For missing the fags

This is exactly it!

My occasional wistful longing for a fag doesn’t come from wanting the cigarette itself- gross, smelly- but from wanting to revisit my carefree party days, back when I had no one else to worry about, back when I was fun and beautiful, back when the weekends held so much excitement and possibility.

That is the feeling it triggers when I see someone smoking on tv.

I gave up 4 years ago when I got pregnant with my eldest. Very easy to stop. No concerns about relapsing. But it does feel like a link to my ‘real’ pre-baby self.

83p for 10 when I started! Awful when you think about it!

I started smoking very young, gave up for a decade when I had my kids and then started again in lockdown and had to quit all over again, I do vape occasionally on nights out but a few weeks ago I accepted a menthol cig off a friend while out and my god it was lovely.

The next morning I was coughing like anything and did for a week or so 🙄

No more for me 😭 I used to buy a pack of 10 b&h with my dinner money for 95p back at school!

I still miss it too. But I know that if I have one that’s it - off the wagon, Even though the first one does make me feel sick! I’ve fallen off the wagon twice before - once after three years of not smoking, the second time after five years. It’s been 15 years now. I just eat instead and am three stones heavier- which can’t be good for my heart either!

It was the first one in the morning, the ones after meals & with a glass of wine I missed most.

i still miss it after nearly a decade but I discovered if I do a really deep inhale (outdoors) and exhale like I’m smoking it helps a bit! I know it’d only take 2 to get me back into it so I don’t dare especially at those prices!

Yeah I would love a fag on the back step, one of those now banned menthol ones. Many many years since I gave up.

My cravings got the better of me a year or so ago and bought a packet of 10 menthol cigarettes on holiday.

It was sublime...but when I stood up I fell over it made me so dizzy. It was also stressful as no one else smokes and it is banned everywhere so I was hiding out around the back of a carpark somewhere quite exclusive lol.

I remember when we could go in the tobacconists and buy a single B&H or Superking for 10p or a Park Drive or Woodbine for 6p. There was a big ornate brass lighter fixed to the counter so you could light it before you left (I think it had a leprechaun or something on it?)

I am so bringing some menthols back next time I go away 🤣

Every time I’ve stopped and then been tempted to have one (which is many many times!) it’s been gross!! So please don’t go there!
I totally get what you’re saying though…. But there are a 100 reasons that you stopped all those years ago….

I was watching all the smokers & vapers disappear outside, at a party I really didn't want to be at. No one spoke to us, etc. I was jealous of them having an escape & the fact people chatted out there. Also, it's the escape to have a moment to myself - which I don't get, ever.

Oddly I quit 20 years ago & have no desire to smoke, but, wow do I miss the brain break & the chats. In the non smokers world no one stops to talk to me.

When I had a row with my parents in my teens, I'd pack a rucksack and take the train to stop with my Nan who lived quarter of an hour away (by local train). We'd bond over cups of tea, cake and Consulates, while watching Jimmy Cagney films on the box. This was the late '80s. I was never a heavy smoker, no more than half a dozen a day, and I stopped in the mid 90s, before I married and had children.
I have some good memories of it though, so I understand the feeling. If it weren't so bad for your health I would probably still be smoking today. 🤷‍♀️

I stopped smoking almost 20 years ago. Still love the thought of it. No problem stopping cold turkey. Had one very drunken night about 7 years ago where I shared a whole pack of 20 with an equally drunk friend..it was amazing! Was hysterically happy with every puff. The next day...oh my fucking God. I've never had a hangover like it! Near death experience! Not been tempted since!

I stopped smoking about 10 years ago, and as much as I'd love to, I'm never game to have the "just one". I know if I did I'd be back to a packet by the end of the week.

I still love the scene from Frasier where baby describes why she likes to smoke

If I smell cigarettes now I mostly feel repulsed but if I see someone taking a really long drag on a cigarette the craving comes right back and catches me out. I stopped 19 years ago but I genuinely think if someone passed me a lit cigarette I would just absent mindedly smoke it....and enjoy it....before remembering I don't smoke any more.

I reckon so, Socks. During lockdown? Not that long ago, a few years.

I loved menthol fags, in fact I loved everything about fags. Mad I know, severe damage to your health, smelly clothes, bad breath. I stopped due to the price of them, just couldn't afford them.

Are menthol cigarettes completely banned now @EggcornAcorn ? I used to love the odd Consulate for a change from the Marlboros 😊

Yeah I would love a fag on the back step, one of those now banned menthol ones. Many many years since I gave up.

Bringing back a box of 200 from your hols, that feeling. I do miss it.

I gave up over 20 years ago, I used to follow people who were smoking just to get a whiff of the tobacco. I still dream that I'm smoking and wake up in a panic.

It's interesting how people vary. Both my parents were heavy smokers when I was a child and both gave up when I was in my teens. My Dad just stopped overnight and said he never had any cravings or desire to start again. My Mum on the other hand found it a real struggle and always missed it. I remember her saying about 25 years after she finally quit that if there was suddenly a news report saying smoking wasn't harmful after all she would be straight out to the shop. I wonder what makes the difference?

Yes I gave up in 1985.
I hate smoking with a vengeance.
But like pp said the smell of a freshly lit cigarette still has me craving one. I could start smoking again at the drop of a hat.
Shows how addictive nicotine is. I think it's supposed to be more addictive than heroin.

Ooh yes, the ritual of opening a new packet, tearing the foil away and seeing those tightly packed ciggies, the smell of a new packet..... Mmmmm mm. If I knew the end was nigh I'd definitely start up again to hell with the money

Me too, love the smell of a freshly lit cigarette.
for a long time, my giving up technique was ‘ today I’m not smoking’. Went on for ages.
Im thinking of starting again when I'm 70.