For those of you wanting to quit smoking

[svandamme]

21 days , had a moment of weakness last monday , out of the blue major cravings, and didn't have any nicorette on me (since i had quit that the week before )... actually drove to the fuel station bought a pack, and lit the smoke...

man, was high as a kite for about a minute ( and basically to drunk to drive ), but as i finished the smoke , the high left, and i just felt sick...
smoked one more, got really sick, destroyed the pack, throat felt bad, coughing , phlem, very sexy... felt miserable and went to bed...

no more cravings since, dunno what happend...but i've made sure to have nicorette on me at all times ...not chewing regulary , but i just want to have some on me if i would get bad cravings again...

[Rick Lee]

Last night was my first time in a bar since I quit. A friend at my table was smoking and felt a little weak. But I was a good boy. Came to work today with no patch on, but had to put one on after I ate at my desk.

[Leland Pate]

6 months later and not even a passing thought of lighting up again.

I don't even remember why I smoked in the first place.

[svandamme]

i'm 8 weeks ( not 2 months yet )down the line
no more cravings
i cant stand the smell of smokes anymore, to the point that i to get really miffed if i notice smokers where they shouldn't be... @ work for instance ( probably something you couldn't imagine in the US )

this is europe, friday drinks in the cantine, smoking officially not allowed, but the ban isnt enforced on fridays evenings,

some call me a traitor for doing so , but i've asked management to enforce the ban on smoking ... i don't see why i should tolerate it , if it is a definate risk of relaps, and the law is clear, it's not allowed
and they can simply walk that 3 meters to the outside door...
they had it coming really , gave me **** for even suggesting it should be smoke free, basically called me an idiot for uttering the thought that it oughto be free, found it arrogant from their side, and i felt like prooving the point... so i did...

i've gone completely over , to the hard core anti smoking camp
don't really care if any smoker calls me names... i'm clean, and i'm staying clean... thats a full tank of 911 gas on my monthtly budget that is now cleared...

[Rick Lee]

Anti-smokers make me want to start again.

[dhoward]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Anti-smokers make me want to start again.

+1

[lendaddy]

I quit 1-1/2 years ago (was it 2-1/2?) anyway and I don't mind people smoking near me. I understand their issue. I choose to go places they smoke, that's my problem. I don't mind the smell much anyways though. I've never seen someone celebrate their hypocrisy before

As a side note, I would still like to smoke, I really would. But I won't, not for me but for my family. If it were just me I would probably be smoking still. Just a fact.

[svandamme]

to each his own, but the fact is , they tried to defend "their right to smoke" when the law forbids its explicitly... they basically called me an idiot for asking them not to blow smoke in my face...

i can't remember, that i as a smoker used to be agressive towards non smokers...

i got replies like
"so"
"if you want smoke free, leave and come back when we are gone"
"if you wanna quit, and you can't take it , then you don't have enough character"

and some more

frankly , i would be stupid to suffer their stinking fumes after that kind of crap

don't get me wrong , they can keep polluting their lungs and arteries all they want, i'm not anti smoking that way, there is a dedicated smoking room, and there is the outside, they can smoke in their own car, in their own house

but anybody who does it in a place where they are not allowed to such as the work place (where i spend more then 50% of my waking hours) ... is wrong by definition... no if's or buts.. and they should have known better then to pick a fight over that. pure and simple...

[svandamme]

Lendaddy, i'm not celebrating any hypocrisy

the moment i quit smoking , from that point onwards, i was a non smoker , it doesn't matter if i used to smoke 1 cigarette a day or had chainsmoked 2 packs a day for 5, or 10 years prior to that moment

there is nothin in "non smoker" that excludes " ex smokers "
and that means i have the legal right for clean air in my working place

i don't choose to go there, it's my work place

i don't go to pubs and start demanding everybody quits smoking
that would be hypocritical. but not my workspace..

if this situation occured in the US , you can bet that somebody would sue, and win over this... and i'm pretty sure somebody probably has done so over a similar situation ,which explains why the antismokign regulations in the US are stricter then in European companies , where it is only recently catching on...

[lendaddy]

Did you smoke with these guys before you quit, in the same area?

