Breathe a little easier
Note: for the purposes of this post, please consider “smoker” and “smoking” references to all users of tobacco and all tobacco use.
Both of my parents smoked cigarettes throughout my entire childhood. Maybe that’s why I kept getting bronchitis and tonsillitis; maybe not This isn’t a horror story about how my parents ruined my life with their smoking; instead, this is about my smoking. Undoubtedly, the fact that my parents smoked was a huge factor in my own smoking, but, hey, since when have two wrongs made a right, anyway?
If you’re a smoker, I don’t need to tell you all the crappy aspects of it. From my initial forays into smoking as a pre-teen to my serious habit as an adult, I knew the whole time that what I was doing wasn’t exactly being 100 percent healthy. Every time I heard of a smoker suing a tobacco company I would shake my head in disbelief–you can’t be a smoker and not know you’re damaging your body. There were massive anti-smoking campaigns even when I was little a girl in the early 1970s. Whatever pleasures smoking has, it has many, many pitfalls.
It does have its pleasures, mind you. People who’ve never smoked just can’t understand how enjoyable smoking can be. Count yourselves either lucky or wise, whichever you prefer, as those pleasures come with a very high price tag.
A couple months ago, I woke up one morning and thought: I don’t want to be a smoker anymore. So I quit. I’m not going to lie–quitting smoking after twenty years of doing it daily (and on and off for a few years before that) wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to do, but, for me, it proved to be a lot easier than I thought it would be. One of my co-workers was inspired by my decision to quit her own smoking. it’s been very hard on her but even so she agrees with me that this a great decision. For over twenty years, I thought I loved smoking cigarettes; just two and a half months after quitting, I realize that love not smoking even more.
The Washington State Quit Line is a great resource for anyone who wants to kick the tobacco habit. Phone them at 1.800.270.7867 or visit http://www.quitline.com. I particularly recommend the page of personal stories (#) because when I first announced my decision to quit I found that some of the best support I got was from other former smokers. One of my co-workers told me that two decades after quitting he still thought about having a smoke every now and then, but he never has. It can be done.
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as a new non-smoker, what do you think about the indoor smoking ban initiative?
As a non-smoker, I still disagree with it, on the general principle that I don’t think it’s the state’s business to dictate the health choices of adults. Since there are considerably more non-smokers than smokers, I’ve often wondered why more people can’t vote with their feet. Even as a smoker there were places I found vile (perhaps ironically, I never did like the smell) because they were too smokey and so I didn’t spend any time at them.
I’d rather see the resources going to enforce such a rule as the indoor smoking ban go instead to provide economic incentives for businesses who voluntarily elect to be smoke-free.