Declaration of Intent

Today I'm taking my first step in quitting smoking. I've said this half-heartedly many times before (including once ceremonially throwing the last cigarette and my lighter into the trash) and none of those efforts lasted very long so this time I'm declaring it to the world. I don't spend all that much money on it (about 20€ a month - about what I get in tips on a good night, or the same as 4 pints of beer) and it doesn't consume my life. On a heavy day I might get through 10 or 12, and it never stops me from doing anything. I never feel the urge to sneak out of the cinema half way to have one. I can get on a long bus ride and not go crazy while I'm inside it. It's just a habit which I don't really need and, while it's not killing me (at least not yet), I remember I used to live quiet happily before I started when I was 21. M has skin problems which she thinks are linked to it so she's trying to slow down too. The final contributing factor is that I forgot my lighter at home this morning and I'm taking that as a sign. I'm not going cold turkey right away and it'll be a gradual process but I want to be smoke free (or at least reduced) by the end of the year.

The problem being that I'm not completely hooked on them and if I can get rid of the habit smokes (e.g. the "getting off the metro" cigarette, the "getting out of work" cigarette and the "waiting for the tram/bus and 10 minutes with nothing to do" cigarette) then I do enjoy having one from time to time. However I've decided to launch this challenge and we'll see how it goes. The main problems I have identified will be that

1) I've just bought a packet of tobacco so I'll probably be getting through that

2) These post-metro, post-work and pre-bus/tram cigs have become such a habit that I sometimes find myself lighting up without even thinking about it

3) The trip to the Balkans will be an enormous test of resolve given that, over there, people probably breathe larger quantities of cigarette smoke than they do of oxygen

4) There really isn't all that much else to do here.

The smoking ban probably helps although since everyone goes outside now you have to machete your way through a cloud of smoke to actually get into any bars. And then there is, of course, the with-beer cigarette which will be a tough one to give up. On the positive side :

1) It'll soon be so cold here that holding a cigarette with oversized gloves will be quite difficult

2) There will be absolutely no motivation to go and smoke on the balcony in -30 degrees

3) My fingers will be too cold to roll them

One little bone I have to pick with the smoking ban though, although it helps me in my task - why do they have to apply it everywhere ? Some places just HAVE to be smoky atmospheres. The bar I used to go to on Friday nights at school was what it was partly because the inside was so misty, and a few days ago I went to a pool hall which felt quite frankly sterile without any cigarette smoke. Even before I started, I recognised the contribution of smoke to the atmosphere of a pool hall and things just aren't the same without it.

Watch this space.