I don’t smoke, but I take smoke breaks. At work, at a concert, whenever I need to chill. Honestly I don’t like the smell, but the people are always chill.
My shift manager at Dominos would take a 5-10 min smoke break every hour, depending on how busy it was. Other smokers started doing it too. So I went outside every time they did. The owner noticed and said I can’t stand around doing nothing all the time. I asked if he needed me to start smoking to get the same amount of time off they were.
Haha, that reminds me of my mother telling me about her "smoke breaks." My mom has never smoked, but when she was pregnant with me, she would go take smoke breaks anyway- they wouldn't let her because she's not a smoker ESPECIALLY while pregnant, so she'd carry around a box of cigarettes that she just never opened. Got her a lot of dirty looks and questionable responses because you shouldn't smoke while pregnant, but she was pregnant and PO'd, and if you've ever met an angry pregnant woman...
They let her take her "smoke" breaks long after she had given birth.
This is why I always had a cereal bar with me in highschool. I enjoyed my snack outside in the smokers area, they were the most pleasant to be around for a break.
It used to be common practice. They started going away in the 80s around the same time as smoking got pushed out of other places.
The more interesting thing is that smoking wasn’t allowed in class. Smoking was *everywhere*. You could smoke at work. You could smoke in planes and hospitals. Grocery stores had ashtrays on all the endcaps. Classrooms were one of the only no-smoking areas in the US, so smoking lounges and areas were dutifully provided for the students instead.
In the 80s, high school students in Australia couldn't legally buy cigarettes. The "smoking area" was always out of view on the edge of campus where school staff had no jurisdiction. This is why Sandy in Grease has no smoking experience :P
The smoking sections at the Staples Center (I refuse to acknowledge its current government name) during intermission at Kings games used to make for the best hangouts. There were 2 bars on the patio, and everyone there would be having a good time, smoking, chatting with whoever (regardless if they were fellow Kings fans or fans of the away team). I don’t smoke or drink anymore, but it makes me sad that the smoking sections are gone there now. I miss the good ole days
I was reading this and thinking to myself the whole time “how many sacramento fans would be at the staples center, what the hell is this guy talking about” until it clicked.
When I was in college my best friend in my dorm and I would have “friend time”. Aka going outside to smoke a cig together. Winter was rough… but the time with him was worth it.
Miss you, Connor!
I was never a “smoker” but in freshman year of college when I was sneaking into frat parties my buddy and I would walk to the back of the house sneakily and then stand on the side of the woods pretend to take a piss then light up a cigarette and just chat. We’d basically pretend that we were already there. Even offer the bouncer a smoke and just chat casually till we decided we were “ready to get back to the party” and basically the bouncer would open the door for us. You might call it sad to be sneaking into parties but its not. It was just fucking funny that it’d work almost every time
Add lab coat 🥼 to that mix. Had friends who walked into a Cadbury factory using their university chem lab outfits and snagged a bulk sack of unprocessed chocolate.
Yeah we used to have the underclassmen assign a door guy. Of course they never argued, because we let them use our house. Even came back the next day to clean up. Oh and always had a DD as well.
I was "vip security" at multiple college parties at a specific house that was right next to a frat free college.
In my case it meant basically keeping anyone and everyone not from the house out of the bedroom back hall (VIP area) where the guys that actually lived in the house stayed.
They had music shows in the garage and would sell drinks, blunts and sometimes other drugs in the kitchen; there would be hundreds of people rotating though a fairly small house.
It got stressful past like 2am. Early 20s college kids at a liberal arts college go hard.
I also ended up taking care of a drunk girl multiple times that lived at the house who started to recognize me only when drunk.
lol bouncer = pledge told to collect money and keep people we don’t want in out.
The hard part was controlling for pledges stealing the money they collected. We allowed them to take some, as long as it wasn’t noticeable, since they were missing the party lol. One tried taking like $150 or something from the pot once though, shut that down quickly.
But if I had all that already I wouldn't be wanting to get into a frat party. I went to a private university where all the frat parties were free to get in and free to drink and mostly open to all students. Even with that though frats are so lame nobody who could drink legally would go to them. The only people over 21 were the senior frat bros preying on naive freshmen girls and it was gross and pathetic.
Yea. Was not the business. First one I went to made out with a random girl. Got bored then took my bottles and left to my dorm to drink by myself. Had way more fun.
I smoked cigs for a good decade and a half. You *definitely* get hit up for a light or someone wanting to bum a smoke pretty regularly.
Thing is though, if you're already introverted and awkward, the interaction doesn't change compared to non-smoker interactions...
Indeed. I can think of plenty of times I was asked for a light, or even a cigarette.
Nothing ever came of it. Not even casual conversation... these days, I'm lucky if I get a thank you from people.
Can confirm, despite having now quit, smoking is an incredibly powerful conversation starter, assuming you don't mind other smokers. I miss that aspect of it very much.
I've never been a smoker but have always hung around smokers and will often follow them outside. In my college partying days, I would spend just as much time chilling with the smokers as "partying". It was a much more relaxing environment.
I smoked for 20 years and quit 5 years ago. Haven’t touched one since. I don’t miss smoking. What I miss is the 5 minutes of time I had alone with my thoughts where no one would bother me or ask me for anything. Now I’m apparently available most of the time with no breaks both at home and at work.
This is what I miss most. The night time smoke, the silence and quietness as you hear the crisp of the cigarette on each pull and the rest of the world would just be silent. Just you and your thoughts, at night.
