'fess up - who smokes?

[mrs_overall]

...and what brand and how many?

[karenmac60]

;) xx

[DebsyDoo]

Hi all, can I join in ?

About 6 a day (used to be 20) Superkings Mental !

(Tip for cutting down - don't smoke indoors, you'll find half the time you can't be bothered to go outside - & the upside is your house don't stink anymore !!!)

[ttfn]

Debsy - you are very welcome ☺
I live on my own and can do my own decorating - darned if I am going outside through the vagaries of winter to enjoy my addiction (well, one of them) !

[DebsyDoo]

Thankyou !

Yeah, I know what you're saying, but after my daughter came home from a year away & complained that her clothes stank of smoke (& they'd been in her bedroom, which had been closed up) Got me thinking - now, I can't stand the smell of smoke in the place !

[karenmac60]

I used that method to cut down Debsy - mr mac had to quit because of health problems and I didn't really think it was fair for me to carry on smoking indoors. I used to smoke double what I do now, and the house smells much nicer :)

[ttfn]

I abstained from smoking for nearly a year debsy, but I couldn't cope with the taste of food. I swore that everything fresh was well off! In the end I thought if that is what food really tastes like, I don't want to know. I couldn't eat out anywhere, forever turning up my nose at the food - it was rank LOL

[DebsyDoo]

That's right - and it just makes you realise how many more you smoke than how many you really WANT . . 'cos it's so easy to just "light up" another !

[Buenchico]

Why don't I smoke?
Because my father bit his nails!!!

Explanation:
At the age of 11, I was watching my father (sitting in his usual chair) biting his nails. I thought to myself "What the hell is the attraction in doing that?". Out of curiosity, I nibbled one of my own fingernails. It then took me three years to break the habit of biting my own fingernails.

Just as I'd finally broken free of the addiction, my friends were pressurising me to smoke, with the message "Just try one, you won't get addicted". But, because of the battle I'd just gone through, I knew all about addiction and I steadfastly refused to try a single puff of a cigarette.

[starone]

It was a social habit when I was young - everybody smoked. Except me. Not for the want of trying. I just couldn't do it. I puffed away pretending I was enjoying it. My sister tried to show me how to take back and gave up patting my back when I was choking. In the end I gave up - it was just too much trouble. I suppose I should be glad now because of the health implications and the cost, but then I was the odd one out and didn't like that at all. There must have been some hint then of health because we always called them "coffin nails".

[chrissa1]

Me. 20 Sterling Kingsize. I gave up alcohol 3 years ago and I don't see why I should make myself completely miserable.

[DebsyDoo]

Yeah, Chrissa, I agree - you may not live longer, it'll just seem like it !!!

[ttfn]

Hello chrissa - you are absolutely right there. Hope today went well enough for you ♥

[Mamyalynne]

Ok I will 'fess' I have one, just one mind vice and smoking it is, Sterling Superkings about 15 a day.

Hi all ♥

[ttfn]

^ One? One? One?
Is somebody's underwear burning?
If you say so, Mamya ;o)
Good evening, btw.

[Andyvon]

I used to until we stopped in 2002. I started in Hong Kong when I was 9, I was smoking 40 Rothmans a day when I worked in a petrol station in the UK when I was 15. I smoked 80 Camel a day for 12 years when I had my chauffeur business then I smoked 40 Camel or Marlboro a day after I sold it. My wife and I just stopped smoking overnight on the eve of my 40th birthday. I smoked for 31 years and my wife for 32. We've never touched another cigarette since then.

I don't know how anyone affords to smoke now. My 80 Camel cost £10 every morning (£2.50 for 20) and I had so much money that was nothing. For the last ten years we smoked roll-ups and we often went across the Channel to buy tobacco in France or Belgium as it was a quarter of the UK price. However, even that has became expensive since the French tabac shops caught on.

I recently noticed that 20 Camel or Marlboro are now £6.47! That's £65 for a carton of 200 or about $100 US. Who on Earth can afford to pay that?

[Mamyalynne]

Good evening Ena, are you expressing doubt here? I have a halo to protect.

[ttfn]

Hi Andrew - I never think of the cost, just pay up with a smile ☺
I started smoking when I had a weekend/school hols job on petrol pumps too. The garage is still standing, Health and Safety had not been thought of then!

[ttfn]

As if I would (and survive) Mamya.
pssssst - want some cheap Brasso for that halo?
♥♥♥

[Andyvon]

Hi ttfn,

I suppose it's not too bad if you don't smoke many like you. I've never done anything in moderation - it's either all or nothing with me. I smoked for 31 years, up to 80 a day for 12 years, but I haven't touched a drop of alcohol since I got very drunk when I was 15! It would cost me about £30 a day to smoke 80 Camel now! I often see kids smoking tailor-mades today and I just wonder where they get the money.

I loved working on the petrol pumps. Petrol was 70p a gallon at the time, cigarettes were about 50p for 20 and everyone collected Green Shield stamps. All petrol stations had kids working the pumps and checking oil etc. None of this 'self-service' where you work the pump yourself then they just sit in a kiosk and take your money.

[ttfn]

I misled on my first response on this thread Andrew (3 packets ☺)

I used to hate serving paraffin in those wretched gallon cans. The number of paraffin shampoos I had with the blow back. Had to let it evaporate before having a ciggie LOL
Petrol was nearing 3 bob a gallon when I started - 15p - I cannot believe it. Nor could I get £2 of petrol in my first car. If only...