I Quit

Smoking that is…

With the smoking ban in place, I decided that now is as good as time as any. I have heard so many stories from friends about their friends or family dying of lung cancer it scares the daylights out of me. It was Chris Whitley’s recent death from lung cancer (a musician I admire) that reminded me, along with a persistent cough, that it is time. Peter Jennings death heated the thoughts up not so long ago, and the constant nagging from Keith Olberman (one of my favorite shows) hasn’t let me off the hook yet. But it isn’t just lung cancer. My good friend Duncan Pryce (another talented musician) recently had major surgery to repair an ailing heart. It was in part attributed to 30 plus years of smoking.

Statistics show that I am not out of the woods by quitting now. I still may develop problems later in life. But I still have my health, and I am still active in winter sports, and can still run 2 miles nonstop… so I like my odds better now than say quitting 10 years down the road.

If you are a smoker, and pissed off about the smoking ban initiative, don’t be. I know that the proponents may seem like the anti-smoking Nazi’s and infringing on your rights, but their hearts are in the right place.

So join in! I will keep a log here of my daily antics so you can laugh at me. I distinctly remember the last time I quit (for 2 months) the insatiable desire to give other drivers the finger, snap at my kid and generally be a moody jerk. I am going to lecture him tonight that if Daddy is being an jackass, he needs to laugh and point. It will be my reminder of why I am doing this. For myself and my boy.

Jimmy on December 8, 2005 | Filed Under General

3 Comments

MC Wingfield, not Jesus  on December 8th, 2005

Good luck.

Gordon Potter  on December 9th, 2005

As your non-smoking nazi brother, I applaud your resolve to quit smoking. I thank you, your mom thanks you, and non smokers the world over will thank you. However, I must confess that I am deeply cynical when someone claims that they are “quitting” smoking. I think this word “quit” is thrown around way too freely. And it denies the true addictive power of cigarettes. In an existential sense there is no such thing as quitting smoking unless you persist to not smoke until death. In reality it is merely a pausing of one’s smoking habit and one must remain vigilant in this mode of pause.

There is a line I always liked from Robin William’s character in that movie Dead Again:

“Someone is either a smoker or a non-smoker, there’s no in-between. The trick is to find out which one you are and be that.”

But I encourage your resolve. And now that it is in the blog you are officially on record. :-)

On the smoking ban, I was out of town so I didn’t get to vote on it, but I am glad that it passed. After spending a bit of time in some bars in New York and California I must say it is a much more pleasant experience overall. For me personally it never was about the smoking while in the bar, I can generally put up with that except for extreme circumstances with no ventilation. For me it was how my clothes would smell like sh*t afterwards. Really not cool.

I like what George Carlin says on the subject:

“Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool.”

Happy Holidays!

Helen  on March 20th, 2006

Observe what you do while smoking, then do it wothout smoking!!