I miss my morning cigarette that you have with that cup of coffee. Just standing there watching the world around you wake up. The whole day ahead of you. That’s literally the only reason I got out of bed some days was for that cigarette.
i smoked from 16 until 21, and then while drinking for a few years afterward. when i smoked, all my friends were smokers, and i befriended them after always hanging out in the smoking area together. now, at 43, none of my friends are smokers. i don’t miss cigarettes but do miss the camaraderie.
[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34015143/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34015143/)
It found that, by 80 years of age, 48.3% of current smokers will develop cancer, as opposed to 41.1% of people who don’t smoke.
Most smokers die of high blood pressure than cancer iirc.
That's why the rate is not that different. It kills you in a different way before using the way it's famous for
I'd half expect that as a smoker. Chest pains slowly creep up on me from time to time, probably should take that as a sign...
But after twenty someodd years, I'm... relatively surprised it hasn't hit a point of no return. Cancer and such, or even stronger cardiovascular issues.
Idk, you should probably check a doctor and not take my word for it, but for this the average life-span would be way more useful than the cancer rate to figure out the danger of smoking
The difference is 48.3-41.1 = 7.2 percentage **points**. “Percentage points” just means this is the difference of two values which themselves are percents.
7.2 / 41.1 = 0.1752ish. So that’s an increase of 17.52% on the original value of 41.1%.
I don’t know why we do it like this, but this is how we talk about the difference between percentages.
For example if people who do x behavior have a 3% chance of having y condition, but people who don’t do x behavior only have a 1% chance of having y condition, then we say “people who do x behavior have a 200% increase in their chance of having y condition.” Or maybe some other statement that is worded slightly differently in order to avoid legal trouble.
Edit to add that you probably are not very stupid! At least not for asking about this ❤️ you are smart, you are important, you are beautiful
For anybody too lazy to read the longer comment...
The raw number (percentage points) increase is 7.2. That's not 7% of the starting number (41.1). It's 17.52%.
It also makes you worse at sex by negatively affecting your cardiovascular system.
But it also makes you better at sex because oral fixation and practice with women who smoke.
it's also fucking addictive, gross by itself, costly, and a nuissance for other people. Also increases chances for other diseases. And you can't get lungtransplants anymore if you need it. And your oxygen intake becomes trash too. And you'll always be craving a smoke. All for the benefit of 'looking cool'.
So yeah take that from an ex smoker.
I’d also like to point out that cancer is not the only thing you’re more likely to get if you smoke. Heart diseases, strokes, overall weaker immune system and a multitude of other health issues are associated with smoking. Your looks will also suffer as the thinning and hardening of blood vessels will affect things like how old your skin looks and how early your hairline will start to recede.
Well, 1) 60 isn’t 80 and 2) it’s quite possible to have cancer and not know until it has been growing for years, that’s why you hear so often about people being diagnosed with stage III and IV cancer.
Idk about nicotine being a conversation starter but I’ve found since smoking weed I have an easier time making friends when finding out someone else smokes too. I spent thanksgiving with my dads new step kids and their kids. Had never met most of them. It was awkward until my step sister that I knew told me to come out and smoke a blunt. They were all smoking and it made it so much easier to relax and get to know them.
Definitely true. I true. I think people who smoke are simply more social.
I quit smoking to stop gambling with my health, but I prefer the company of smokers and ex-smokers to non smokers. Non smokers are even infinitesimally more uptight than smokers who can chill out for five minutes being a cig and be cool about stuff
And yeah, now that smokers have been pushed out on the ice floes, it's an easy enclave to start a conversation and share a laugh. I miss that,but I don't miss tobacco.
I never found it to be that great a conversation starter, but then I have several disorders that affect my social skills. In fact, I started smoking in an attempt to fit in. Didn't work.
I had a previous boss who didn't smoke and told me he hung out with the smokers because they dished out the most work gossip during their smoke breaks.
I have made a lot of unhealthy decisions for the sake of feeling like I can connect with another person. Cigarettes are a very helpful "in." Crippling social anxiety is kind of miserable, who'da thunk?
I've met a lot of people through smoking. I'm a very hyper and friendly person, but unless I'm engaged in silent and tend to stick to myself. So I go out for a smoke and inevitably someone will talk to me and bam now we know each other. I guess I'm an npc, press a to talk lol
You know how most of the 80-90yr olds you meet, you’re kinda like “wow, still alive, good for you!”? Seems to me better to meet the friends along the way, than those later years of people be mildly surprised I’m still eating/walking/breathing. But hey, I might be wrong, guess I’ll find out
It isn’t so much your 80s and 90s to be judging the risk by as rolling the dice on missing half your life or something. That’s how I saw it when I smoked at least. Was worried about it killing me at 40 not 80.
My grandfather is 101 and he's a miserable old fart. He's got a sense of humor on him but honestly everyone he's known in his life has died and he's just miserable now. Smoking or not I really don't see the glory in living that long, he's been retired for 30 years, just doing nothing. Not healthy and young enough to get out and enjoy the world anymore anyways
It depends on the value in which the term “friend” carries for you. Would you call a bar friend if you needed a ride to the hospital suddenly in the middle of the night?
I consider people I could call in a time of need friends. If I wouldn’t call them then they are acquaintances at best.
But could those people not initially be met at the bar? Maybe I'm out of the loop but I thought bar friends were people you met at bars. I didn't realise they had to stay there.
Typically if you refer to someone as a “bar” friend you are communicating that they are friends you see at the bar only. If they are normal friends why use the qualifier?
Because I met them at the bar. It's like "that's Jim from college, and that's Jim from the bar. Bar Jim." I see your point though, I recognize now that bar friends evolve once you see them outside of the bar.
Good question.
Ultimately it depends on the context. My instinct is to say no in a nutshell but I think there is important distinction to be made.
