i was born with bronchitis...
and coughed my way through childhood.

despite this, i took first puff on a ciggie at age 14. we were visiting my grandmother and my aunt was having a nap on the couch so my sisters and i decided to nick a few of her cigarettes and went down to the park under the bridge to smoke them. it was pretty disgusting but i was hooked.

for the first year, i never really inhaled the smoke all the way into my lungs but when i did it the first time, the nicotine rush was amazing. in my first job (data entry clerk) there were 25 girls all in a big room and at least 23 of us smoked - the non-smokers had to just suck up all our lovely 2nd hand smoke.

even with the bronchitis i smoked about 2 packs a day for most of my smoking years. my doctor used to tell me i would be a respiratory cripple by the time i was 30 if i kept smoking. hahahah! the bronchitis just disappeared when i was 29 and i gave the fags up in 1992 at the age of 31.

16 years later, the smell of a match being struck makes my more primitive brain cells cry out for nicotine. i have become the stereotypical reformed smoker who thinks the habit is disgusting and badger my smoking friends to give it up.

sadly, i sometimes smoke when i drink too much. the last time i indulged was 3 weeks ago - just a few puffs and some serious passive smoking due to being in a very smoky bar. i guess the joke was on me - i ended up with a rather nasty case of bronchitis that had me on the brink of pneumonia and required a week off work...
(chameleon61, Fri 21 Mar 2008, 5:40, Reply)