Smokers?

Im pretty sure there are quite a few of you out there that smoke. Well, I wanna hear about it. I said something the other day that completely blew me away. In the middle of all the normal everyday bullshit everyone goes through I had this weird urge to smoke a cigarette. So let me hear about how and why you started.

I started because my sister smoked. I was 17, and I worked at a pharmacy where I could sell them to myself. Pretty dumb huh?

All things considered, though, I enjoy smoking. I like the communal, relaxing, contemplative aspect of it. It gives a person like me with a lot of nervous energy a way to sit and be still, because I'm not doing nothing, "I'm smoking". The only reasons I'd like to quit are that it costs too much money, and it's bad for me -- not because it "smells nasty" or that I don't enjoy it.

If it were just the money, though, if a cure for cancer were discovered tomorrow -- I'd never stop smoking.

I was 15, and I wanted to try pot, so I tried with a cigarette first. Then, I went on a holiday to Filey with my family, and anyone who has been there will understand that me and my mate took up smoking out of sheer boredom. I really liked it at first, now don't but can't give up right now...

There was a cute girl, and she literally stuck a cigarette in my mouth.

I always said "I need a cigarette" even years before I started smoking when I was nervous... and now I almost exclusively smoke if I'm around people that make me nervous. I find no reason to be addicted, I just can't deal with people.

-i started when i was 12. most of my friends were older and they smoked, so i started. back then i just did it around them though. but by the time i was 16 i was smoking 2 and a half packs a day. i kept that 2 and a half a day pace until i quit 2 years ago. i just decided one day that i didn't want to anymore, so i haven't since.

Started smoking when I was 18. I'm one of those people who's always got alotta shit on my mind, so as stupid as this may sound, I figured smoking could be my "something" like how others pray, become alcoholics, do crack or whatever, everybody's got there something. I don't think I look cooler just because I've got a cigarette in my mouth, truth is I should've never started this dumb addiction in the first place.

I used to go to this dance club to drink underage. bars and cigarettes...I would buy a pack but not really smoke a bunch. really only when I was there, I think. Next I had a couple of friends who were smokers and I'd bum a few off of them when I'd drink coffee. then I moved in w/a friend of mine who was both a hardcore smoker and a hardcore coffee drinker. progressively started to smoke a pack-a-day during those first six months. then finally I had a friend who worked in a liquor store and would bring home a pack of cigarettes for me and her boyfriend everyday and at that point there was no turning back. smoking and driving back and forth, DC to Boston. going on 7 years. love it and hate it.

I started off with a friend back in high school; we used to take long drives and occasionally stop and have a drag. Once I came to college, i started staying up late on nights, because I couldn't for some reason get too much done during the daytime. So I started smoking more, just to stay awake, and also to give myself an excuse for a break when it started getting monotonous. Habit stayed with me, though.

I started smoking in college because it was something to do in between classes. I then moved to studying for long periods of time with a six pack and a pack of cigarettes and When my pack was smoked, I finished my study session. I quit after college was over. Now I smoke on rare occasion but only with beer. I will always love the taste of that lovely combo.

smoking a cig is a great excuse to take 5 min, no work, no thinking, just inhale and feel your lungs thank you. ahh its great. oh smoking while driving is vital as well.

I started in college working as a cook to get my mind off of work during breaks. As hectic as things get on the line, if you don't do *something* to get your mind off of what you're doing well, hell, you might as well be back there still. After I moved out of kitchen-work, I kinda held on to it because its the perfect innocuous way to start a conversation in a bar. "Excuse me, do you have a cigarette??" "Oh! Do you need a light?? Whats your name??" "Hey, you burned me!! Let's see that vagina, missy!!"

did anyone who started young do it for any reason other than to look cool?

i was 14, with my smokes and my wallet chain, and crowd surfing was the best thing ever..........