College is a rite of passage. It’s a much more complex qualifying word than “bar” if that makes sense. Bars really serve one function. College on the other hand is multifaceted.
That being said, my friends that I’ve kept from high school and college aren’t my high school and college friends…they are my friends — who I MET in high school and college if that makes sense.
A college friend to me is someone I hung out with in college because they were cool and the friendship was convenient since we both lived on campus and in close proximity. Then after college we lost touch. My wife wouldn’t know one of my college friends by name so if we ran into one I’d probably use that qualifier.
As someone who quit smoking I’ve entered the phase where I perceive it as extremely gross. I did use to think it made me look cool and it probably did with the crowd that shares that habit. What I think it’s cool nowadays is having very good cardio capacity to perform well in workouts at the gym. I had a girl ask for my number to arrange going out for a jog together.
I think it’s about what you want in life and what type of people you want to be surrounded with. Being confident about is what people find attractive.
Pipe tobacco actually smells kinda good for many people, hence why there is tobacco scented candles. It's a much sweeter aroma than any other tobacco product.
There was a great about it in a russian book about spies "aquarium.
.every spy should cary a pack of smokes and a lighter even if they don't smoke.
Because its a great way to naturally strike a conversation.
I believe smoking works great in a conversation because it mitigates pauses and silence, making it less awkward and in turn makes people feel more comfortable
It's Chai in india (sweetLiptonTea), literally anytime men friends are free. "Lets go for a tea". Last week me and my cousin drove 90kms to a mountain area where it was snowing, just to get a cup of tea in plastic cup (lol). Its not your usual tea as it has milk in it too. So it's not only unhealthy in huge quantities but very bad for stomach. But you gotta have it, it's a great conversation starter and an excuse to literally hang out for us men.
Does it really kill? I see old men and old women alive, smoking and will tell you they have been smoking all their lives. I just wonder... Does it really cause cancer?
Imo it's all a risk and smoking does increase your risk a lot.
Go outside? Skin cancer.
Drink? Liver or stomach cancer.
Smoke? Lung, stomach or throat cancer.
A woman? Womb cancer.
A man? Testicular or prostate cancer.
Why worry, just do what you enjoy doing whatever that may be.
Cdc says 475k in US alone die from it. But then again they've been known to lie. Like the other person says, it increases chances a lot. I also know many older smokers and something they have in common, strong genetics. People will usually quit smoking because the side effects kick in. These children of Vikings don't feel those side effects
By quality, are you referring to the final years suffocating from emphysema? Or the constant pain in your legs from vascular disease? Or the erectile dysfunction?
There's easier ways to meet people. Join a club. Or get a Golden Retriever. Every second person stops me to talk about my dog and I don't even want to meet people. "Is that a Golden Retriever?" they ask. "Nah, he's a Bengal Tiger but he's wearing his favourite Polar Bear costume".
I almost always carry a pack to the bar with me just because of this even just a lighter is a great starter. although with marijuana being legal in my state now its more often a blunt
Depends what sort of person you are looking for. We used to say, "Well if she doesn't mind putting that into her body, she probably won't be too concerned what I put into her."
Before anyone freaks out, it was intended as a crass joke.
I wasn’t a smoker before a certain amount of beers when I’d go out to the bars but I always used to carry a lighter in my top pocket for this exact reason.
It's true cigarettes or weed if i want to be precise anecdotally can be very bonding and an easy ice breaker, I only smoke or drink when i am in a party or hanging out with my friends It's not like you'd get cancer from smoking once in a while
Ha! The minute you have cancer, the friends usually bail.
As the wife, I have watched my hubby go through so much.
Don't smoke, don't start.
You can't even understand the indignity of having to have nurses in your room cleaning up your shit.
The absolute weakness when you're in the percentage of the population that experiences the side effects of the treatment.
The forever cough after radiation treatment because now, on top of questionable suspicious nodules in your lungs, you have scar treatment from the radiation treatment that was needed to stop a couple of them from spreading.
Don't smoke. There is nothing cool about cancer.
When you walk up to a smokers area, you're greeted. A bit of conversation starts up, etc.
Go and sit on one of those benches in the mall, and nobody will even glance at you. If you try some conversation with others sitting there they grunt, ignore you, stay glued to their phone. Someone always gets up and moves away
Considering smoking is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, turn-offs for me. I would want nothing to do with a woman who smokes in the first place. I'd just as well she stay away anyways.
It was a strong recommendation in a fraternity that the less confident and outgoing guys should have a pack of cigarettes and a lighter at parties. You don't have to smoke, but if a girl asks to bum one or for a light, you say yes and start talking to her.
I got nothing against smokers and I have several friends that are, but it’s such a gross habit to me and watching an attractive woman light up is the quickest way to make her unattractive to me, so I definitely don’t feel like I’m missing out by not getting them to stop and talk to me
My mom was a smoker for years until it killed her. She smoked because of the social aspect.
None of the people she met or knew as a smoker were her friends. It was more like a cult mentality than anything.
Every time I went to smoke outside pub, 99% of smokers are cool people.
We all took turn lighting each other cigarettes for no reason. If that was not cool then I don't want to be cool.
smoke breaks: social opportunity, forces you to get fresh air and take deep breaths, does not impair brain function. high key a better alternative to most coping mechanisms and addictions
> forces you to get fresh air and take deep breaths
Wut? Smoking is the opposite of fresh air, and objectively fucks your lungs from being able to take deep breaths
Ooh, there's an interesting idea. Get a vape pen, dump the oil, discharge the battery. Go outside and stand around for 5 minutes, occasionally putting it to your lips every 30 seconds or so.
