Did you or do you smoke?

[EmmaOwl]

Actually, they let an 18 year old work in a bar here in town, and our drinking age is 21. That was...

I was in a little town, in this drugstore - it was a chain, but still everyone knew everyone, so of course I had classmates come in and it would've been totally uncool if I hadn't sold cigs to them .. never mind the little cigars for blunts! - truthfully I didn't care either way, so...
but one time I sold a pack to a girl from school - my age, 16 - this next lady in line starts shouting "She's not 18! You didn't card her! She's not 18!" My friend hightailed it out of there - "She wasn't 18!!!" trilled this person, sounding like a siren (and not the good kind). So I had to call.. dun dun dun... an ASSISTANT MANAGER out to my register so the old lady could "report" me. Everyone else in line groaned a collective sigh at the delay.

Luckily (?) I was a good liar and said, "Well she's my cousin and I know she's 18, so why would I card her?"

Of course the manager knew what happened but she said, "Well, next time ask for ID anyway. Even if you know them, card anyway, if any customers might think the person is underage." I mean, really, what were they going to do? So, in front of the old lady, I had to say, "Oh, ok, I'll do that, even if I know the person is older than 18, if it is someone I know who is actually 24 but looks 18, I'll still card them, absolutely." And the old lady had to be satisfied with that. I'm not sure what she was expecting to happen. My manager didn't even mention it at the end of my shift.

These things, alcohol, tobacco, it all depends a lot upon the state. My home state and my adopted state both had insane liquor laws. For a while, I lived in a city where, if you wanted a 6 pack you'd have to get it from behind a bar! Talk about expensive. They've probably changed it by now, but it was absurd. Wine had to be purchased at a "state liquor store" - all of which looked sketchy and I doubt sold anything decent - but it was ok b/c my mom, being an excellent foodie, always sent me over bottles. Ok ok she sent them to me mostly to COOK with but... Well let's just say she was more of a realist than the woman in the drugstore.

 

[Friday]

Your OB had you start to smoke again? Why?

Stress reduction. I was starting to miscarry & since she knew I'd only quit smoking a few months previous she took me out to the parking garage, had me smoke a cigarette, and came back in and retook all my vitals. BP and everything had dropped from hospitalize now ...into acceptable ranges. Shrug. It happens sometimes. Quitting smoking was just one stressor too many on my body. Not mental/emotional stress, but physical stress. Possibly a PTSD thing, looking back, possibly completely unrelated. I was a high risk pregnancy to begin with, so I was really closely monitored. If it hadn't of worked I'd have been checked in and put on IV stabilizing medication in hopes of lowering my levels before I stroked out, & maaaaaaybe stopping the miscarriage. But it worked. :tup: It was a really hard pregnancy. Not something my body really took to. :wtf: High risk (for both maternal and fetal demise), placental abruption, cancer, not-exactly-toxemia, not-exactly-gestational-diabetes, and antepartum depression. Wheeeeeee! :D TheKiddo is a miracle baby. In every way. He did awesome, though.

 

[EmmaOwl]

Stress reduction. I was starting to miscarry & since she knew I'd only quit smoking a few months previou...

In the olden days, cigarettes were marketed as a health product. Although I don't know the dates offhand.
You know, tobacco is a naturally occurring plant, as are marijuana and opium.

*** I'm just throwing in some fun facts here! ;)

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I have no clue what vaping would cost,

A lot. In my opinion anyway. And its a lot of up keep. Buy a good one (atomizer about $40 - a cheaper one, a cartomizer, and even more, a cheaper brand of a cartomizer, has to be replaced about once a week. At least in most atomizers, you can replace the coils - the main reason cartomizers stop working and/or leak), keeping it charged and carrying at least one fully charged battery (I switch mine out at bedtime, charging the other through the night, then when I leave for work in the AM, charging it at work), replacing coils, and, of course, buying liquid.

I also use pre-filled and perm sealed tanks as backups as you can have a dry puff, a malfunction of some sort, a dead battery, leaky tank, etc. So I have those for backup.

The pre-filled sealed ones are more expensive. $12 for 2. The fillable tanks are cheaper as, though it is $12 - $15 or so for liquid, it lasts 2 weeks or so. Or even a week for the smaller bottles. That is 7 pre-filled sealed ones. I go through one tank a day, depending. Buying new cartomizers a week is where my expense is. I'd say, on average $40 a week. Average and depending on a lot. So, thats a carton of good cigs.

It would be less if you buy a good atomizer instead of a cartomizer. About $40 rather then $20. Could be more for an even better atomizer but the point is you won't have to replace it every week and the only expense is coils, which are cheap and come in a multipack.

But, no matter the cost (or the trouble) it is and will always be budgeted as it is much better then cigs. In my opinion anyway.

