Saying Goodbye To Cigarettes
Posted: Monday, March 30, 2009
by Mike Fak
http://mikefak.com
I first grabbed a smoke when I was fifteen years old. I didn't like it and didn't try another until I went into the Army. I figured I was going to get killed anyway so what the heck harm could the smokes do. Besides I had grown up in an era when doctors were endorsing smokes as good for you. They delivered nicotine which soothed and calmed one's nerves they said. All of those doctors are dead by now, many probably from lung cancer.
What did it for me, besides the fact I need to get some better wind back in my lungs to offset my age, is the price of a pack of smokes.
They have gone up a dollar in central Illinois making even the generic smokes almost $5.00 a pack. Main brands are at $7.00 and that has pushed them into the realm of ludicrous.
It is bad enough to have a habit that could kill you but to have an expensive fatal habit is too much even for this old smoker.
In Illinois, the governor is proposing another buck a pack and in some northern counties like Cook County which also has over a buck a pack tax that will mean some brands of cigarettes will hit $10 a pack in Chicago.
Now we have left Ludicrous Lane and made a turn onto Stupidity Street.
Now I have my vices. I enjoy a beer or two as well as a bottle of wine. I also love my bacon and red meat and eggs which I always push past reasonable portions into the area of excess.
I just won't pay 50 cents for a few puffs of burning leaves no matter how used I have become to it or how aggravating it will be to quit.
Last week was my cutback week. I cut from a pack and a half to seven a day. This week it is five, then three, then one then none by Thursday. I think I was at a pack and a half a day but I'm not sure. Often I would light a cig and start typing and then notice it was burned down in the ashtray without a single puff so I really don't know how many I smoked in a given day and how many I just lit up and forgot
This time I won't go back. I have decided that if I am going to die from something I want it to be from something I didn't have to spend a lot of money on like bacon cheeseburgers.
Of course I might already have killed myself from the smokes and my body is just too tough to realize it yet. I have had friends who quit but it was too late for them by the time they did. I could easily be in that group.
In the meantime, I am having the classic withdrawal symptoms of headaches and irritability. I have warned everyone that even a hello might get them a hatchet between the eyeballs.
I guess my accomplishment today was as I wrote this article I didn't light up one or two or three cigs as I probably always did before.
I guess that means this is the first smoke-free article I have written; maybe in my life.
And it didn't cost me a dime.
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Congratulations on not smoking. I stopped eleven days ago and haven't looked back once. You can do it, just don't think about it. Best wishes.Thanks Mike. I will try my best to follow your example.Mike
Hi Mike.Congrats from me too. They say that the healing starts almost immediately once you have that last cigarette. They also say that distracting yourself when the craving hits works well. Hey, maybe you'll get even more writing done! :)One day at a time, you know. You can travel miles and miles just by continuing to put one foot in front of the other.DianneThanks Dianne but let's hold the party till I make it throught these next several days.But I appreciate the support.mike
Awesome, Mike! Wait until your sense of smell returns!!But Congratulations, that's great news!Thanks Ken.I'm not sure getting my sense of smell back is a positive. It might mean I can smell me.Mike
Hooray! I loved the detail you went into, Mike. That should help someone out there. I won't say "hello" just yet. Grouchy or not, you gave us an enjoyable read as well. My dad quit cold turkey when I was in high school. In the early weeks, he kept mints in his shirt pockets, chewing gum, anything to replace. He started the day with cigs and ended it with one and lit up all through the day before he quit. He said any "real man" could quit, which bugged one of my brothers who was addicted until he had a heart attack. He smoked his last from his hospital bed! Dad was a terrific guy whether smoking or not. Now I realize he probably had headaches and mood crunches, too! We lived in tobacco country, NC.Thanks Jane. Yeh, I'm getting some really weird headaches but that's fine. I haven't coughed up anything nasty lately. Hopefully things will get better.Mike
That is so cool Mike. As a former smoker, my best advice is to never even smoke one casually again. Whenever you are tempted to have even just one cigarettte remind yourself that all the withdrawal symptems will come back and you don't need that.. Best of luck to you and keep us all posted good or bad.Thanks Laura.I agree no smokes otherwise you go right back to them.I will keep everyone posted.Mike
hi mike,i know from whence you speak!i have cut down from 2 packs to 1, and when i get myself back to having nerves of steal before this divorce, i plan on stopping all together.when i went to see my son graduate the airfore, there was no smoking in the car that drove me to the airport (45 minutes) no smoking in the airport, none on the plane (4 hours), none in the houston airport, none in my aunt's car, none in her house, none in the restaurants, none in the hotel room we stayed at for 2 nights, none on the base, and the same on the way back.i actually lost it when i finally got outside newark airport, and was sitting on a stone bench, and lit my first cigarette in about 6 hours, and a woman said, "excuse me?" i told HER to move, i hadn't smoked anywhere i wasn't supposed to, but i was damned if i wasn't going to smoke outside. she moved. there was a bar however, in the airport, so any who wanted to get sloshed could, no one to bother them, and then get in their car and drive away. i will always think that is out of balance, even when i do quit.i don't drink, and going through Hell has been a little more possible by having a cigarette here and there.thanks for sharing this with us,my best regards,sueThank you for sharing too Susan. Yep, a lot of double standards in the world.I can't wait for the day I can become sanctimonious about this. Nothing worse than a reformed smoker.Mike
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