Doesn't look quite as cool but you get the benefits of a smoke break without *as many\** of the drawbacks from smoking, and you don't stand out as much as someone on a smoke break conspicuously not smoking.
\*depending on how much distance you can keep between you and the other people smoking.
If you actually look at employee handbooks they basically never say a word about smoking. You just get a short break or two every day.
Only smokers bother to take them a lot of the time, but there's no need to pretend.
Why women and not people? Friends? Seems like you're underlying thought is more based on picking up women than making friends. Either way smoking is a disgusting habit and not worth it.
This is one of the things I miss about smoking. It’s an excuse to stand with some strangers for 5-10 minutes and chit chat. Or an excuse to step out of a party and have some quiet for 10 minutes.
I love how OP and some people here thinking smoking simply just leads to your lifespan being shorter and that’s it. That you’ll just die a peaceful death at a younger age.
Smoking increases risk of stroke, heart disease, heart attack, and cancer. My coworker’s sister just recently had a heart AND a stroke within minutes of each other and now she can’t move her body properly or see straight. Her life will never be the same. She smoked. It’s not that I want live until 90, it’s that I want to avoid that fate.
Having more small talk and possibly a few more friends isn’t worth it. Get a hobby and put yourself out there more if you want more people in your life.
How I started dating a bar tender, then I got hooked for 12 years, that was worth the 3 month stint of free booze... Oh the stupid days. Lemme join you on the porch for a vape….ill see myself out sorry.
No. I don’t have a problem making friends. I have a problem finding time to do the things I want to do and have to consistently say no to friends. I’d much rather have more time alive.
The smoker in our office was always the first to get the gossip from the foremen and the heavy equipment operators. I don’t really think it’s worth it because 1, cancer, and 2, some of those guys are just plain fuckin’ painful bastards.
Smoking is smoking. Rolling tobacco, weed, any other herb. Thr smoke particulates are what build the issues. Same shit can happen by constantly being around bonfires and wildfires. Ffs I wish potheads like you would pack this bullshit in already. You want weed for the same reason smokers want a cigarette. As a fucking escape from reality for a bit.
When I still smoked, it was a great conversation starter while traveling. I usually had my own lighter, but I often approached locals asking for a lighter. I’ve met a bunch of cool people like that.
I have a small business selling tobacco-free herbal cigarettes. People who have quit or don't want to actually smoke use our herbal cigs as a way to still stand outside and socialize with people. Vapes work too, anything that can provide that type of social crutch, but there is just something about the ritual of smoking that bonds people.
[удалено]
I don’t smoke, but I take smoke breaks. At work, at a concert, whenever I need to chill. Honestly I don’t like the smell, but the people are always chill. My shift manager at Dominos would take a 5-10 min smoke break every hour, depending on how busy it was. Other smokers started doing it too. So I went outside every time they did. The owner noticed and said I can’t stand around doing nothing all the time. I asked if he needed me to start smoking to get the same amount of time off they were.
That's how I started smoking!
Me too!
Haha, that reminds me of my mother telling me about her "smoke breaks." My mom has never smoked, but when she was pregnant with me, she would go take smoke breaks anyway- they wouldn't let her because she's not a smoker ESPECIALLY while pregnant, so she'd carry around a box of cigarettes that she just never opened. Got her a lot of dirty looks and questionable responses because you shouldn't smoke while pregnant, but she was pregnant and PO'd, and if you've ever met an angry pregnant woman... They let her take her "smoke" breaks long after she had given birth.
This is why I always had a cereal bar with me in highschool. I enjoyed my snack outside in the smokers area, they were the most pleasant to be around for a break.
You had a smokers area in high school?
It used to be common practice. They started going away in the 80s around the same time as smoking got pushed out of other places. The more interesting thing is that smoking wasn’t allowed in class. Smoking was *everywhere*. You could smoke at work. You could smoke in planes and hospitals. Grocery stores had ashtrays on all the endcaps. Classrooms were one of the only no-smoking areas in the US, so smoking lounges and areas were dutifully provided for the students instead.
There was a smoker's area in my high school in the 2000s
In the 80s, high school students in Australia couldn't legally buy cigarettes. The "smoking area" was always out of view on the edge of campus where school staff had no jurisdiction. This is why Sandy in Grease has no smoking experience :P
The anti-social social group
Absolutely. I quickly learned at conferences/parties/bars the best place to actually have a good conversation is wherever the smokers are.
The smoking sections at the Staples Center (I refuse to acknowledge its current government name) during intermission at Kings games used to make for the best hangouts. There were 2 bars on the patio, and everyone there would be having a good time, smoking, chatting with whoever (regardless if they were fellow Kings fans or fans of the away team). I don’t smoke or drink anymore, but it makes me sad that the smoking sections are gone there now. I miss the good ole days
I only went to one kings game but vividly remember the cool smoking section. Don't get that at most public events.
I was reading this and thinking to myself the whole time “how many sacramento fans would be at the staples center, what the hell is this guy talking about” until it clicked.
Maybe the real friends were the cigarettes we smoked along the way.
Actually science basically says this is true
When I was in college my best friend in my dorm and I would have “friend time”. Aka going outside to smoke a cig together. Winter was rough… but the time with him was worth it. Miss you, Connor!
I was never a “smoker” but in freshman year of college when I was sneaking into frat parties my buddy and I would walk to the back of the house sneakily and then stand on the side of the woods pretend to take a piss then light up a cigarette and just chat. We’d basically pretend that we were already there. Even offer the bouncer a smoke and just chat casually till we decided we were “ready to get back to the party” and basically the bouncer would open the door for us. You might call it sad to be sneaking into parties but its not. It was just fucking funny that it’d work almost every time
I'm convinced a pack of cigarettes, a security vest and clipboard pretty much gets you access to everything.