ETA: @Friday, That is inresting (and also sorry you had to go through) cause now I know and can feel nicotine really makes your heart race. I always knew it was a stimulate but never felt it until I went on a vap. Smoking always felt calming and I smoked more when stressed. Maybe the withdrawl of nicotine was more then the stimulate effects of a cig or maybe psychological (though psychological things don't always show on vitals) or both?

I'm glad he made it and did well!

 

[Fadeaway]

I smoke. About 5 years ago, I quit for 3. Been smoking again for nearly 2 years. When I quit I had just gotten in engaged and in the throws of falling in love high, so it was much easier. I switched to vaping and and reduced the nicotine until I was at zero. I never gave up the vape though even though I was nicotine free.

I was still nicotine free when I started on this site. But after nearly dying 2 summers ago due to a medical condition and being re-traumatized while hospitalized and moving the following weekend and other fun stuff, I started again, because it was the better than any coping skills my T could offer me at the time.

I'll quit again, just not right now.

 

[Changing4Best]

Well, at $40.00 per week, I think vaping is not an option for me, nor is smoking. I guess I just have to be happy that my anti-anxiety medication works so well, that I really don't need to smoke or vape, I just thought it might be nice to have something like that again in my life to calm me a bit and to keep my hands busy. However, with my new job, even if it is only about 3 hours per day, I guess I am busy enough now anyway. I have not worked in 15 years, so being on the job again is new and in some ways exciting and in some ways stressful and in some ways very taxing mentally. That last is good, though, because when you use your brain, you don't lose it to Dementia, which is something that my father had.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I think vaping is not an option for me, nor is smoking.

OHHHHH! I guess I should have read better. If you don't smoke, don't start. It is a stimulate so it would not help your anxiety and it is like starting a drug. You will be addicted to nicotine and even non-nictoine liquid is still not good for you. You are still putting chemicals in your lungs. I dont find vaping relaxing at all. It is just replacing smoking. And yes, either one is very expensive.

Yes, find something else relaxing. Like coloring in an adult coloring book or the many hobbies that are relaxing.

 

[Changing4Best]

I like to crochet. I also like to do word puzzles, like Word Finds and Words With Friends on FB. However, lately that last has been messing with my computer, so that I have to defrag and do all other sorts of stuff every time I play, or my machine slows down and or freezes. So I have these Word Find Books (you know, hard copy ones) that I can play with I guess. Thanks for the advice, @lostforgottensoul

 

[Gadgie]

I am off the generation who were "given" cigarettes free while serving in the forces. When we were at sea we could buy them duty free, and the cost was minimal, so every body smoked in them days.

Plus, I started smoking when I was twelve years old, a side effect of my violent childhood, so I won't even bother trying to stop, it's too later for me anyway!

 

[Teasel]

Quit smoking 4 months ago and *touch wood* it seems to be sticking this time <3

Smoked over 30 years and my lungs were in a pitiful state, COPD.

For tge last 2 - 3 years I've been trying to quit but kept having a sneaky smoke when I went out and drank alcohol. The sneaky smoke would inevitably turn into smoking full time again.

This time I approached quitting smoking seriously enough to change my lifestyle and not go out or drink any alcohol for the first 3 months.

I used Champix to quit. It made ALL the difference for me, don't think I could have done it without it.

Started at 13, like others say, taking some off Mum.

Dad died last summer from lung cancer, he carried on smoking till the end, it was hard to see him die that way. Thank goodness his suffering was short.

I am so very very pleased I am not smoking now.

 

[Casey_03]

I started smoking at around the age of 30. Which was very out of character for me, as cigarettes had always disgusted me and my mother died of lung cancer. I smoked for probably about a year and a half, very heavily (most of it was when I was working in a war zone, and everyone who's out there smokes - soldiers, journos, medics). I quit when I got pregnant, then sadly started smoking again after my son was born, then quit for several months .... and then started again. But quickly realized it would kill me, so switched to vaping. Which is probably not that much better, but at least comes without all the carcinogens, and it doesn't smell horrible.

 

[EmmaOwl]

It is a stimulate so it would not help your anxiety

I always felt that. Tobacco made me feel antsy and anxious. Stimulants of any sort were not my bag, so to speak.

Ironically, when I had a couple of brief stays at a mental hospital, there were tons of smokers, and they all made friends with one another, and I betcha that plenty of people start in just that way - there's nothing else to do, to break up the day, other than smoke break. I tried to hang out anyway, but they knew I was a poseur. Maybe I should've taken a cig and pretended, treated it like a cigar.

honestly it was so smoky that it bothered me... which means it was really bad because I spent so much time in smoky bars and I was ok.

On the other hand, it's possible that, in the latter case, the presence of alcohol distracted me. I was a pretty good drinker, and we didn't get breaks for that in the hospital! Though I have a feeling it would have improved morale. :P