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it's a pleasant social activity when you're young; you have a ritual you perform together and share informal bonding time. smoking also gives a physical sense o

it's a pleasant social activity when you're young; you have a ritual you perform together and share informal bonding time. smoking also gives a physical sense of relief once you're addicted to it and it gives you something to punctuate your day with, little benchmarks -- i will finish writing these emails so i can have a cigarette, etc. i smoked for 8 years then switched to vaping. i don't want to vape for the rest of my life, but there was an obvious difference in my fitness as soon as i quit (e.g. being able to run twice as far without stopping). i also smell better and my teeth are whiter. i'm glad that i switched, but it doesn't share the same ritual feeling when you can just pull a drag at any arbitrary time.

rapind 5y ago
I quit smoking ten years ago (smoked for about 15y before that) and the only thing I miss is the enforced ritual to go stand outside for 5-10 minutes. I’d pay for an addictive product that gave me that back without killing me!
- im_down_w_otp 5y ago
  When I was much younger I was the only non-smoker in an office of about 10 people. This included the owner and his wife who also worked there. Several times a day one or more of them would spend ~15 minutes loitering around smoking a cigarette. I'm prone to throwing myself into my work, even back then, and so initially this didn't really bother me. But, eventually the imbalance in workplace expectations, around scheduled breaks up against this informal unscheduled break they all benefited from, started to bug me. Sooooooo... one day I just start going outside randomly and standing around looking at the trees and listening to the birds for 10-15 minutes at a time. A few days of this went by and my boss (the owner) asked me what I was doing (insinuating I should get back to work). I said, "The same thing the rest of you do everyday, just without the part where I'm also lighting money and my wellbeing on fire. Sometimes I eat an apple or a banana though." Thankfully he was the sort to be reasoned with and saw my point. Shortly thereafter he quit smoking.
  - inamiyar 5y ago
    Good story but for some reason has a distinctive...LinkedIn story vibe. I can't put my finger on it.
    - throwaway1777 5y ago
      It could very well be true, but it seems fake because the ending is too perfect. Nothing is that easy in real life.
      - whatshisface 5y ago
        There's a very serious cost to living with the cynical perspective your comment expresses. If you think that people will only change when you have authority or leverage over them, and that they will always ignore reason, you'll pass by hundreds of chances to reach equitable mediums over your life, and get nothing in return except a little saved inconvenience of never opening discussions with a less than 100% chance of success.
      - im_down_w_otp 5y ago
        Oh, it didn't end perfectly. His wife was the office manager, and grew to resent me immensely for being perceived as inspiring her husband's change in behavior. Less smoking, more walking, dietary changes, etc. Unlike him, she had less than zero interest in any of those lifestyle changes and it created strife, which palpably transfered to me all the way up until I eventually quit.
  - mlang23 5y ago
    I find people that envy smokers for their breaks pretty pathetic. All it really implies is that these envious people dont know how to manage their own time. If I want a break, I take a break. If I dont need a break, I go on. But that doesnt have anything to do with my coworkers. As long as I am not the boss, its not my bussiness to do time management for others.
    - rytis 5y ago
- pjerem 5y ago
  I did never smoke a cigarette, but I always went to pause with my smoking coworkers. Maybe I'm making up false assumptions, but coincidentally, those coworkers were the smartest one in my mind. I don't think cigarette had anything to do with this, but I'm somehow convinced that going outside 10-15min multiple times a day is an excellent for productivity and to build strong working (and personal) relationships. COVID WFH apart, now that I'm working with non smokers, I really miss those times and as much as I appreciate my current coworkers, I don't like them as much as I used to like my fellow smokers. If you are a non smoker working with smokers you appreciate talking to, try going outside with them. Smoker's pause is where everything is said without filter and where hierarchy really disappears.
- taneq 5y ago
  Get a job somewhere with poor mobile reception where you have to stand in just the right spot to check Facebook. :P

rapind 5y ago

I quit smoking ten years ago (smoked for about 15y before that) and the only thing I miss is the enforced ritual to go stand outside for 5-10 minutes. I’d pay for an addictive product that gave me that back without killing me!

im_down_w_otp 5y ago
When I was much younger I was the only non-smoker in an office of about 10 people. This included the owner and his wife who also worked there. Several times a day one or more of them would spend ~15 minutes loitering around smoking a cigarette. I'm prone to throwing myself into my work, even back then, and so initially this didn't really bother me. But, eventually the imbalance in workplace expectations, around scheduled breaks up against this informal unscheduled break they all benefited from, started to bug me. Sooooooo... one day I just start going outside randomly and standing around looking at the trees and listening to the birds for 10-15 minutes at a time. A few days of this went by and my boss (the owner) asked me what I was doing (insinuating I should get back to work). I said, "The same thing the rest of you do everyday, just without the part where I'm also lighting money and my wellbeing on fire. Sometimes I eat an apple or a banana though." Thankfully he was the sort to be reasoned with and saw my point. Shortly thereafter he quit smoking.
- inamiyar 5y ago
  Good story but for some reason has a distinctive...LinkedIn story vibe. I can't put my finger on it.
  - throwaway1777 5y ago
    It could very well be true, but it seems fake because the ending is too perfect. Nothing is that easy in real life.
    - whatshisface 5y ago
      There's a very serious cost to living with the cynical perspective your comment expresses. If you think that people will only change when you have authority or leverage over them, and that they will always ignore reason, you'll pass by hundreds of chances to reach equitable mediums over your life, and get nothing in return except a little saved inconvenience of never opening discussions with a less than 100% chance of success.
    - im_down_w_otp 5y ago
      Oh, it didn't end perfectly. His wife was the office manager, and grew to resent me immensely for being perceived as inspiring her husband's change in behavior. Less smoking, more walking, dietary changes, etc. Unlike him, she had less than zero interest in any of those lifestyle changes and it created strife, which palpably transfered to me all the way up until I eventually quit.
- mlang23 5y ago
  I find people that envy smokers for their breaks pretty pathetic. All it really implies is that these envious people dont know how to manage their own time. If I want a break, I take a break. If I dont need a break, I go on. But that doesnt have anything to do with my coworkers. As long as I am not the boss, its not my bussiness to do time management for others.
  - rytis 5y ago
pjerem 5y ago
I did never smoke a cigarette, but I always went to pause with my smoking coworkers. Maybe I'm making up false assumptions, but coincidentally, those coworkers were the smartest one in my mind. I don't think cigarette had anything to do with this, but I'm somehow convinced that going outside 10-15min multiple times a day is an excellent for productivity and to build strong working (and personal) relationships. COVID WFH apart, now that I'm working with non smokers, I really miss those times and as much as I appreciate my current coworkers, I don't like them as much as I used to like my fellow smokers. If you are a non smoker working with smokers you appreciate talking to, try going outside with them. Smoker's pause is where everything is said without filter and where hierarchy really disappears.
taneq 5y ago
Get a job somewhere with poor mobile reception where you have to stand in just the right spot to check Facebook. :P