Friday, January 09, 2009

Anti-smoking ads make me want to smoke

Sabre24q7 writes:
How can someone be "proud" that they smoke lol.
A.) Smoking tastes nasty and leaves mouth dry.
B.) It's extremley bad for your health in many ways.
C.) Waste of money.

I dont see one positive thing about smoking, and if someone says it makes me look "cool" i will smack you.
a) depending on why you smoke, the taste can vary. Some people are poor, cheap, and addicted. They eat things like spam with mustard on white break and smoke the cheapest off brand. For me, smoking is like whiskey and chocolate. You can either get the cheap stuff that fucks you up, and the chocolate that will burn ulcers in your mouth it is so nasty, or you can pay $300 a bottle, drink rarely, import fine chocolates from Switzerland and make a fine evening of it.

If I can't get good the good stuff, I won't have any of it. Good tobacco should not leave your mouth dry. Like good anything, the entire experience is pleasant. I'll admit I sometimes have 2 cigarettes in a day, but nicotine affects me strongly. More than that takes away from the experience.

b) so is stress. Nicotine is a poison to your nervous system. How? it blocks your body's ability to metabolize the hormones that make you feel stressed. Just because it is a form os self medication doesn't mean that it is completely meritless. For me, I can work harder and focus on all kinds of straining mental activities without worry of overload, because if it becomes too much for me, I always know I can take a smoke break. Of course there are other ways to manage that, and there are good ways to keep your stress low, such as staying well hydrated, and good night sleep in addition to regular exercise and healthy diet. I don't think I care if I am just lying to myself, but with any medication, there is moderation. If smoking is the ONLY way for you to relax EVER, and so you smoke a pack a day or more, you should consider therapy, or at least some Tai Chi.

c) This I think is a bit bogus, unless you can't afford it. I go through about a pack a week. Sometimes if I need to relax and I am going to be at home, I get a pint of Ben & Jerry's and put on a good movie. In my area, a pack is about the same price as a pint, and I will tell you right now that pack last a LOT longer than that pint.

Many things cost money, and everything costs time. There are responsible and irresponsible smokers and non-smokers. I will admit that I find it dumbfounding that I smoke EVERY DAY. There are few things I do nearly every day: Go to work, eat, sleep, fuck, check news / email, and smoke. Smoking is the only thing on the list of things I do almost daily that pale in terms of necessity. I know how I think about smoking that it is an addiction, and I don't think I would mind being a non-smoker if I didn't have friends that smoked. However, not to say that I like all smokers, just that there is a personality trait I have noticed in people that I enjoy that tends to be mostly in smokers that I prefer.

I think it is a little bit of a taunting death thing, fuck you to authority (in a non-criminal way), and a moment you remind yourself to take everyday just for yourself when you know that the only thing you need to do is kick back, relax, and puff that cigarette. And it is an even more pleasant experience to share with a friend.

Experiences can be cool, particularly when everyone is in sync with a moment, but just like rule #34, for anything that has ever been done, there will always be someone that can look like a complete idiot doing it. Smoking is not intrinsically cool, but I don't think there is anything that is.

Except vagina. Vagina is cool.

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