Starting To Smoke

I smoked briefly after high school.. then gave it up, cold turkey. I never smoked a lot.. one pack would last me at least a week, which may explain why I was able to give it up so easily.

I started smoking cigars about at about 26-27, but I only smoke about 12 a year. I also smoked a few cigarettes for the first time last time I was at a bar, a couple of months ago.

I smoked occasionally at bars in college. I really smoked when I was 21-22 for about 6 months cause our boss was a dick and hated smoking. I had a pack every two day habit just to keep him away. I stopped the day after I left the job. Still have like 2 or 3 cigars a year for special occasions, the last one was when tookie got executed.

My brother started smoking in college, when he was around 20 or 21. He started because his girlfriend smoked. They've been broken up for several years now, but he's still got the habit.

"Come to think of it, I don't know many people my age who smoke at all."

As far as I can tell, you hang out with people who are smart, considerate, and have their priorities figured out. This may sound arrogant, but it seems to me that those people are not the kind of people who decide to take up smoking. Not in the last 10-20 years, anyways, when the health risks are so well-known.

I can imagine a teenager who expects (and maybe gets) a boost to his social life by taking up smoking and thus increasing his "cool" quotient in the eyes of his peers, but once you're over 18, you're out of that social scene, so what's the incentive to start smoking? (Other than putting up with one's girlfriend smoking. That was an interesting one. I wonder how common that is).