So...
Here's my first blog post. I thought I'd start by thanking a good friend who chooses not to receive it when we're in person; he's cordial about it, of course, but dismisses the gesture as if to say "it was bound to happen." If I knew then what I know now I would feel the same way...but how else do you act toward a friend who literally saved your life?
I, unlike some others on the forum, only smoked analogs for a little over four years. Most would expect me to be around 16-20 years of age. No sir/madam: I'm 38. What brings a person to a lifetime bad habit so late in life, you might ask? The usual suspects, I suppose: a little peer pressure, a dash of stress, and a whole lot of stupidity. I was a broke, non-traditional, full-time college student...why not start a habit that'll really put my wallet on "E?" I spent a lot of time bumming cigs from friends (you could still smoke in the Philly bars at the time), but it wasn't real for me until I bought that first pack on my own. I literally felt like a teenager trying to buy a six-pack with a fake ID: he'll immediately see that this is the first pack of cigarettes that I've bought in my life (besides running to the Piggly Wiggly to buy cigarettes for the parents when I was 10...I can't believe they'd let us do that!).
I clearly remember smoking in front of the music building at Temple University, begging a professor to walk by to see how cool I was now (how old am I?!?!??). When they see the change in me they'll...OOOPS! TUBA PROFESSOR...HIDE THE SMOKE!...pause...yeah, they'll know I'm cool...
I'm an idiot.
Well, it didn't take long before the question mark above my head was as big (if not bigger) as the ones over my non-smoking friends. How betrayed they felt: "Going outside, Allen? Why...it's 15 degrees outside! Oh...well, you enjoy that."
Maybe not betrayed as much as amused.
The habit continued on through graduate school: since I was a graduate assistant now with a stipend, I could afford to extend my habit to a solid pack a day...how proud I was of the accomplishment (I'm still waiting for my chest ribbon from Big tobacco which signified the distinction)! My future fiance was also a smoker, so this was perfect: I found someone who enjoyed 'Flavor Country' just as much as me.
We talked of quitting hundreds of times. It always seemed we were on a 'quitting teeter-totter:' she was ready when I wasn't, and vice-versa. What I didn't realize is cigarettes is not what she was interested in quitting, it was our relationship, which ended in May 2010. Well, that set of affairs did absolutely nothing for my desire to quit smoking...I was chain smoking close to two packs a day for the remainder of the year.
Which brings us close to the present: I moved back to 'My Old Kentucky Home,' I started vaping at the beginning of the year, and now I'm starting a karaoke business in the area. Life is still a struggle, but I certainly got one 500 lb. gorilla off of my back, so the rest of the pride (is it a pride of monkeys?) are soon to follow.
And I owe it all to my friend Chris saying "DUDE...I'm not going outside with you this time, it's too cold! I've got an idea: why don't you try my other eGo and see how you like it?"
I liked it. I liked it a lot.
Here's my first blog post. I thought I'd start by thanking a good friend who chooses not to receive it when we're in person; he's cordial about it, of course, but dismisses the gesture as if to say "it was bound to happen." If I knew then what I know now I would feel the same way...but how else do you act toward a friend who literally saved your life?
I, unlike some others on the forum, only smoked analogs for a little over four years. Most would expect me to be around 16-20 years of age. No sir/madam: I'm 38. What brings a person to a lifetime bad habit so late in life, you might ask? The usual suspects, I suppose: a little peer pressure, a dash of stress, and a whole lot of stupidity. I was a broke, non-traditional, full-time college student...why not start a habit that'll really put my wallet on "E?" I spent a lot of time bumming cigs from friends (you could still smoke in the Philly bars at the time), but it wasn't real for me until I bought that first pack on my own. I literally felt like a teenager trying to buy a six-pack with a fake ID: he'll immediately see that this is the first pack of cigarettes that I've bought in my life (besides running to the Piggly Wiggly to buy cigarettes for the parents when I was 10...I can't believe they'd let us do that!).
I clearly remember smoking in front of the music building at Temple University, begging a professor to walk by to see how cool I was now (how old am I?!?!??). When they see the change in me they'll...OOOPS! TUBA PROFESSOR...HIDE THE SMOKE!...pause...yeah, they'll know I'm cool...
I'm an idiot.
Well, it didn't take long before the question mark above my head was as big (if not bigger) as the ones over my non-smoking friends. How betrayed they felt: "Going outside, Allen? Why...it's 15 degrees outside! Oh...well, you enjoy that."
Maybe not betrayed as much as amused.
The habit continued on through graduate school: since I was a graduate assistant now with a stipend, I could afford to extend my habit to a solid pack a day...how proud I was of the accomplishment (I'm still waiting for my chest ribbon from Big tobacco which signified the distinction)! My future fiance was also a smoker, so this was perfect: I found someone who enjoyed 'Flavor Country' just as much as me.
We talked of quitting hundreds of times. It always seemed we were on a 'quitting teeter-totter:' she was ready when I wasn't, and vice-versa. What I didn't realize is cigarettes is not what she was interested in quitting, it was our relationship, which ended in May 2010. Well, that set of affairs did absolutely nothing for my desire to quit smoking...I was chain smoking close to two packs a day for the remainder of the year.
Which brings us close to the present: I moved back to 'My Old Kentucky Home,' I started vaping at the beginning of the year, and now I'm starting a karaoke business in the area. Life is still a struggle, but I certainly got one 500 lb. gorilla off of my back, so the rest of the pride (is it a pride of monkeys?) are soon to follow.
And I owe it all to my friend Chris saying "DUDE...I'm not going outside with you this time, it's too cold! I've got an idea: why don't you try my other eGo and see how you like it?"
I liked it. I liked it a lot.
