Do you, or have you ever, regularly smoked or chewed tobacco? By that, I mean that I'm not talking about smoking a cigarette behind the school with friends a few times. Do you smoke regularly? Have you ever smoked regularly? Do you chew tobacco? Have you ever chewed tobacco regularly?
I have never smoked and never been tempted to do so. Both my parents smoked and I grew up on a tobacco farm... so go figure.
I began smoking cigarettes in high school but I quit in the early 1970s. I have tried pipe tobacco and cigars, but not more than a time or three.
My only experience with cigarettes was my freshman year in college. It was considered very "with it" for girls to smoke. We'd sit out on the steps of the dorm asking passing guys for a light and then sit with lit cigarettes taking occasional little "mouth puffs" to keep the cigarettes lit. Oh, we thought we were cool and avante garde. College women, y'know.... I have never inhaled a cigarette. I don't think I could.
I never smoked cigarettes. I became a heavy cigar smoker when I quit drinking at age 36 because "I deserved a vice." I smoked them heavily off & on for a number of years, and when I got a case of strep, I quit. That was in 2010. I had a CT scan done for unrelated reasons maybe 4 years ago and walked through it with a pulmonologist. Knock on wood, there was no evidence of damage in my lungs at the time.
My senior year in high school, I bought one pack of Kools and was smoking the last one as I was headed back to high school after having lunch at the teen burger hangout. An elder in my mother's church saw me and when I got home I knew my free time was no more and would be replaced with bible reading and extra chores. The smoking was just the half of it because when I was seen, I was wearing a skirt just barely school legal above my knees. I left home in a skirt a few inches below my knees. My mom was fair and we did reach a compromise that I could wear my skirt just barely covering the knees. We each compromised 3" and a resolution was reached. I never smoked tobacco again. I only tried tobacco "snuff" once. I was 14 and at the county fair and did it on a dare. Once in my mouth and before I could spit, one kid hit me on the back making me swallow it. I was very sick for several hours. I never put that awful crap in my mouth again.
I had an uncle who smoked a pipe. Whatever it was that he smoked, I liked the smell of it. My dad used that, but I have never tried it.
I recall being around a pipe smoker when I was young, but for the life of me I cannot recall who it was. I don't believe it was a relative. I tried it for a while, but having that piece of plastic in my mouth just made me drool to excess (as opposed to making me drool just enough.)
Now now Johnny, while that is a good comparison, it might also take this thread off-topic. Some of us are anxiously awaiting for the forum smokers to confess. I could care less if a forum member smokes are not. Even if they are a heavy pot smoker it doesn't affect me pounding the keys on my computer. No judgment on my part about who currently smokes, unless they are on oxygen and whining about breathing problems. I might be tempted to point out, that I couldn't find sympathy for them whining about something they could change.
As a former paramedic, I'd like to remind you to turn the oxygen off on your nasal cannula before lighting up. Not everyone remembers to do that.
Yes, that would be my hint. Not that the cigarette is killing you but you might ignite a bomb. Is dying from lung cancer worse than blowing yourself up? I don't know. Neither one paints a Norman Rockwell. Wait a minute, maybe it does.