The Smoke-Free Journey: From Non-Smokers to Avoiding Secondhand Smoke

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Since giving up smoking, I can hardly tolerate the smell of cigarette smoke. However, I am not the type to make a scene about it. I simply try to avoid smokers as they smell terrible. In places like smoke areas outside pubs, even when they are closed and nobody is around, the smell lingers. Therefore, I try to avoid these areas or hold my breath while passing by. If I have to talk to a smoker, I choose a position where the wind is blowing the smell away from me.

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Heightened Sensitivity to Tobacco

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During my year of being smoke-free, I developed a heightened sensitivity to tobacco. Even on the street, if someone was smoking from an upstairs window, I could smell it. When out in public, I often tried to walk right behind a smoker and 'enjoy' those delightful fumes!

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The Relapse: A Big Mistake

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I wish I hadn't gone back to smoking. I always had a fondness for tobacco, and it wasn't surprising when I eventually gave in to the temptation. Initially, I had about five cigarettes a day but soon escalated to around fifty daily.

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Early Experiences with Tobacco

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As a child, this was my favorite candy. At 0.25 Canadian, it was only about ten cents US. Around the age of nine, my grandfather got me a toy cigarette at the local fair. It included baby powder that you could blow out to look more realistic than I expected. This became my favorite toy, and my grandfather and I would go to stores where I'd pretend to smoke and cause a commotion with the staff. The scent of his flatulence, which smelled like a person named Greg Petrie, added an extra element of fun.

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One day, during recess, I was walking down the hall when my buddy Jon ran out of the bathroom, nearly in a frenzy, urging me to join him. As we stumbled in, the stench was so overpowering that I nearly passed out. Greg, who was the source of the smell, was stressed and that made the bathroom stench worse. The smell was so intense that I was gagging and retching as we tried to help him take a shit in peace. He must have held it in for hours to be able to go during recess when nobody was around, but he didn't factor in us joining him.