[svandamme]

Originally posted by lendaddy
Did you smoke with these guys before you quit, in the same area?

yes i did , so did some of the managers
i'm not hypocritical about it
it was wrong then as it is now

but for one thing , i never called anyone an idiot for asking not to puf smoke in their face, and on those fridays, i would not sit right next to a known non smoker, and casually blow my smoke anywhere near that person

or when i went to restaurants with non smoking friends, i would not smoke at the table

i made at least the effort to try and not bother non smokers with my smoke...

if anything, i was a hypocrite then , cause i smoked when i knew it was bad for me , and for anyone near me....

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Im just coming up on 6 months smoke free. Used to be a pack a day.

It's amazing how much better I feel overall

[Rick Lee]

I actually find hanging out with smokers to be a good test of my willpower and to see how far I've gotten from it. It's easy to say you've kicked the habit after a month when you haven't been around smokers at all. But go hang out at the track with hours and hours of downtime or wrenching with your buddies who smoke. That will test a man's soul!

[svandamme]

look , i hang out in the garage too, they smoke there as well
and i'm cool with it , it's not my garage, i just don't sit around the table where they sit and smoke , i just wrench on my car instead... works fine, i usually even hitch a ride with the owner, who smokes... fine, i can take it...

but my workplace, i cannot walk out whenever i want
i can't choose when i want to subject myself to smoke
and it's legally forbidden there

big difference

speaking of hypocrites, look at our gouvernements
not sure how it is in the US , but over here , more then half of the price on a pack of smokes, is taxes...

the amount of money gouvernements rake in every year, is a whole lot more then the amounts they spend on non smoking advertisements

what's wrong with that picture then??

one of the reasons , why i quit smoking was health , but also because smokers these days are becoming paria's in society...

pubs in the UK and ireland are becoming smoke free
New York, can't smoke in the street, right??

that was another reason , why would i want to be a paria? an outcast of society , because of this stupid, expensive addiction...

frankly , smokers can smoke all they want, as long as they don't bug others with their smoke... i've done my bit, i don't bug others with my smoke anymore, ive done the effort, can't do more then that...

[artplumber]

Originally posted by svandamme
i'm 8 weeks ( not 2 months yet )down the line
no more cravings
i cant stand the smell of smokes anymore, to the point that i to get really miffed if i notice smokers where they shouldn't be... @ work for instance ( probably something you couldn't imagine in the US )

.....

i've gone completely over , to the hard core anti smoking camp
don't really care if any smoker calls me names... i'm clean, and i'm staying clean... thats a full tank of 911 gas on my monthtly budget that is now cleared...

Sounds like a Larry Hagman (Dallas/I Dream of Jeanie) disciple.

Stijn more power to you. Stay away from the smokes. I don't think you're a hypocrite, just that you realize where the other side is coming from now.

I hear urges can show up any time, even years down the line (without thinking about smoking).

Rick, Len, et al. some of those rabid anti smokers also actually care about you (not just they don't like the habit). I lose business every time someone decides to quit, and I never stop trying to get people to quit.

[Rick Lee]

I fear people who claim to care about me more than those who would kill me.

[artplumber]

Your choice. I'm not going to hunt you down. I see plenty of smokers during/after their heart attacks, but usually before they lose a leg.

[craigster59]

I used to smoke (12 years ago) and have never been one to complain about second hand smoke, but with the triple digit temps, smog from brush fires and above average humidity here in So. Calif., it makes you just want to spray 'em with a garden hose..

[svandamme]

Originally posted by artplumber
Your choice. I'm not going to hunt you down. I see plenty of smokers during/after their heart attacks, but usually before they lose a leg.

funny you should say that, but the one smoker that just lit up a smoke, puffed my way, and told me "leave and come back when we're done if you want smoke free"

is the one most likely to keel over, short, overweight like a beer keg, takes the elevator to go down from 4th floor to 3rd floor cause he has zero breath in him, very agitated/nervous fella, constantly pacing and panting like he just was told he's about to have a baby.

and we've allready seen him go purple in his face once before, not sure what went on , but he chocked while laughing about something, not from eating, looked real nasty. and he seemed afraid... but not afraid to stop smoking, stop eating a steady dieet of greasy fat food, and at least try to do something more then elevator runs to the next floor in our building...

so this character, was defending his non existing right to smoke in a smoke free zone, by badgering me about the opinion
(i hadn't made anything official yet, and wasn't about to untill the badgering) that it should be enforced, the one person who's just about ready to drop dead on the spot with a stroke or heart attack...


he could be a poster child against smoking and fat food, no exercise...

[Sonic dB]

Thanks for the tip Leyland. Ive been smoking more lately and its time to quit for good.