Pessimisten
Member
As bad as it may sound, smoking is quite a useful tool for socializing (and maybe one of the main causes for quitting being so hard to achieve)
I smoked cigarrettes for around 6 years, and it helped my socializing enourmously a few years ago. I met people that otherwise I wouldn't have a reason to speak to in the building I was working. It was very easy to just approach someone and ask if they have a lighter, then you can easily move to a bit of chit-chat about cigarrettes and suddenly you're sharing much more deep stuff, like why are you smoking and other personal stuff, talking about work, weather... you name it. Even if you mention that you started smoking as a way to actually socialize, people will relate to that and even understand your situation.
I felt the need to stop smoking because the last two years I started to develop an addiction, as I started to smoke quite heavily -mainly due to my then stressful combination of full time studies AND full time job.
Overall, from my own experience, the smoking habit had its advantages, socially speaking, but one has to take precautions. It's really not recommended at all for a person who has compulsive tendencies.
Even when this piece of advice might not be acceptable, sometimes extreme situations require extreme measures. Smoking IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH, but being afraid to speak to other people is just as unhealthy.
I smoked cigarrettes for around 6 years, and it helped my socializing enourmously a few years ago. I met people that otherwise I wouldn't have a reason to speak to in the building I was working. It was very easy to just approach someone and ask if they have a lighter, then you can easily move to a bit of chit-chat about cigarrettes and suddenly you're sharing much more deep stuff, like why are you smoking and other personal stuff, talking about work, weather... you name it. Even if you mention that you started smoking as a way to actually socialize, people will relate to that and even understand your situation.
I felt the need to stop smoking because the last two years I started to develop an addiction, as I started to smoke quite heavily -mainly due to my then stressful combination of full time studies AND full time job.
Overall, from my own experience, the smoking habit had its advantages, socially speaking, but one has to take precautions. It's really not recommended at all for a person who has compulsive tendencies.
Even when this piece of advice might not be acceptable, sometimes extreme situations require extreme measures. Smoking IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH, but being afraid to speak to other people is just as unhealthy.