A Random List of Smoking Fun Facts

An essay off the top of my head on the inside world of being a smoker.

Random smoking fun fact #1: Smoking is a social bonding experience. Even more so since the country (and parts of the world) has become seriously anti-smoker. Over the past 20 years that I've been tarring up my lungs, I've seen the acceptance of my kind die a slow, legislative death. I'm too young to remember offices filled with smoke, but I do remember being able to smoke in the mall. That was probably the first to go. Next came the smoking sections of restaurants. And the final axe - the bars. Smokers now stand around and tell tales of back in the day when you used to be able to smoke in the X, Y or Z, kind of like when we were kids and we walked uphill to and from school in the snow 9 feet deep year round - that kind of thing.

Random Smoking Fun Fact #2: Smoking is a bumming culture. Somewhere along the line it became not just acceptable but expected to be able to constantly ask your friends to support your habit. And it's not just friends that you can ask. See a total stranger on the street smoking? Go ahead, walk right up and ask him/her if they have an "extra" cigarette they can give you. Trust me, to a true smoker, there is no such thing as "extra" cigarettes, yet still this language persists.

Random Smoking Fun Fact #3: I haven't done enough studies to know if this recent phenomena is city based or increased price based. Further studies (ie going home for longer times) will have to be done. Strangers will now ask you not just if you have an "extra" cigarette (see fun fact #2) but will ask you for the cigarette you are currently smoking. And somehow this is deemed permissible. Don't get why that's weird? Imagine sitting in a restaurant, having a nice enjoyable meal, and a total stranger walks up and says "Hey, that burger looks awesome, can I get a bite?" See the weirdness now?

Random Smoking Fun Fact #4: I've smoked for near on 20 years. I am also literate and watch the news from time to time. What does this mean to you, oh so considerate non-smoker? It means I know its not good for me. I know that it will most likely kill me at worst, and will most definitely make life more difficult at best. So I'm not quite sure why you think that looking me in the eyes and having that serious, heartfelt, "I care about you and your health, and I really wish you wouldn't smoke" lecture is going to make a damn bit of difference. Especially if we don't really know each other, like say you are a random co-worker or a friend of a friend of a friend whose name I will never remember but that doesn't matter since I won't be seeing you again. Also, please do not be so misguided that you think you are the first person to have this little sit down with me. And unless I become a rampantly successful Internet writer and become a total recluse (and have my cigarettes shipped to me), you won't be the last. Sorry if I don't give you the half an hour you want of my time, and sorry you won't be the magic person that makes me see the light and turn my life around. If you are really insistent about teaching me the woes of smoking please feel free to get in line. I'm sure I'll get to you before my smoking kills me.

Random Smoking Fun Fact #5: Cigarettes are expensive. I know this, it's my wallet that opens daily to shell out the $9 (damn you Chicago tax system, damn you!) to my local dealer. And like the days of yore when we smoked everywhere, any smoker worth his salt will be happy to tell you how much cigarettes cost when they started. It's like the price of milk, or gas, it's something we hold onto as we yearn for better days. Point in fact, when I started I could get 2 packs and change from a $5. Not anymore my friend, not anymore.

And there you have 5 random smoking facts from the brain of a smoker. Did you need to know these things? Probably not. Did I have a fun time writing again and sharing my random thoughts? Hell yes. And isn't that what a blog is all about?