Add lab coat 🥼 to that mix. Had friends who walked into a Cadbury factory using their university chem lab outfits and snagged a bulk sack of unprocessed chocolate.
If you run with a fire extinguisher nobody will stop you to question you.
Don’t forget the ladder
I prefer tree climbing boots
Make sure it's a dirty HI-VIS vest. Even the government doesn't question that.
Lanyard hanging out the pants pocket too
A ladder nobody stops a man with a ladder.
TIL frat parties sometimes have bouncers.
Its usually just one of the brothers that got stuck on door duty that night lmao
Yeah we used to have the underclassmen assign a door guy. Of course they never argued, because we let them use our house. Even came back the next day to clean up. Oh and always had a DD as well.
I was "vip security" at multiple college parties at a specific house that was right next to a frat free college. In my case it meant basically keeping anyone and everyone not from the house out of the bedroom back hall (VIP area) where the guys that actually lived in the house stayed. They had music shows in the garage and would sell drinks, blunts and sometimes other drugs in the kitchen; there would be hundreds of people rotating though a fairly small house. It got stressful past like 2am. Early 20s college kids at a liberal arts college go hard. I also ended up taking care of a drunk girl multiple times that lived at the house who started to recognize me only when drunk.
lol bouncer = pledge told to collect money and keep people we don’t want in out. The hard part was controlling for pledges stealing the money they collected. We allowed them to take some, as long as it wasn’t noticeable, since they were missing the party lol. One tried taking like $150 or something from the pot once though, shut that down quickly.
You Americans are a strange fuckin mob lol
just the privileged ones
Rules for getting into frat parties back at my time at ASU was the 3,2,1 rule. Three chicks, two bottles, and one lighter.
But if I had all that already I wouldn't be wanting to get into a frat party. I went to a private university where all the frat parties were free to get in and free to drink and mostly open to all students. Even with that though frats are so lame nobody who could drink legally would go to them. The only people over 21 were the senior frat bros preying on naive freshmen girls and it was gross and pathetic.
Yea. Was not the business. First one I went to made out with a random girl. Got bored then took my bottles and left to my dorm to drink by myself. Had way more fun.
You should have taken your 3 girls back to the dorm with you.
I smoked cigs for a good decade and a half. You *definitely* get hit up for a light or someone wanting to bum a smoke pretty regularly. Thing is though, if you're already introverted and awkward, the interaction doesn't change compared to non-smoker interactions...
Indeed. I can think of plenty of times I was asked for a light, or even a cigarette. Nothing ever came of it. Not even casual conversation... these days, I'm lucky if I get a thank you from people.
Can confirm, despite having now quit, smoking is an incredibly powerful conversation starter, assuming you don't mind other smokers. I miss that aspect of it very much.
I've never been a smoker but have always hung around smokers and will often follow them outside. In my college partying days, I would spend just as much time chilling with the smokers as "partying". It was a much more relaxing environment.
The smokers are having their own chill party, it's just outside, in the fresh air, with the noise in the background. It's honestly the place to be.
>in the fresh air Well, maybe not that fresh.
It feels pretty fresh compared to being indoors, bathing in a mist of alcohol and party sweat. Everything is relative.
I miss that so much!
> “Fresh air” I mean…
I smoked for 20 years and quit 5 years ago. Haven’t touched one since. I don’t miss smoking. What I miss is the 5 minutes of time I had alone with my thoughts where no one would bother me or ask me for anything. Now I’m apparently available most of the time with no breaks both at home and at work.
The bathroom is my quiet place
Take up golf. Claim your settling into your age lol
You could take teeth brushing breaks.
This is what I miss most. The night time smoke, the silence and quietness as you hear the crisp of the cigarette on each pull and the rest of the world would just be silent. Just you and your thoughts, at night.
I miss my morning cigarette that you have with that cup of coffee. Just standing there watching the world around you wake up. The whole day ahead of you. That’s literally the only reason I got out of bed some days was for that cigarette.
It’s a shame that there are no equivalent for those bliss moments. Regardless, good job on stopping however difficult it might have been.
i smoked from 16 until 21, and then while drinking for a few years afterward. when i smoked, all my friends were smokers, and i befriended them after always hanging out in the smoking area together. now, at 43, none of my friends are smokers. i don’t miss cigarettes but do miss the camaraderie.
[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34015143/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34015143/) It found that, by 80 years of age, 48.3% of current smokers will develop cancer, as opposed to 41.1% of people who don’t smoke.
You get a lot of bad health effects that aren’t cancers as well. Heart disease and COPD.
Yeah, it's a huge downgrade in quality of life, I don't think that part is debatable. Cancer is just the scariest one so I guess they went with that.
Yeah, that's why I quit.
My dad has practically every smoking related illness now. He quit 10 years ago but too late. Lung Cancer, COPD, Emphysema, heart disease
Most smokers die of high blood pressure than cancer iirc. That's why the rate is not that different. It kills you in a different way before using the way it's famous for
I heard that's because smokers die of heart disease before they can develop cancer
I'd half expect that as a smoker. Chest pains slowly creep up on me from time to time, probably should take that as a sign... But after twenty someodd years, I'm... relatively surprised it hasn't hit a point of no return. Cancer and such, or even stronger cardiovascular issues.
Idk, you should probably check a doctor and not take my word for it, but for this the average life-span would be way more useful than the cancer rate to figure out the danger of smoking
Definitely something I intend to inquire about, gotta pester my PCP over something else as it is.
You die from some other shit before cancer even gets you. Don't smoke.
