.

― jim wentworth (wench), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 01:53 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

my experience bears this study and this thread out fwiw. http://www.livescience.com/health/060606_quit_smoking.html

updates? i've smoked exactly one cigarette since my post upthread. at a FAP no less! i took it well, fleeting sense of regret but i'm kind of glad, it released a lot of smoking-related tension/voices/dreams that were building at the time.

― tremendoid, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:06 (eighteen years ago)

I'm getting so revolted with smoking and yet I havent stopped. I really would like to though. Smokin' bans come in here in 2 weeks anyway.

― Trayce, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:20 (eighteen years ago)

I am able to not smoke at home, but as soon as I'm in company I crave cigarettes and can't stop myself, no self-control at all, us junkie types are way pathetic. I am at the point where I'm planning on seeing a hypnotist to see if that can't stop my oh-no-I'm-talking-to-people-I-need-a-smoke problem.

― J0hn D., Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:30 (eighteen years ago)

oh-no-I'm-talking-to-people-I-need-a-smoke

Yes yes, this is why I smoke too. It is almost like a little sheild against my shyness, somehow.

― Trayce, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:33 (eighteen years ago)

...which sounds rather odd.

― Trayce, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:33 (eighteen years ago)

smokers I know have said the same thing - they also use "do you have a light?" as a handy conversation-starter

― Curt1s Stephens, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:34 (eighteen years ago)

I have one cigarette every six months as a reminder why I quit (they really do taste and smell like crap after six months off) - but that kind of backfired this time, I got some kind of Camel Signature BEST DAMNED MENTHOL-Y/COOL CIG EVER and I had to throw the pack away before I decided to smoke another one.

As long as you don't get a good one, the bi-annual smoke is a good way to stay off them.

― milo z, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:38 (eighteen years ago)

My odd problem is despite smoking I really dont like the taste of it. And the only thing that it "goes with" for me is booze. Ive tried coffee and soft drink and it isnt the same. So unfortunately I've doubled my problem because now I drink whenever I want a smoke and lately I've completely lost the plot on that score but let's not go there.

― Trayce, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:42 (eighteen years ago)

yeah it got to a point for me coffee and drinks were an excuse to smoke. it did get me out of the house against my natural tendencies and i miss that, but then hardly any of my friends smoked so i started feeling bothersome.

xpost i had planned to do that (every year on new years, which is around the time i quit) but when time came around i didn't want to play with fire, so to speak.

― tremendoid, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:50 (eighteen years ago)

I'll have been off for about 3 years this June 27th. I was a 1.5 pack/day for ten years kinda guy. I even had lung surgery and went back to smoking 5 months later.

I was able to quit - as suggested in the article and by tremendoid upthread - because I found some sort of window and spontaneously did it. It had happened to me a few times, where I'd have a moment of clarity in which I knew I just didn't need a cigarette today, thank you very much, but I would fuck it up after a few hours. Finally, one day I stopped smoking and it just stuck.

One thing I'd recommend to ex-smokers is to be vary wary of transposing your addiction onto something else. If you need to seek addiction counseling or something, do it. I developed an ugly taste for binge drinking not too long after I quit.

― kingkongvsgodzilla, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:56 (eighteen years ago)

This is pretty key.

― Trayce, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:59 (eighteen years ago)

Ach this thread's depressing to me.

― Trayce, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 02:59 (eighteen years ago)

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