Smokin.

I may have mentioned this before, but I have a strange desire to take up smoking… just to see if I have the will power to quit.

Recently while at work, this came up in conversation and one of my more astute coworkers compared it with Odysseus’s desire to hear the Sirens. Doing something just to be tempted. Perhaps it’s not as strange a thought as I suspect. Maybe this curiosity is inherent in our being human.

comments?

21 thoughts on “Smokin.

  • 10/24/2007 at 8:58 am
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    It reminds of St. Francis who would, as it’s told, jump into a thorn bush when tempted against chastity. He wouldn’t go around tempting himself and then jumping in bushes though.

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  • 10/24/2007 at 9:10 am
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    Yeah, seriously dude. Like Saint Franny, don’t get a thorn caught in your junk for no reason.

    Please don’t start smoking. It’d be worse than that period of your life where you drank massive quantities of water to try to bulk up more…

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  • 10/24/2007 at 9:45 am
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    Having been there, it’s not like you can smoke a couple of times and quit… you’d have to become a serious smoker.

    And you get real withdrawal symptoms too, it’s no joke. Having done it, I don’t recommend you try it, and I’m pretty sure you could quit if you had to.

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  • 10/24/2007 at 9:45 am
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    But dude! Think about all the pros! Your smoking coworkers probably work like, at least an hour less than you, if you add up all those smoking breaks

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  • 10/24/2007 at 9:49 am
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    I say don’t do it. But as for the fascination, it is interesting. I’ve had a lot of dreams where I’ve taken up smoking, but I’ve never smoked. Having a grandfather die of lung cancer discourages such things. But we don’t know if his lung cancer was the result of pipe tobacco or asbestos(he was a turn key contractor). Still, why take the chance? That, and I gag on cigarette smoke. I don’t know how anyone can stand to breathe that stuff in on purpose.

    I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to try something just to see if I could quit it. I think it’s just part of your competitive nature. It’s what keeps you playing those little computer games to beat your own score.

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  • 10/24/2007 at 10:30 am
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    I say do it on only one condition. You smoke a big ass pipe. What rocks harder than some guy rocking out while puffing on a banging pipe? NOTHING!

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  • 10/24/2007 at 10:35 am
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    Eh, if I could quit you could quit. It really really sucks though, and I don’t recommend it.

    If you want to challenge yourself (even further than average lol), I suggest you do something less stupid like try to read the entirety of Anna Karenina without standing up, or see how far you can fall without breaking anything.

    Or, you know, fling yourself into a thorn bush.

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  • 10/24/2007 at 11:37 am
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    Only if you make all those who enter the Sacred House of Rock smoke the Peace Pipe before acrossing the threshold

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  • 10/24/2007 at 3:30 pm
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    I agree with ben that you’d actually have to “take up” smoking and smoke a lot in order to actually test this theory, but have you tried cigarettes? I don’t think they’re that hot. I don’t think most people try their first cigarette and find that it’s so delicious they have to have more… if you had friends who smoked regularly then I bet a habit would be easier to develop

    Also it’s not like cigarettes are heroin! I think they’re pretty low on the “try it and you’re hooked” scale.

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  • 10/24/2007 at 3:42 pm
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    Ruth sounds like she’s on the right track. Skip wimpy addictions like cigarettes and move straight ahead to heroin and prescription drugs. Nothing says rock & roll like hardcore drug addiction.

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  • 10/24/2007 at 3:45 pm
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    yeah think how much more street cred you’d have if you could say you were clean from heroin and not just an ex smoker!

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  • 10/24/2007 at 3:45 pm
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    And don’t forget that smoking will make rock climbing much harder because it screws with your lungs. Kung Fu will be harder, too. And that is not harder in a good way.

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  • 10/24/2007 at 5:11 pm
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    We must be related or something. I love the smell of cigarette smoke (from a distance – not the reek on clothes or in a room). I often think it would be cool to stand outside and have a cig at break. Only it wouldn’t be cool. I did try to smoke one cigarette in Miami, about 9 years ago, and I was unable to inhale. Also, then my throat felt AWFUL the next morning. But I did a pretty good job a fake inhaling, so at least I looked cool. Not.

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  • 10/24/2007 at 5:14 pm
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    oh also, remember the story about Mr. DiPietro, who came home one day with a carton of cigarettes and told his wife he was going to “take up smoking”? I believe he finished the carton. And then stopped.

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  • 10/24/2007 at 6:13 pm
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    This is stupid. Don’t start smoking. If you want to test your will, try to stop doing something that you’re already doing as a serious habit.

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  • 10/24/2007 at 7:20 pm
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    You make a very good point, Theresa.

    Mike, you must have some habit you could try to quit.

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  • 10/25/2007 at 1:06 pm
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    What’s something that you started doing a long time ago that you do all the time now whenever you get the chance when no one’s looking, and even though you wish you could quit you don’t because you get the urge all the time and have to satisfy it despite your will power? We all know what I’m talking about Mike…

    You have to quit stuffing down cookies whenever they come into the house. I’ve seen you POUND down some tasty morsels, and it’s not pretty. Moreover, if you really want to test your will power, you would have to buy a huge box of the most delicious cookies and leave them sitting there – NOT eating them while you watch everyone else do it. Every time the box gets empty, buy another box. It’s probably a lot cheaper than cigarettes anyway, and you’d essentially be running the same experiment. Keep that up for, I don’t know, a YEAR and then maybe I’d believe you have true will power. You didn’t set out to start eating cookies just to quit, so it’s legit.

    Maybe too legit to quit…

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  • 10/25/2007 at 4:51 pm
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    I’m with Jesse, and everyone else who says you actually need to take up the habit. The first couple of times I started smoking (I know, oxymoron), quiting was easy, the reason it never stuck was because I kept getting into social situations where I prefered to smoke. Then it became an addiction (something I told myself would never happen), and then quiting became really really hard. In fact, I still have the backup pack in my desk (you smokers know what I’m talking about). I still get the urge, sometimes I give in, sometimes I don’t. I think I smoked at least one pack the day and a half before my wedding. At one point I remember sitting on the front step and lighting one cigarette from another (that’s when you know you’ve gone too far). SO yeah, no smoking Mike D. A: I wouldn’t be able to handle not smoking if you were smoking, I’m having enough trouble with it already (not to mention Paulette would kill you) and B: It really isn’t as cool as the Marlboro Man would have you believe (but geez he’s cool!). (Speaking of the Marlboro Man, it’s been way too long since I’ve last watched Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man! yet another movie that makes me want a cigarette!)

    I also don’t vote for the herion, but if you’re going to do some damaging substance, can it be alcohol? I still think Mike D would be hysterical drunk! Right now I’m picturing a drunk Mike D… attempting to rock out the Guitar Hero! (I’m really not advocating the use of alcohol by Mike D.)

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  • 10/26/2007 at 4:13 pm
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    My first thought when I read this was the “why not Heroin?” approach. Probably cheaper in the long run if all you need is one hit and then you quit.

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  • 10/26/2007 at 7:40 pm
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    Crystal-meth supposedly will get you hooked with one hit.

    Disclaimer: I do not promote Meth use, nor is this to be taken as a suggestion.

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