I recall that my favorite time to “light up” would be midstream on a cool crisp morning with sun rays filtering through the tall pines. When I exhaled a puff of smoke, it would fill the air around me. Remembering moments like that made me postpone quitting many times back then.
I am now a NON smoker and NOT an ANTI smoker. I firmly believe that smokers have rights as I do. I make choices rather than seek confrontations. If I invite you to my home, I invite your vices also. If you feel you want to smoke in my home I have no problem with that BUT I assume you will use some discretion.
Having said all that, I quit smoking on February 6, 1979 at 2:30 PM,Cold Ass Turkey. Cigarettes were only $0.47 cents a pack ( hardly a dent). The reason I remember the exact circumstances is because I knew it would be a tough row to hoe and IF I was successful I wanted to keep that date as a fortification for my resolve.
Personally, I quit for fear of future health consequences.I’m curious as to the current general attitude of smokers especially with the rising costs and recent news.If you quit, how long have you been “off”? If you smoke,do you intend to quit and for what reason ( price or health or?) ? If you’ve never smoked, your attitude toward smoking?
I fully realize this is a provocative subject SO: If your neck veins swell while typing a response, delete same and go on to other " stuff".
Mark
PS: Anticipating the " Whats the purpose of posting this topic?" question. The answer is : Maybe bringing it to the forefront will help someone make choices they have thought about. And maybe not.
[This message has been edited by Marco (edited 12 August 2005).]
I see folks smoking while they fish and can just imagine the end of that cigaret accidently touching a $60.00 fly line or burning a hole in a nice vest.
Marco,
I am a long time smoker, currently have a 2 pack a day habit. My stop smoking date is coming up in a little over a week. My doctor prescribed Wellbutrin since it worked for my wife. The main reason I’m quitting is because it’s bad for my health, but it will be nice to have all the money that I waste on cigarettes to spend on other things.
Steve
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went”-Will Rogers
I have never smoked but grew up in a hoesehold where my mother smoked. I only saw it as second nature then. Now I see it in a different light. I really can’t stand being around someone who smokes or the smell of it on there clothes. Nor do I like to enter a household where the people smoke in the house. I also do not like it when people who smoke stand outside of a building where smoking is not allowed and smoke right in front of the door. Don’t get me wrong, I think you should decide to do whatever you want with your body. I don’t however think that you shold subject other people to your vices.
For instace, I don’t “break wind” in other peoples houses if I can help it. I know that it may be different than smoking, but it’s along the same lines. I think it is just polite to think of others when lighting up or doing any other thing that could directly affect someone.
I am not against smoking, just bad manners.
Never smoked much; but, quit summer of 1969. Was trying to shingle the roof of a small shelter on our small campsite lot for two days in 95+ degree weather. Lighting one after the other cigarettes to keep the danged #$%^&*($ gnats away and suddenly felt a mite woozy. Came down and wife said I was “green at the gills”; so, after some liquid replacement, walked to the small feeder stream near the river, reached into my shirt pocket, crumpled up the half pack of cigarettes and quit cold turkey. Thirty-six years ago this past July! Not so easy for the wife. She quit three times; once for three years, once for one year and finally for good when one of our kids asked her why she smoked etc. She quit in 1988.
I’ve been smoking for longer than I care to admit,Mostly cause I don’t want it to seem as thoe I condone underage smokeing…I Don’t…Wish my father had kicked my butt way back when,But he did not.
I’d not allow any of my kids to ever start smoking, After 27 years of smoking,Except for a 5 month period in which I once had quit.I find it very hard to find the right mindset to even attempt it again.
But with a new baby coming very soon,Sunday they are going to induce labor of my first off spring,three weeks early at that. Not to mention the three Lil ones we have running around this room at this moment.
For their sake as well as what it might be doing to my health. I’d like to give up this habit,but even these reason’s are not making what I know to be one of the hardest things to quit, any easier…I know I have to want this for me…or it’ll not work…Till I find the right mindset…I will do this,as I know I can…or I’d not have done it before.Well we are getting some pretty good lightining…so tata for now…
Marco, I did it cold turkey,Only way to truely confront the things that make you want to do it in the first place…Now if i could just bring myself to one last try !
