About one year ago I gave up cigarette smoking. While I would have liked to have claimed quitting was some virtuous exercise in promoting good health, I must confess that I no longer smoke due to being unable to afford it. Smoking has been one of the more pleasurable activities I have engaged. The social aspect of smoking is one of the more enjoyable aspects. I no longer feel physical urges to smoke, that went away after 72 hours and even then the first 24 hours were the most noticeable. On occasion a mental note will register that I would enjoy a cigarette, but that urge is no more stronger than thinking about ice cream on a hot day: pleasant to consider, but ultimately not determinative.
Seeing the Agitator discuss smoking made me consider all of this again. Between the post and the comments all the major fallacies are addressed. Of course correcting the record and establishing that smoking doesn’t guarantee death by 35 isn’t much of an argument for taking up the habit. This is why I found his reasoning for taking up smoking to be very interesting:
I saw that the language my cigar smoking friends used to describe their sticks was equivalent to that my barista friends used to descibe our coffees. Origin to origin, seedstock to seedstock, darkness of wrapper to darkness of roast. Once I got over my prejudice it became obvious that many smokers weren’t just in thrall to an addictive drug, that they had discovered something worthy of attention.
Tobacco is a wondrous plant, capable of relaxing us, stimulating us, and offering a fantastic range of flavors. The times I’ve spent smoking an occasional pipe or cigar are among my favorite memories of the past few years, times of reflection, celebration, and deepening friendship. I wouldn’t give them up for anything.
Although I don’t anticipate that the comment quality here would be poor, I have decided to no longer allow comments on any of my posts at Vox Nova.
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