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I was a work only smoker for a year when my boss smoked and no one else in the dept did. It helped a lot. It was never a kiss-ass thing and there wasn't any dir

I was a work only smoker for a year when my boss smoked and no one else in the dept did. It helped a lot. It was never a kiss-ass thing and there wasn't any direct benefit, no raises over non-smokers or anything. But when we were working long hours and she went for a smoke I went with her and we shot the shit. It just made us closer and it was more fun to work together overall. (I had quit a pack a day habit years before and when I left that job I stopped the work smoking.)

swah 17y ago
You might be the person to tell me. I always felt people can't stop because they associate smoking with bad feelings. You give a smoker bad news and he lits one, every time. Now you associated it with something good: engaging with the boss. And so you could easily stop. Would you agree with that?
- wmeredith 17y ago
  No. Smoking's hard to stop because it's a crutch OR a boost (besides the physically addictive properties of nicotine). You make a great sale: I'll go have a smoke. You get your ass chewed because you screwed: I'll go have a smoke. So no matter what you're smoking. The hardest part about quitting for me, was the fact that I'd gotten used to a 5 minute break from MY LIFE every hour or so no matter what I was doing. It was terrifying the first day I stopped habitually smoking all the time, because I had nothing to look forward to. It was like I just had to get through the next tiny chunk of whatever I was doing, but without that smoke break coming up, I had the rest of my life to get through. This was all on a fairly subconscious level and I can articulate it looking back, but at the time I was just really pissy. I'm sure it's different for everyone. (The psychological part, anyway. I think the physical addiction is just chemistry and takes time to get over.)
- starkfist 17y ago
  Smoking is hard to stop because it's a drug addiction. Like most drug addictions there is a physical component (addiction to nicotine) and a social/psychological component. The physical addiction to nicotine is easy to overcome compared to other physically addictive drugs. The social and psychological aspects are often much harder to deal with.

swah 17y ago

You might be the person to tell me. I always felt people can't stop because they associate smoking with bad feelings. You give a smoker bad news and he lits one, every time. Now you associated it with something good: engaging with the boss. And so you could easily stop. Would you agree with that?

wmeredith 17y ago
No. Smoking's hard to stop because it's a crutch OR a boost (besides the physically addictive properties of nicotine). You make a great sale: I'll go have a smoke. You get your ass chewed because you screwed: I'll go have a smoke. So no matter what you're smoking. The hardest part about quitting for me, was the fact that I'd gotten used to a 5 minute break from MY LIFE every hour or so no matter what I was doing. It was terrifying the first day I stopped habitually smoking all the time, because I had nothing to look forward to. It was like I just had to get through the next tiny chunk of whatever I was doing, but without that smoke break coming up, I had the rest of my life to get through. This was all on a fairly subconscious level and I can articulate it looking back, but at the time I was just really pissy. I'm sure it's different for everyone. (The psychological part, anyway. I think the physical addiction is just chemistry and takes time to get over.)
starkfist 17y ago
Smoking is hard to stop because it's a drug addiction. Like most drug addictions there is a physical component (addiction to nicotine) and a social/psychological component. The physical addiction to nicotine is easy to overcome compared to other physically addictive drugs. The social and psychological aspects are often much harder to deal with.