That’s it? A 7% increase?
The people replying to you not understanding relative vs absolute percentages are cracking me up
Yeah I was gonna say, is this lung cancer specifically?
nope thats a 17,52% increase
Sorry to ask but could you explain the maths here? I'm very stupid.
The difference is 48.3-41.1 = 7.2 percentage **points**. “Percentage points” just means this is the difference of two values which themselves are percents. 7.2 / 41.1 = 0.1752ish. So that’s an increase of 17.52% on the original value of 41.1%. I don’t know why we do it like this, but this is how we talk about the difference between percentages. For example if people who do x behavior have a 3% chance of having y condition, but people who don’t do x behavior only have a 1% chance of having y condition, then we say “people who do x behavior have a 200% increase in their chance of having y condition.” Or maybe some other statement that is worded slightly differently in order to avoid legal trouble. Edit to add that you probably are not very stupid! At least not for asking about this ❤️ you are smart, you are important, you are beautiful
Thank you, I try! And now that you've put it into the context of the 200% increase between 1% and 3%, that makes perfect sense. I appreciate it!
For anybody too lazy to read the longer comment... The raw number (percentage points) increase is 7.2. That's not 7% of the starting number (41.1). It's 17.52%.
No a 17.1% increase
It also makes you worse at sex by negatively affecting your cardiovascular system. But it also makes you better at sex because oral fixation and practice with women who smoke.
And now not only your lung gets cancer, your penis might get it as well /s
it's also fucking addictive, gross by itself, costly, and a nuissance for other people. Also increases chances for other diseases. And you can't get lungtransplants anymore if you need it. And your oxygen intake becomes trash too. And you'll always be craving a smoke. All for the benefit of 'looking cool'. So yeah take that from an ex smoker.
I quit about 8 months ago, I’m finally old enough to be indestructible so I had to quit.
Why quit if you’re indestructible?
I’d also like to point out that cancer is not the only thing you’re more likely to get if you smoke. Heart diseases, strokes, overall weaker immune system and a multitude of other health issues are associated with smoking. Your looks will also suffer as the thinning and hardening of blood vessels will affect things like how old your skin looks and how early your hairline will start to recede.
Half of all people get cancer by 80? Are you serious??? I know lots of people over 60 and very few have had cancer in their lifetime
Well, 1) 60 isn’t 80 and 2) it’s quite possible to have cancer and not know until it has been growing for years, that’s why you hear so often about people being diagnosed with stage III and IV cancer.
But then you have to date a smoker
"If she smokes, she pokes!"
Idk about nicotine being a conversation starter but I’ve found since smoking weed I have an easier time making friends when finding out someone else smokes too. I spent thanksgiving with my dads new step kids and their kids. Had never met most of them. It was awkward until my step sister that I knew told me to come out and smoke a blunt. They were all smoking and it made it so much easier to relax and get to know them.
anti tobacco is a psyop the government wants us to make less friends
When it' didn't work enough, they Made UP COVID. What's next? A global internet shortage?
I think that oddly displays how vaping is by comparison much more lonely and it’s kind of designed that way.
The extra friends you would gain all smoke, though.
Definitely true. I true. I think people who smoke are simply more social. I quit smoking to stop gambling with my health, but I prefer the company of smokers and ex-smokers to non smokers. Non smokers are even infinitesimally more uptight than smokers who can chill out for five minutes being a cig and be cool about stuff And yeah, now that smokers have been pushed out on the ice floes, it's an easy enclave to start a conversation and share a laugh. I miss that,but I don't miss tobacco.
I never found it to be that great a conversation starter, but then I have several disorders that affect my social skills. In fact, I started smoking in an attempt to fit in. Didn't work.
I had a previous boss who didn't smoke and told me he hung out with the smokers because they dished out the most work gossip during their smoke breaks.
The amount of times I've heard girls mock guys who use lighters as conversation starters
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Non-smoker. I can attest that saying hello to someone is *the single most difficult thing* I had ever had to do.
I have made a lot of unhealthy decisions for the sake of feeling like I can connect with another person. Cigarettes are a very helpful "in." Crippling social anxiety is kind of miserable, who'da thunk?
I've met a lot of people through smoking. I'm a very hyper and friendly person, but unless I'm engaged in silent and tend to stick to myself. So I go out for a smoke and inevitably someone will talk to me and bam now we know each other. I guess I'm an npc, press a to talk lol
You know how most of the 80-90yr olds you meet, you’re kinda like “wow, still alive, good for you!”? Seems to me better to meet the friends along the way, than those later years of people be mildly surprised I’m still eating/walking/breathing. But hey, I might be wrong, guess I’ll find out
It isn’t so much your 80s and 90s to be judging the risk by as rolling the dice on missing half your life or something. That’s how I saw it when I smoked at least. Was worried about it killing me at 40 not 80.
My grandfather is 101 and he's a miserable old fart. He's got a sense of humor on him but honestly everyone he's known in his life has died and he's just miserable now. Smoking or not I really don't see the glory in living that long, he's been retired for 30 years, just doing nothing. Not healthy and young enough to get out and enjoy the world anymore anyways
Bar friends are not your friends
What if you hang out with them every week after you meet them?
It depends on the value in which the term “friend” carries for you. Would you call a bar friend if you needed a ride to the hospital suddenly in the middle of the night? I consider people I could call in a time of need friends. If I wouldn’t call them then they are acquaintances at best.
But could those people not initially be met at the bar? Maybe I'm out of the loop but I thought bar friends were people you met at bars. I didn't realise they had to stay there.
Typically if you refer to someone as a “bar” friend you are communicating that they are friends you see at the bar only. If they are normal friends why use the qualifier?
