While i dont doubt it, i had an observation about this fact a long time ago.
I was on a blind date years ago, and was a pack a day smoker. We eat dinner, have dessert and coffee, and stepping outside, i light up a smoke.
“You know those things are bad for you, right?”
“I know, its a terrible habit”
" do you ever wish you had never picked up the first one? It will kill you eventually…"
I took a drag. Held it, and exhaled.
“No. No i dont think i regret it at all”
She tilted her head like a puppy does when you whistle a high pitch with no prompt. It was confusion. She didnt understand. I stomped out my cigarette. We started walking.
“If i think about it, the chance encounters ive had on a balcony, or outside a random doorway with a stranger. conversation with no precontext or preconceptions. Just two people enjoying a thing that will eventually kill them. Theres something beautiful about that”
She still didnt get it.
"Those moments, and the friendships that resulted. They have already saved my life. Times over probably. So a few hours, or days at the end, in comparison to the things that i built off of those little moments, in the moment, where its just people and their habit…
I dont think i would change it"
The date went nowhere. There wasnt really a spark to begin with. It wasnt a big deal. Never saw her again.
But the friend that set her up with me, the one who i met by chance smoking in a backyard at a party. Shes still my friend. We talk once a week, if not more.
Her and her wife are expecting their first child this spring. I was at her dads funeral this fall. Lung cancer. He will never meet his grandson.
Neither of us smoke now. But, despite it all. I do not regret starting with that first smoke. Without that friendship, i would never have made it this far.
But in acknowledging that fact, there is a cost.
Theres always a a cost. But i value the time i traded, and i personally, have no regrets.
I really appreciate the way you articulated a feeling I’ve never been able to properly express! Thank you and wish you a happy and healthy future!
That’s beautiful. When I was a teenager my friends picked up smoking. My mom had cancer so I didn’t, but I did pick up stepping outside and having a chat with strangers. And yeah it’s been a wonderful habit to have. That and a willingness to say yes to adventure have led to an interesting life.
Grandmothers on both sides were 1pack/day.
One died early 60’s from smoking, other is into her 90s still getting around on her own.
This is what angers me about stories like this…
Population statistics don’t generally map very well to individuals. The existence of outliers doesn’t disprove the population data either.
As an example:
“Men are (on average) taller than women” does not mean “all men are taller than all women”. But that the average height of men is higher, and the extreme ends of height are higher. The existence of short men does not disprove the average being taller.
That said cigarettes are clearly a high risk / zero reward sort of activity that is crazy to see continue into 2025.
90 year old has developed a chronic cough/sinus infection and she’s spent a lot of time talking to ENTs but she hasn’t given up the one thing that’s likely causing the problem. She’s been calling it allergies for about a year now.
If 50% of population accounts for the average, does that mean there is another 50% is an outlier? “On average” is just as meaningless as anecdotal evidence.
If 50% of population accounts for the average
It doesn’t.
does that mean there is another 50% is an outlier?
No.
“On average” is just as meaningless as anecdotal evidence.
It’s not…
You don’t seem to understand how averages work and I’m not sure I can help you.
Jokes on you science, it takes me 21 minutes to smoke a cigarette.
On average.
There’s always outliers on both sides. Which is important to remember because some pack a dayers making it to 90 makes people think it’s bullshit.
And for some people smoking is much worse than normal.
George Burns made it to 101 smoking five cigars and drinking a quart of scotch a day.
I do not recommend emulating his regimen for a long life.
How many minutes did I lose in those 5 years when I was smoking 3 packs a day?
2,190,000 minutes, or 4.167 years.
60 cigs x 20 minutes x 5 years x 365 days
Thank you, I was afraid people would think I was living up to my username…I am genuinely curious but also lazy and bad at math.
If you smoke enough you can theoretically travel back in time.
Drinking coffee adds to your life. Soo.
Could make a Jaramusch film out that.
What about the people from ww2 era that drink whiskey and smoke cigars daily and live to be 90?
Usually the exception. For every one of them that lasts till 90 there’s a dozen more dead by 70 via lung cancer, heart disease, or other truly horrifically painful way to die.
Well shit, I lost a lot of minutes between the ages of 16 and 24.
I smoke a lot between ages 16 to 36, so I should be dead yesterday.
Don’t worry. It’s the worst minutes at the end of your life
It used to be an hour. How is this “research” useful?
