Great stuff! Been there, and done (most of) that.
Smoked my first Camel (non-filtered) in 1948. Smoked from then until April 24, 1981.
Used to carry my cigarettes in the handlebars of my tricycle. (Pull off the handle grip, stuff cigarettes in the opening, and put back the handle grip. When it was time to have another cigarette, just remove the grip, lean the tricycle over, and shake it, and sooner or later a cigarette would fall out.)
Smoked from then on, and in early 1981 was smoking about 2 1/2 packs a day. Got up one morning after my usual smoke before I got out of bed, jumped into the shower, and blew out my left lung. Total collapse.
On the way to the hospital, I lit up a Marlborough, and took a puff, and nearly passed out. Not a good time to be smoking!
Bottom line, the doc (a 30+ year thoracic surgeon) said that he had never seen lungs as bad as mine, and told me to never smoke again. Period. If I did, I should find another doctor.
Quit that day. Been glad ever since. Quitting wasn't even all that hard to do, since I was pretty much hating it for the last few years that I smoked. It's just one helluva hard habit to stop.
No qualms against cigarette companys, parents who smoke, or anything like that. I chose, I paid, but was fortunate to have a lung blowout rather than something worse.
Smoke on my boat if you want, as long as you follow my rules. Smoke in my house if you want. As long as you're only gonna be there for a few hours. But if you can find a way to quit, I would certainly encourage it!
Ken
