You want the taste of dried leaves, burnt?

[bugshaw]

I nearly started smoking today. Standing outside the department at 10:50 in the just-bracing cold, waiting for my student to arrive, a couple of his classmates came out for a quick cigarette before class and came to chat with me. I felt like a lemon, standing around, and joked that I should take up smoking - and one of them offered me a cigarette. All of a sudden, I could see what it was for - outside, huddling round a cigarette would be almost comforting and would make me feel better. It made them feel better, I could see it in their faces. It's a way to be, while standing around. And so warm! The fragile paper stick of crackling leaves, to cradle in my palms and lips. I remembered my usual objection to smoking, which is that it stinks, but I started to want to fill my lungs with warm smoke and the taste of fragrant ash.

But I have quite enough addiction already with the Coca-Cola Red Bull, so I didn't even start.

EDIT: *Bonfires*! That's what I want, not cigarettes at all... Standing in the dark, wrapped up warm with toasty socks on, watching the flames flicker and the sparks fly skyward. Lava-hot logs crumbling into charcoal and embers.

Cigarettes are like handy portable pocket-bonfires-on-a-stick.

Comments

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

Besides, after you've smoked a Flake, why stoop to the small stuff?

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

Snicker. I guess cigarettes cause less mess than melted chocolate...

[ang-grrr.livejournal.com]

No, not Snickers. Too soggy with the caramel. Don't light.

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

Aero soaked in petrol?

[perlmonger.livejournal.com]

sherbet fountain - they were clearly designed for the job

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

Sadly, they don't warm you up. I occcasionally try to kid myself that they do, but it doesn't really work! [grin]

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

I expect I'd find a similar mismatch to my expectations of smoking and the experience as I did when I first drank coffee. I had expected it would be like melted chocolate with coffe flavour, not bitter and watery!

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

Yes, I rather suspect you would-it's not very nice, really. :-)
(Says she of twenty a day...er, yeah, well.)

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

[giggle] I've only just 'got' your title. It's probably more amusing than it should be. [grin]

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

The other thing which put me off was the enticing pack he waved at me had Smoking Kills in large, friendly letters on the front of it...

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

One of the only things I genuinely enjoyed about cigarettes during the brief period I smoked was watching the little glowing volcano of ash at the end. I used to sit there in nightclubs staring at my fag, looking like a crazy person :)

These days I just get a nice log fire going instead - or more accurately try to, which is such a chaotic enterprise that it usually takes my mind off wahtever was bothering me in the first place :)

[hnpcc]

And so warm!

My theory on why the smoking rates were so much higher in Europe than in Australia had a lot to do with warmth. Probably complete rubbish - doesn't take Canada/US into account for one thing, or NZ, Africa, Asia and the Middle East come to that - but it seemed to make sense at the time.

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

I have been known to hang out with smokers on break at work, holding an imaginary cigarette. The smokers automatically take more breaks than I do, and then I get to chat with them too. I got the idea from a former smoker, actually.

Bonfire! Yes.