Ever wonder what goes through the mind of someone smoking their first cigarette? I've often wondered what first-time smokers think of as they light up:
"I'm so excited."
"This tastes weird."
"I hope I'm doing it right."
"Finally I fit in."
"Better not mess with me anymore."
"This is relaxing me."
"It's so cool!"
"Dear (insert name here - Mom, Dad, Teacher, Police Officer, etc.): Go F*** Yourself!"
I wish I knew, and not just out of a morbid interest in consumers who willingly buy a highly addicting product designed to slowly ruin their bodies, if not take their life. I can't imagine that first-time smokers have any deep insights into why they have decided to take up the habit - they probably just do it to be doing it.
Now there's a phrase for you.
On the contrary, I know with almost exact certainty what smokers lighting up their final cigarette are thinking. There are basically two possible conceits bubbling through their minds at the time; some quitters experience both, some only one. These thoughts may surface via different variations but the theme is the same. What are they, you ask?
Theme Number One: "I'm done. I'm through with them. I never will put another one in my mouth again."
Theme Number Two: "I feel awful. I can't breathe. I'm in so much pain. I need to lie down. I need my medicine."
The difference between these two is that those who only thought of Theme One with their last cigarette often live to be very old ex-smokers. Those who include Theme Two with their final puff spend a lot of time in the doctor's office, or hospital. Then they die.
I talk to smokers and ex-smokers every single day. This is what they tell me.
If you smoke, please do yourself a favor and learn the music to Theme Number One, then sing it loudly - to all of us.
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Well not for me, actually, what I was thinking was "I must remember to stop at 7/11 and get some more ciggies on the way home".
Only, for some reason, I didn't. Even then the thought was "I'll wait until tomorrow". It's been several thousand tomorrows since.
All my friends smoked I felt left out, high of first cigarette bonus.Stopped when ran out of cigarettes one night and couldn't be bothered to buy more 13 years later.
I wonder how often alcohol is a factor when people start smoking. When I was around 16, I smoked my first cigarette, after I'd been drinking quite a bit and just didn't care. I was a light-ish smoker for around 10 years, then quit when I was 26. I always smoked a lot more when I was drinking, and even after I quit I would still smoke here and there while drinking.
I don't know if smoking contributed to my breast cancer or not. I'm sure it didn't help! What I do know is that since my diagnosis a few months ago, two people very close to me have quit.
When I quit, I said to myself, "That's the last time I get to be relaxed and alert at the same time." Also, "That's the last time I have to stand on the back porch in the evening."
That was 18+ years ago. I could start tomorrow. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, nicotine is a very powerful drug. And there are many others which, like it, are fatal if used to excess. Demonizing one at the expense of other ones isn't particularly useful, IMNSHO.
I am not quite sure why an attractive young lady would ever start smoking, it was an instant turn-off for me if i saw one light up.
I remember it well. It was on the beach with a girl I was smitten with. She smoked. I tried it. I remember how horrible it tasted. I wondered, why would anyone do this? I fought my way through a pack, then never bought cigarettes again.
I college, I did smoke when I drank. I was very lucky it just never did anything for me. I found no reason to continue.
I am not quite sure why an attractive young lady would ever start smoking, it was an instant turn-off for me if i saw one light up.
I'm not sure what purpose is served by breaking it down in this paternalistic way; it's a bad idea whether or not one is attractive, young, or a lady.
To Laura Ellis:
I read your blog.
As a medical oncologist I have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for what you are going through. The least we docs can do is to try and make this time in your life tolerable. As far as happiness is concerned - that will fall on you like the sweetest of raindrops before you know it. The waiting is the hardest part.
Dr. H.
My mother smoked when she was pregnant with me.
I tried my first cigarette when I was 21 (that's 26 years ago...!), and I remember perfectly well what my thought was as I inhaled: "ah - so THAT's why people smoke!" It was a perfect coming-home-moment. Brilliant.
That's why I never had a SECOND cigarette. I would have been hooked from then on.
Quitting is like leaving a lover you've been passionately attached to for years -- because you know (but don't really feel) that he is terribly bad for you. It is the hardest thing I've ever done. Every day (for 13 years) I've fought the urge to return to that lover. This -- plus some of the unfortunate (read:sanctimonious)attitudes expressed in earlier comments here -- helps explain why smoking cessation efforts by health providers yield such poor results.