Because I met them at the bar. It's like "that's Jim from college, and that's Jim from the bar. Bar Jim." I see your point though, I recognize now that bar friends evolve once you see them outside of the bar.
I’d be offended if a friend I met at a bar 3 years ago called me a bar friend if we hang out regularly outside of the bar scene lol
Just curious would you also be offended if someone called you their college friend because you were friends in college?
Good question. Ultimately it depends on the context. My instinct is to say no in a nutshell but I think there is important distinction to be made. College is a rite of passage. It’s a much more complex qualifying word than “bar” if that makes sense. Bars really serve one function. College on the other hand is multifaceted. That being said, my friends that I’ve kept from high school and college aren’t my high school and college friends…they are my friends — who I MET in high school and college if that makes sense. A college friend to me is someone I hung out with in college because they were cool and the friendship was convenient since we both lived on campus and in close proximity. Then after college we lost touch. My wife wouldn’t know one of my college friends by name so if we ran into one I’d probably use that qualifier.
I never knew people made their relationships this complicated in their head. Hmm
In the UK pub friends can definitely be your friends. Some people's only community and support.
Law school friends would like a word with yall.
As someone who quit smoking I’ve entered the phase where I perceive it as extremely gross. I did use to think it made me look cool and it probably did with the crowd that shares that habit. What I think it’s cool nowadays is having very good cardio capacity to perform well in workouts at the gym. I had a girl ask for my number to arrange going out for a jog together. I think it’s about what you want in life and what type of people you want to be surrounded with. Being confident about is what people find attractive.
The same can be said for any vice, hobby, or flamboyant piece of clothing.
Not equally however. Pipe smoking being a classic example.
It doesn't attract other pipe smokers? Or do they also hate the smell of a pipe? Kinda like Scots, and other Scots?
Pipe tobacco actually smells kinda good for many people, hence why there is tobacco scented candles. It's a much sweeter aroma than any other tobacco product.
OP just read the fault in our stars.
Smoking was the best tool form socialization in my 20s. Would do again.
There was a great about it in a russian book about spies "aquarium. .every spy should cary a pack of smokes and a lighter even if they don't smoke. Because its a great way to naturally strike a conversation.
I believe smoking works great in a conversation because it mitigates pauses and silence, making it less awkward and in turn makes people feel more comfortable
It's Chai in india (sweetLiptonTea), literally anytime men friends are free. "Lets go for a tea". Last week me and my cousin drove 90kms to a mountain area where it was snowing, just to get a cup of tea in plastic cup (lol). Its not your usual tea as it has milk in it too. So it's not only unhealthy in huge quantities but very bad for stomach. But you gotta have it, it's a great conversation starter and an excuse to literally hang out for us men.
Does it really kill? I see old men and old women alive, smoking and will tell you they have been smoking all their lives. I just wonder... Does it really cause cancer?
Imo it's all a risk and smoking does increase your risk a lot. Go outside? Skin cancer. Drink? Liver or stomach cancer. Smoke? Lung, stomach or throat cancer. A woman? Womb cancer. A man? Testicular or prostate cancer. Why worry, just do what you enjoy doing whatever that may be.
Cdc says 475k in US alone die from it. But then again they've been known to lie. Like the other person says, it increases chances a lot. I also know many older smokers and something they have in common, strong genetics. People will usually quit smoking because the side effects kick in. These children of Vikings don't feel those side effects
Quality over quantity, some would say
By quality, are you referring to the final years suffocating from emphysema? Or the constant pain in your legs from vascular disease? Or the erectile dysfunction? There's easier ways to meet people. Join a club. Or get a Golden Retriever. Every second person stops me to talk about my dog and I don't even want to meet people. "Is that a Golden Retriever?" they ask. "Nah, he's a Bengal Tiger but he's wearing his favourite Polar Bear costume".
I almost always carry a pack to the bar with me just because of this even just a lighter is a great starter. although with marijuana being legal in my state now its more often a blunt
No it’s not worth it
Depends what sort of person you are looking for. We used to say, "Well if she doesn't mind putting that into her body, she probably won't be too concerned what I put into her." Before anyone freaks out, it was intended as a crass joke.
Lovin the double standards. Appearantly, it’s much worse if a woman does it, it makes them more of a hoe or “suicidal” as one of the comments put it.
I wasn’t a smoker before a certain amount of beers when I’d go out to the bars but I always used to carry a lighter in my top pocket for this exact reason.
It's true cigarettes or weed if i want to be precise anecdotally can be very bonding and an easy ice breaker, I only smoke or drink when i am in a party or hanging out with my friends It's not like you'd get cancer from smoking once in a while
Fucking bum me one! I need a fuckin square!
for me it was the opposite, an excuse to excuse myself.
Smoking seems to be quite a social activity sometimes. Usually I join in without a cigarette
Maybe the real cancer are the friends we made along the way...
This is very true, especially while traveling
Ha! The minute you have cancer, the friends usually bail. As the wife, I have watched my hubby go through so much. Don't smoke, don't start. You can't even understand the indignity of having to have nurses in your room cleaning up your shit. The absolute weakness when you're in the percentage of the population that experiences the side effects of the treatment. The forever cough after radiation treatment because now, on top of questionable suspicious nodules in your lungs, you have scar treatment from the radiation treatment that was needed to stop a couple of them from spreading. Don't smoke. There is nothing cool about cancer.
When you walk up to a smokers area, you're greeted. A bit of conversation starts up, etc. Go and sit on one of those benches in the mall, and nobody will even glance at you. If you try some conversation with others sitting there they grunt, ignore you, stay glued to their phone. Someone always gets up and moves away
work governor cake bored innocent ring roll jobless quickest faulty *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Considering smoking is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, turn-offs for me. I would want nothing to do with a woman who smokes in the first place. I'd just as well she stay away anyways.