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
“Wish ya great fishing”
Bill
[This message has been edited by billknepp (edited 13 August 2005).]
If you dont wish to tolerate smokers, so be it. But I expect thoes that are concerned to take what ever personal resposiblity is involved to avioid them. Dont go to places were smokers are. Dont go to homes, resturants, building, sidewalks, streams, parking lots, or other grathering places were people of different habits may congurate. It simply is not a smokers responsabilty to know the personal tolerance level of every person that may come into contact with them. I realize that its very much in vogue these days to shrug off responsibility and cede rights to the government for personal convience Understand that sooner than you may think, it will come to your door step and beyond.
I quit for awhile many years ago, didn’t fight the urges & started back. I have a VERY high pain tolerance & this February, I sat at my desk just “knowing” by the chest pain, that I was having heart attacks. That Sunday, to everyones’ surprise, I took myself to the urgent care center. I had a flu that settled in my respiratory system & the Doctor said most smokers ended up in the hospital with pneumonia with it. I did not, but had to use a damned prescription inhaler for a week or so. That visit resulted in the following:
–Quit smoking “cold turkey” THAT day (2/25/05) as I was NOT going to have to use an inhaler again! Interesting that I have had NO urges to smoke since…the power of fear, hunh?
–I should be ashamed of myself, but I scheduled my 1st physical in 19 years (I’m 58)! Doc was stunned…blood pressure 97 over 63, cholesterol, etc all good, prostate not enlarged at all, colonoscopy clear. I have never had a surgery or worn a cast. I told him I didn’t want to hear a WORD about eating “healthy” & his response was…“I’d be crazy to suggest a change, and you’d refuse anyway!”
BTW, I also feel smokers have as much right to smoke as I have not to. It bothers me the number of laws & proposals there are to completely ban smoking in cities. Industry, motorized vehicles, etc would be more hazardous, IMHO.
Mike
“I’ve HAD muh say!”…
George MacMichael from The Real Mccoys
I have been smoke free since the first of May. The rising price of gas helped out since I travel quite a bit to help a buddy teach a youth tying/casting club. The extra cash I have from not buying smokes helps go a long way on extra fill-ups. I quit cold turkey which I know isn’t the best way to go. It helped allot to see my grandson walking through my son’s house with a smoke in his hand he dug out from my son’s pack. Seeing those big blue eyes of a 6, 2 and 1 year old made it really easy, too. Realizing what I could miss out on with them scared me.
Mike
There is no greater fan of flyfishing than the worm.
Patrick McManus
[This message has been edited by maddog48 (edited 12 August 2005).]
qrrfish 1 I have to disagree with you that it is the non-smokers responsibility to avoid irritating smoke. The smoker is the person who is actively polluting the air and it is his/her responsibility to minimize the inconvenience to others. If you read older books (pre-WWII) you will find that it was customary to ask permision of others present before lighting up. People who blow smoke toward others or wave a lit cigarette in their faces are being rude at the least and possibly causing physical dicomfort and health problems. Maybe I sound like an anti-smoking activist which is not what I intend, only to say that you should take responsibilty for the effects of your actions on others, not expect them to watch out for what your doing.
Thank you Rainbowchaser, you made my point perfectly. Im sure that in the future you will be graceful in removeing yourself from and avoiding the presents of smokers. After all as you pointed out, “You should take responability for the effects of your actions, not expect them to watch out for what your doing”. I realy like the way that plays both ways.
Well Capt, I couldn’t disagree with you more!
Smoking is not an inaliable right on any individual guaranteed in either the Constitution, Bible, Koran or Torah. One has the “right” of personal choice of course but one does not have the “right” to impose one’s own habits on others or infringe on other’s health and well being.
Any educated person that can read with an open mind has seen (heard) dozens and dozens of articles that summarize innumberable studies regarding the dangers (I repeat “dangers”) of second hand smoke.
