tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-817452185173695206.post2079600743401455050..comments2024-03-23T07:45:48.802-10:00Comments on Snow Crash: Celebrating Nothing: Twenty Years Without SmokingRichard Shermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01888881107773218874noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-817452185173695206.post-49819483938274316622014-04-17T14:57:13.216-10:002014-04-17T14:57:13.216-10:00For what it's worth, I spent 6 years with you ...For what it's worth, I spent 6 years with you at MU in the 1980's and didn't know you smoked. I quit easily after 20 years--never was addicted--lucky in that respect. I hated people lecturing me. One "lecture" that hit the mark, though, was when my friend Caroline told me, "Just because you've never been addicted doesn't mean you never will be." WOW! Maybe there is no guarantee that things won't change. Now I see people with E-cigs and I think "Hmmm...maybe" but NAH--I'm too much of a cheapskate!Coleen Hannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06054705102024616391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-817452185173695206.post-83329888460722771512014-04-08T18:40:44.376-10:002014-04-08T18:40:44.376-10:00My story is similar, tho I only smoked about 20yea...My story is similar, tho I only smoked about 20years. Hardest thing in my life was to quit. Managed to get it down to just a few a day but couldn't imagine total abstinence. First 24 hours were the worst. Didn't get all the fancy benefits of quitting. Still get cravings. My poor dad still can't quit even with copd and lung cancer. Powerful addictive properties. Read recently though that pure nicotine isn't as addictive as it is in cigarettes. I read it elsewhere but NIH a respectable source. <br />http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53018/<br />Congrats on your achievement!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-817452185173695206.post-1800784913922832662014-04-07T17:40:02.366-10:002014-04-07T17:40:02.366-10:00Thanks Dick for another wonderful piece!
I gave up...Thanks Dick for another wonderful piece!<br />I gave up smoking 22 years ago. At that time I was a relapsed smoker of about 2 years. Before that I was off another 10 years or so. I am paying for that last two year stint with some reduced lung function that recently kicked in - but nothing life shattering. When I gave it up 22 years ago I was visiting a rehab facility for the weekend to visit my 24 year old nephew who was battling drug addiction. When I got to the rehab center there was an indoctrination for visitors. We are asked to forego anything in our life for that weekend that we might consider personally addictive - alcohol, tobacco etc. So I “gave up” smoking for the weekend. I made a promise that I would stay off cigarettes as a pledge of solidarity to him. I would call if I was going to step out and he was to do the same. He died of a drug overdose about a year later - of course without calling me first. I have stayed off cigarettes since then. The week after I left the facility I had 7 days off then suddenly it was 20 - then I started to “own” my cigarette sobriety - I was doing it for me now and not my nephew. Shortly there after I started dating the woman who was to become my wife. She said in no uncertain terms said she would not be dating (or eventually marrying) someone who smoked. That made it real simple to stay off! I don’t miss it at all but sometimes I have a dream where I am a smoker and it is along the line of a nightmare rather than a reflection of past pleasures. When I gave it up 22 years ago I was commuting by train and like all of the other addicts would be lighting a cigarette as I headed up the stairs that exited the train station. Even at two years after 10 years off I had a smoker’s cough. I truly hated the fact that I was addicted - the smoking side of it did give some pleasure now and again but it did not outweigh all of the negatives. I did not want to be at the beck and call for something that actually delivers so little but with such a huge price to pay. When I gave up the first time I did it with nicotine gum. I realized at that time that among all the drugs one could be addicted to (with some pretty amazing payoffs) - the little buzz that you get from tobacco is really a joke. It mainly delivers addiction with a little kick thrown in. And as junkies will tell you it is harder to kick than heroin.Randynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-817452185173695206.post-88521411211736067632014-04-07T11:12:59.355-10:002014-04-07T11:12:59.355-10:00Nicely written, Dick.
Except for the negatives, I...Nicely written, Dick.<br /><br />Except for the negatives, I liked smoking and would resume tomorrow. As 78 year-old diabetic who had a 5-way bypass nearly 18 years ago and who no longer feels the urge to light up, I don't think I'll re-start.<br /><br />I work regularly at a Seattle food bank and vacillate between the urge to chastise our many homeless clients who smoke and empathizing with their difficulties dropping the habit. <br /><br />Promotion of smoking is also another black mark for free-enterprise economic system.<br /><br />DonUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14630174711637488668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-817452185173695206.post-25672080844397408522014-04-07T10:05:22.335-10:002014-04-07T10:05:22.335-10:00Well said. I have no similar experience to compare...Well said. I have no similar experience to compare with yours. It's hard to imagine the addiction and difficulty separating from it. I am thankful you are free of the smoke. It's a very good thing! Now for the next 20 years smoke free!Dennis L. Nord, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02069155738465945716noreply@blogger.com