Smoking is Good

join me

I like my friends. I really do. They make time to visit, they get me loaded, they know how to have a good time. Be that as it may I might have to cut them off. They don’t smoke anymore.

One friend wasn’t a regular smoker on his own time, but when he was coming by to hang, if he was bringing beer, he was probably bringing cigarettes too. He knew I liked Camel Straights, so those showed up pretty often. If he wanted to feel white trash he might have a pack of Marlboro Lights. When he was feeling particularly frisky it might even be Parliaments, and then we could all feel like slick coke dealers. The addition of this extra pack meant I had a nice change of pace in my smoke, he and others had a choice, and the gang didn’t exclusively have to take mine when we stepped out.

Plus it meant we had a reason to step out. I love stepping out. I highly recommend giving it a try. If you’re a novice, try the porch in the late spring. This is the most obviously lovely. More advanced users will discover that stepping out in the winter has great pleasures of its own. You’ll be much more purposeful as you bundle into your coats and scarves, a glint of zealous intent will gleam in the group’s eyes, and you’ll huddle just a bit closer around each other and the tiny fires you all stoke. As you burst inside away from the cold, you’ll be flooded with warmth and a new gratitude for being inside together, then you’ll go fix another drink before returning to your places. Whatever the season, whether you linger in the summer heat or rush in from the bitter cold, you will benefit from the refreshment of getting up, going somewhere, and returning to where you started.

Now my friends don’t want to step out for a cigarette. They generally use Zyns — even the vapes are disappearing. We just sit in the same places; maybe someone gets up for a beer. Do I actually want them to smoke? Is this mere nostalgia? I was visiting the old gang recently and as we would roll out of a bar I would light up. Every time I wished someone would join me. Or when we’re at my place I’ll announce I’m going out for one and no one will join me. No one will even come along to vape or just chat.

Do I want them to cosign my decision? Do I need validation for my bad habit? I don’t believe that’s all of it. Something is missing from your relationship when you don’t smoke together. A certain commiseration perhaps. Staring into the cold black and accepting your mortality together. As Piglet says: “It's so much more friendly with two.”