Are You a Smoker?

Community Pulse Question:


23.5% of Americans are smokers...

Are you a smoker?  What are your thoughts on this?

Ok...  I'll get the ball... 'er butt... going on this one.  Seems not to be a "popular" question for many.  Especially after "19 views" on this site.

Yepper!  I'm a smoker.  Been one since Navy Boot Camp.  I know... I know... I know... you want to ask me, "Well, Mick, you work in the health care field and you know the side effects of smoking, why don't you quit?"  Easy to ask, harder to do.  It's that crazy little drug call nicotine!  It's really no different than caffeine (which I'm also addicted too) or soda or food!  It's a human habit that we all hang on to, ya know?

Side note:  I'm 46, blood pressure is great, all lab is great, chest x-ray is great too!  Weight stays between 190 and 195 depending on the season.  Football season is a great time to sit on the couch and gain weight!  :^)

I know that smokers have a bad rap.  Taking smoking out of restaurants, you have to be about 10 miles away from a public place, you have to wear a Scarlet "S" on your shirt while you're in public.  Seen it all.  Crazy, eh??  Heck!  I still remember watching Walter Cronkite smoking on the set while broadcasting Presidential debates on TV!  Smoking used to be "socially accepted".  In the movies, it was a great Prop!  Now, it's almost treated as Leprosy.

However, while working in Boston, I did hang out (a few times) at a Cigar Bar.  I'm not a big cigar fan, but it's fun to sit and have a few drinks and suck on a nice cigar.  Don't know if that bar is still around.  If you're ever downtown Boston, see if it's still there and let me know.

I know smoking is "harmful" to me and others.  I've never smoked inside the RV or in the house when I'm back home.  Never have...  Getting killed by smoking is a chance, I know.  So was last week when a drunk driver came at head-on and I ran up into a person's front yard taking out their mailbox!  Called 9-1-1 and they caught the idiot, and I have since replaced the gentleman's mailbox.  Life can end in a nanosecond!  Please take advantage of every second you have to make a great memory!

I've always jokingly told all my "health-nut" friends (the one's who workout, run, eat salads all day?) that they are going to be totally ticked off some day, laying in the hospital bed while dying from nothing!  Me??  I'll at least have closure!  :^)

Your thoughts??

Mickey

I am not a smoker....but have battled with my fiance for several years trying to get him to quit. He has struggled alot but has recently been able to but the pack down for about 2 months now. Social events or nights out with friends seem to be a problem sometimes and when his brothers come around....as most of them are smokers. He has taken a recent interest in running and realized how important it was for him to stop to be able to be a better runner. So he did. We leave in 3 weeks for a week with his family for Thanksgiving. It will be a true test for him. We will see how it goes.

Thanks Mickey for the info.  This morning I was missing a cigarette, but only for break, not for the nicotine.  For whatever reason my addiction was more behavioral than physical (?) Stopping was relatively easy for me, I mean, compared to others attempts.  

Glad that someone here is talking about it, and I really wish more members would post on this.  Weird how just this morning I was thinking of smoking & the healthcare community and now see this post.

Stay tuned....we have a health/fitness/nutrician blogger coming soon.  They will talk about healthy lifestyles for everyone...particularly for those of us "on the road".