23 Jun 2022 3:24 pm
Speaking as an ex-smoker, no one smokes except for the nicotine. Smoking has no real benefits, The first smoke in the morning produced a pleasant light headedness that faded away over about 20 minutes. And of course, it made me cough. Tobacco went well with even bad coffee.
My father smoked for most of his life. First Pall Malls, then Winstons, then Salems and after his second heart attack, King Sanos. When I was a kid, on Sundays we would go to my grandparent's house in Kansas City. Everyone smoked except my mother and my grandmother. My Uncle Jay smoked Luckies, his wife smoked Old Golds, my father smoked Pall Malls (pronounced 'pell mells for some wacky British reason) and my grandfather smoked Wings. Wings came with a four color card with the picture of an airplane on it and a description of the plane on the back. And he gave me the cards. I still have some of them, stored in the attic of my parents (now my sister's) house.
My father was sort of an alarm clock. He woke up coughing every morning. Hack hack hack. After he had his first heart attack at age 68, I decided to quit. The main reason was I was afflicted with emphysema and bronchitis. Before my father's first heart attack I caught the flu which came with unending fits of coughing, I was in Mexico City at the time. The first day I left the house to go to class, my sister called and told me about my father's heart attack. So I quit, I quit about five times over six months.
Cigarettes are addictive, but I think that American cigarettes at that time were laced with drugs to make them more addictive, because the Mexican cigarettes (the brands were Filtrón and Record) were easier to quit than the filtered Camels and Bull Durhams I smokes in the US. First you find it pleasant to sit next to a smoker (in Mexico nearly everyone on the 50 centavo buses smoked) After about three weeks, tobacco smoke started smelling nasty, and that made it easier. I don't think the cheapo Mexican brands had additives. Records and Filtrones were 2.50 pesos, the most popular brand was filtered, regular length Raleighs, which were 3.50. At the time the peso was 8¢ US 12.50 to the dollar.
My father refused to retire until he was 81. He had a second heart attack when he was 82 and the third one at age 86 killed him. His brother was an MD and quit when he heard tobacco was bad for you, around 1928. He died at age 99½. I really doubt that Dad got 13 years worth of pleasure out of smoking.
So go ahead and quit, eventually you will feel better and notice that breathing is easier. Good luck.
My father smoked for most of his life. First Pall Malls, then Winstons, then Salems and after his second heart attack, King Sanos. When I was a kid, on Sundays we would go to my grandparent's house in Kansas City. Everyone smoked except my mother and my grandmother. My Uncle Jay smoked Luckies, his wife smoked Old Golds, my father smoked Pall Malls (pronounced 'pell mells for some wacky British reason) and my grandfather smoked Wings. Wings came with a four color card with the picture of an airplane on it and a description of the plane on the back. And he gave me the cards. I still have some of them, stored in the attic of my parents (now my sister's) house.
My father was sort of an alarm clock. He woke up coughing every morning. Hack hack hack. After he had his first heart attack at age 68, I decided to quit. The main reason was I was afflicted with emphysema and bronchitis. Before my father's first heart attack I caught the flu which came with unending fits of coughing, I was in Mexico City at the time. The first day I left the house to go to class, my sister called and told me about my father's heart attack. So I quit, I quit about five times over six months.
Cigarettes are addictive, but I think that American cigarettes at that time were laced with drugs to make them more addictive, because the Mexican cigarettes (the brands were Filtrón and Record) were easier to quit than the filtered Camels and Bull Durhams I smokes in the US. First you find it pleasant to sit next to a smoker (in Mexico nearly everyone on the 50 centavo buses smoked) After about three weeks, tobacco smoke started smelling nasty, and that made it easier. I don't think the cheapo Mexican brands had additives. Records and Filtrones were 2.50 pesos, the most popular brand was filtered, regular length Raleighs, which were 3.50. At the time the peso was 8¢ US 12.50 to the dollar.
My father refused to retire until he was 81. He had a second heart attack when he was 82 and the third one at age 86 killed him. His brother was an MD and quit when he heard tobacco was bad for you, around 1928. He died at age 99½. I really doubt that Dad got 13 years worth of pleasure out of smoking.
So go ahead and quit, eventually you will feel better and notice that breathing is easier. Good luck.