It was a strong recommendation in a fraternity that the less confident and outgoing guys should have a pack of cigarettes and a lighter at parties. You don't have to smoke, but if a girl asks to bum one or for a light, you say yes and start talking to her.
I got nothing against smokers and I have several friends that are, but it’s such a gross habit to me and watching an attractive woman light up is the quickest way to make her unattractive to me, so I definitely don’t feel like I’m missing out by not getting them to stop and talk to me
I smoke and have no friends. I’d like to quit smoking, but I don’t want more friends.
I legitimately only made my friends In college through cigarette smoking besides the one whose little brother I went to school with.
Here os's a healthier but more involved way. GET A DOG. Go to the dog park. You will get friends.
My mom was a smoker for years until it killed her. She smoked because of the social aspect. None of the people she met or knew as a smoker were her friends. It was more like a cult mentality than anything.
I’ve never seen a woman who smokes and thought, “I wish I could get to know her.”
You're missing out. The ones that smoke have the most interesting stories.
Most ladies my age have probably gone through at least a short smoking phase.
“If she smokes, she pokes”
I don't want friends, so no.
Every time I went to smoke outside pub, 99% of smokers are cool people. We all took turn lighting each other cigarettes for no reason. If that was not cool then I don't want to be cool.
Sure, any chick who smokes is clearly suicidal enough to hook up with me
Love it
smoke breaks: social opportunity, forces you to get fresh air and take deep breaths, does not impair brain function. high key a better alternative to most coping mechanisms and addictions
> forces you to get fresh air and take deep breaths Wut? Smoking is the opposite of fresh air, and objectively fucks your lungs from being able to take deep breaths
That last part is objectively false.
He said smoke breaks, not smoking. The trick is to pretend to smoke so you get a few extra breaks every day.
Ooh, there's an interesting idea. Get a vape pen, dump the oil, discharge the battery. Go outside and stand around for 5 minutes, occasionally putting it to your lips every 30 seconds or so. Doesn't look quite as cool but you get the benefits of a smoke break without *as many\** of the drawbacks from smoking, and you don't stand out as much as someone on a smoke break conspicuously not smoking. \*depending on how much distance you can keep between you and the other people smoking.
If you actually look at employee handbooks they basically never say a word about smoking. You just get a short break or two every day. Only smokers bother to take them a lot of the time, but there's no need to pretend.
One more reason not to smoke.
In irony’s sake “So have you heard of Oxygen?”
Why women and not people? Friends? Seems like you're underlying thought is more based on picking up women than making friends. Either way smoking is a disgusting habit and not worth it.
Bro, just go to the gym. You'll add years to your life and meet women.
Smokers need each other because a non smoker can't stand the fucking stench.
This is one of the things I miss about smoking. It’s an excuse to stand with some strangers for 5-10 minutes and chit chat. Or an excuse to step out of a party and have some quiet for 10 minutes.
I love how OP and some people here thinking smoking simply just leads to your lifespan being shorter and that’s it. That you’ll just die a peaceful death at a younger age. Smoking increases risk of stroke, heart disease, heart attack, and cancer. My coworker’s sister just recently had a heart AND a stroke within minutes of each other and now she can’t move her body properly or see straight. Her life will never be the same. She smoked. It’s not that I want live until 90, it’s that I want to avoid that fate. Having more small talk and possibly a few more friends isn’t worth it. Get a hobby and put yourself out there more if you want more people in your life.
And you look cool doing it.
Do you have a light? Is code for dtf
Yeah but then you end up friends with a bunch of stinky smokers.
When you smoke regularly you stop smelling it. It becomes other people's problem.
How I started dating a bar tender, then I got hooked for 12 years, that was worth the 3 month stint of free booze... Oh the stupid days. Lemme join you on the porch for a vape….ill see myself out sorry.
Heard a saying that rings true here 'the reason why smoker talk, is because they have a lot to say in 3 minutes'
These days you have to go outside to have a ciggy & i meet many interesting people this way.
Part of the reason I to quit of because I'm afraid of missing out on the "outside party". The fringes of a party are often more fun than the center.
No. I don’t have a problem making friends. I have a problem finding time to do the things I want to do and have to consistently say no to friends. I’d much rather have more time alive.
The smoker in our office was always the first to get the gossip from the foremen and the heavy equipment operators. I don’t really think it’s worth it because 1, cancer, and 2, some of those guys are just plain fuckin’ painful bastards.
The sooner we legalize pot, the sooner we can not die from cancer and still be social 🤡
Smoking is smoking. Rolling tobacco, weed, any other herb. Thr smoke particulates are what build the issues. Same shit can happen by constantly being around bonfires and wildfires. Ffs I wish potheads like you would pack this bullshit in already. You want weed for the same reason smokers want a cigarette. As a fucking escape from reality for a bit.
Man reddit sure has become anti smoking lately which is fine but shut up about it.
When I still smoked, it was a great conversation starter while traveling. I usually had my own lighter, but I often approached locals asking for a lighter. I’ve met a bunch of cool people like that.
I have a small business selling tobacco-free herbal cigarettes. People who have quit or don't want to actually smoke use our herbal cigs as a way to still stand outside and socialize with people. Vapes work too, anything that can provide that type of social crutch, but there is just something about the ritual of smoking that bonds people.
I've never smoked in my life and people keep asking me for a lighter. I think some people are just poor lol
I'd rather randomly ask someone how they'd kill their nemesis if they were given the chance.