now i'm bitter and my lungs hurt

Started when I was 17 because, I suppose, everyone else was doing it. During lunch and recess we'd go behind the gym and smoke and that was what we did. Out of about 40 people I'd consider friends at school, about four of them didn't smoke. (That's what you get when you go to an 'intellectual' school; everyone fits the stereotype, or at least tries to).
Still enjoy it, except when I wake up after smoking 40 in a night (thanks to the beer/cigarette or coffee/cigarette combo fuckin' me up). Also, it takes a big chunk out of my cash money supplies. But I'd say it's worth it. As others have said, it's enjoyable, takes your mind off things, or gets you thinking (whichever you want) and goes way too well with beer or coffee. Way too well.
I can see myself disliking them a lot more in a few years when my lungs start forcing their way out of my body.

Although I grew up with a dad who was a 2-pack o' Old Gold 100s man, I didn't have my first one until I was 13 or 14 with my friend Ben. The first time I inhaled, I did not cough.
I started working at a convenience store when I was 16 and would occasionally steal a pack of American Spirits because they would get me kind of buzzed.
I then would occasionally steal one or two from the old man's pack before bed. As revolting as they were, I found they relaxed me at day's end. I found myself stealing more and then eventually stealing whole packs of Marlboros from another convenience store I started working at, because one or two a night had ceased to relax.
I then stopped when I moved to Boston, but soon started up again when I broke up with my girlfriend and really needed something and I knew no one with drug connections. That made way to addiction, and that was four long years ago. The only change since then is I know smoke Camels because I like the pack design. Filters are the way to go. Anything less and I feel like I'm sucking on a lollipop stick.

i smoke for the taste.

I started when I was maybe 16. I've quit and started again a million times since then. I went to Catholic school, and I picked up the habit so that I would look supercool and badass.

I'm only planning to live for about another 10 years, so the health aspects don't really concern me. It's just another self-destructive tendency of mine.

I agree with everyone who says that it's a good way to meet people. I really do enjoy the social aspect of smoking.

I'm such a tard.

people at the movie theatre where i used to work, would take smoke breaks every hour or so. damned if i wasn't going to get a break! i took to smoking after meals and when i was really strung out and hysterical. After hanging out alot with people who smoked in their house all the time, i was eventually repulsed by them. since then I've switched to other smokables. cigars and pipes are fun too.

I was 15. I don't know why, but I was drawn to it. Maybe it was to look cool. Maybe it was rebellious. I can't say (or more likely, remember). No one in my immediate family or circle of friends smoked.

So I skated down to this pizza parlor with my friend. In the back, there was a cigarette machine. I plunked my money into it, and bought a pack of Salems. Ordered a large coke and sat at a table. I lit one up and was determined to inhale (no phony shit) and not to cough (thus, the coke).

On the way back home, I got totally sick.

Been smoking pretty much ever since. And surprisingly, I've never developed a "smoker's cough." I attribute that to all the tofu I eat.



[Edited on Sep 18, 2003 by McQueen]

I started at 14 since I had nothing better to do on breaks. I worked Housekeeping at the local YMCA with a bunch of college kids, so each & every break was a "smoke 'em if you got 'em". They offered, I accepted.

I quit once I graduated HS & moved to MI (the first time) since my landlady was a bible-thumper extraordinare (no swearing, drinking, smoking, fucking, etc.). That lasted three months until my Freshman I finals came along--bought my first pack (Reds), smoked for good luck & it worked.

Been smoking steadily ever since. After all, nicotine is good for your higher faculties. It goes well with reading, drinking, socializing, grilling, working on the vehicle, etc. Never mind my family's history of emphysema and heart disease, I like to smoke.

because I'd look stupid just standing around not talking to people at parties w/o one.

and it shaves years off my life.

and to look cool.

I think I started smoking because I was bored. Just being honest.

At a show one night I was drunk and thought I'dtry one out. At the time it had such a strong effect on me it was like pot. I started smoking regularly from the age of 18, stopped at the age of 22.

Never again. Those things are terrible.