The main things that keeps me from relapsing are that California makes it really hard to smoke in public and that none of my friends smoke.
I occasionally relapse when with some specific friends from a point in my past. Luckily we live far away from each other so the meetings are rare.
The one other reason I don't just pick smoking back up by myself is how nasty my clothes (no hair left any more !) smell after a cigarette. It's very easy to not notice that when you smoke, but impossible to miss when you don't. I certainly don't want my apartment smelling like that either.
If they ever made cigarettes that don't smell bad (not weenie vape pens, come on :) ), I'd probably be dead of lung cancer in a decade.
Weirdly, the thing I remember most about my time in California was how hard it was to avoid being constantly exposed to second-hand smoke anywhere I walked in the city. It really hit me when a friend visited from out of town and said something to me along the lines of, "You know, for how green-obsessed everyone here seems to be, it's truly remarkable how much smoke there is everywhere on the streets."
Doubtless, this is more a city problem than it is a California problem. I spent most of my life in the suburbs far from any city downtowns growing up and I am truly grateful to have been able to relocate back to the quiet, leafy suburbs once again to start my family.
There are some things I miss about downtown, but the constant presence of second-hand smoke on the sidewalks everywhere is definitely not one of them.
Which city is this? I’ve lived in major cities in NorCal and SoCal and can’t say that’s ever been my impression. Maybe later in the evening but usually the smokers self-segregate where they’re not around non-smokers.
I occasionally relapse when with some specific friends from a point in my past. Luckily we live far away from each other so the meetings are rare.
The one other reason I don't just pick smoking back up by myself is how nasty my clothes (no hair left any more !) smell after a cigarette. It's very easy to not notice that when you smoke, but impossible to miss when you don't. I certainly don't want my apartment smelling like that either.
If they ever made cigarettes that don't smell bad (not weenie vape pens, come on :) ), I'd probably be dead of lung cancer in a decade.
It is a tough addiction.