So, Capt. Paul, smoke if you must but don’t force the ill results of your “right” upon others.
btw, I quit cold turkey in 1988 after 35 years of heavy smoking (up to 3 packs per day) 'cause the pain in one of my son’s eyes if he saw me smoke after I told him why he shouldn’t smoke would be more than I could bear. He is now a grown man, getting married in 3 weeks and I owe him my life.
Snow on the roof but with fire still in the hearth
Like Marco said in the first post, smoking is best done while fishing. If you sting a fish, light up a smoke, the time it takes to enjoy it is just about the right amount to rest the fish. I’m alway very careful not to touch my fly after I’ve smoked. I don’t imagine the fish care for the smell.
About the only time I smoke nowadays is on a fishing trip. I’m a social smoker, I’ve never had a problem with nicotine. I bought two packs for a 10 day trip this past June and one other pack since then.
I smoke Camel straits too. No worrys about littering or butts smelling up your vest pocket.
Others may view smoking as a bad habit, but for me it’s just personal enjoyment.
“Nick’s heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling” …Ernest Hemingway
[This message has been edited by dudley (edited 13 August 2005).]
billknepp,
You can’t quit for someone else…you have to quit for you. It’s probably the hardest thing to do, but in my estimation, it takes a REAL person to do it. All the excuses and all the platitudes in the world won’t change it…only you.
BTDT…Betty
Hey there Paul,
I suppose there should be understanding and tolerance from both sides of this issue. There IS a high road available.
WE non-smokers ARE boxing smokers into a very tight corner. The intolerance seems to be very one-sided on the “non” side of the issue.You’ll note that there are more NO SMOKING signs than there are YOU MUST SMOKE signs around. There are few places, and still dwindling, left where those who choose to smoke can " enjoy" the act. Regardless of the implications of the word “right”, they DO have THAT. Most smokers nowadays use common sense and obey laws when lighting up. I personally avoid those very few situations where I might be exposed to smoke and if I can’t avoid them, I bite the bullet ( sports bars would be an example). In my opinion, therefore,it’s a bit easier for us “nons” to avoid situtions than it is for “dos” to find places to smoke.
When it came to my own family, I told my ( now all growed up) 3 children that If I ever caught them smoking, I would “white out” their name from my will. I’m glad I was able to quit before I became an influence on them but I never even thought of that THEN.
Hey Marco, syntax ain’t my forte’ as you have discovered! Actually, I was referring to my #3 son (first 2 already grown by then) who was just reaching the very impressionable age of 11.
(Maybe I should have replied “because he was having trouble with Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”. Grin grin.
Snow on the roof but with fire still in the hearth
I quit smoking cigs about 10 years ago. I don’t remember the exact day 'cause it isn’t that important when I quit just that I did. The reasons I quit are personal and now I am not sure if I remember what the reasons were when I quit.
The decision was made on a summer afternoon and I told no one I was going to quit. I just did it.
I carried my last pack of cigarettes around with me for about a month and one day throw them away.
My wife asked me at about 1 week if I hac quit smoking. I remember saying I was thinking about it.
I think I had cravings for several weeks but even that is hazy now. I do not have any desires to smoke now except 1 or 2 cigars during special fishing trips where it has become a custom. These occasional cigars don’t seem to cause me to want to smoke cigarettes again so I don’t worry much about a relapses.
I could care less if someone else smokes. I do what I can to avoid smokers. I hold my breath when walking through doorways where smokers have congregated. I don?t go into places where smoking is allowed. On the other hand I have found that life is short and I don?t care if I **** someone off. So, if someone is smoking around me where I can?t move away from them I tell them they need move somewhere else to smoke or to stop smoking and I am not afraid to get adamant about it.
Betty,
So your saying I’m not a real person…?..well thanks for your vote of confidance…then again perhaps my quiting smoking is’nt the true answer for others well being…Hummm something to ponder perhaps…
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
Grin grin.