To have the 'odd' fag

[FrankButchersDickieBow]

I don't smoke. I can go days/weeks without smoking. But sometimes, when I have a drink, I really want a fag.

I do drink a couple of glasses of wine through the week tbh, but never want a cig. But sometimes, every know and again, I just really fancy a fag.

So I can smoke 2 fags in 10 days.

Would you class me as a smoker, if I have half a fag or two once a week?

I know I don't need it, but it tastes so good after a couple of wines

I don't smoke and would class you as a smoker. As you smoke.

I wouldn't say you're a smoker, in the same way that I wouldn't describe someone who has an occasional drink as an alcoholic.

What a weird thread 😂 does smoking make me a smoker

How often do you eat olives?

Remember you're answer must be a fixed repeating time interval.

Well I have never eaten olives, but if I ate them very few months and once a week plus once a fortnight I would identify as an olive eater.

*every few months

@sortmylifeoutplease

I wouldn't say you're a smoker, in the same way that I wouldn't describe someone who has an occasional drink as an alcoholic.

No you would describe them as a drinker.

If you smoke, at all you are a smoker.

If you drink, at all, you are a drinker.

Alcoholism is a very serious disease that doesn't need to be present for someone to qualify as a drinker.

I'm a none smoker, an occasional drinker, and a very light olive eater.

How do you acquire said fags?

Do you have a pack of them at home that you only dip into on these rare occassions? Or do you live with someone who you can nick them off?

Just trying to ascertain if you go for long stretches of time without smoking even if you know there's an open packet of fags in your possession. As an ex smoker, I cannot get my head around this idea lol.

I consider myself a non smoker even though, like you, I like a fag when I drink. I only smoke about 3 maybe 4 a week.

If you can have an occasional fag without it turning into 20 a day, then frankly I’m jealous (I quit five years ago). Most people get addicted. A few lucky souls can take them or leave them.

Do you always smoke other people’s? Or do you buy your own?

You are not classed as a smoker in general terms. I know a few people who like,or fancy a ciggie when having a drink,but are not smokers all the time.

"According to WHO's Smoking and Tobacco Use Policy, a smoker is someone who smokes
any tobacco product, either daily or occasionally.
A daily smoker is someone who smokes any tobacco product at least once a day.
An occasional smoker is someone who smokes, but not every day.
A "tobacco user" is someone who uses any tobacco product."

So you're an occasional smoker I think, OP. I am too, though I'd like to get to a point of quitting all together! Just can't figure out what to do with my hands at pesky social events

@charliespie I guess I think of a "smoker" as being addicted (like an alcoholic with drink), whereas someone who has an odd fag doesn't seem addicted in my mind. If someone described a person as a drinker, in my mind that would be someone who drinks a fair bit socially, but wasn't an alcoholic. It might be a regional thing.

Would you class me as a smoker, if I have half a fag or two once a week?

Well, yeah.

Because you smoke.

A non-smoker doesn't smoke.

I mean - I get it. I used to smoke, 20 years ago, and I was a smoker then and perhaps I am still now if you go on the 'doesn't drink because they're an alcoholic' score. I gave up smoking to become a non-smoker. It doesn't mean I don't still fancy it every now and then - it is inherently pleasurable.

But when my lovely DSIS suggested we have a cheeky fag on a weekend away (gave up probably about the same time, but she was more of a social smoker and I was more of a habitual smoker) - I just didn't fancy it. (Might not have turned down a joint tho!)

I get the pangs for smoking now and again - mostly in crisp autumnal air with a hot coffee, tbh, rather than alcohol induced - but it's like nostalgia. You want the time in your life back, not the smoke in your lungs.

Give up proper, OP. You almost certainly won't regret it (and if you do, it's just fleeting moments over decades).

I think someone who has the occasional cigarette is not a smoker. Someone who wakes up, puts the coffee on and then has a cigarette each morning is a smoker. As it's their addiction. Occasion is not addiction. I am an ex smoker and I can't tell you how much I miss that filthy habit.

Slightly off topic - I have stopped smoking (touch wood) and know full well if I have one, I'll be back to 30 a day within a week.

Anyway, I'm with Bebe from "Frasier":

So, that's what I'd call you. (just joking. I'm so envious)

I think you should count yourself lucky that you're not addicted, and just enjoy the odd cigarette! Does it particularly matter whether you call yourself a smoker or not?

I am like that with alcohol. I can have a fully stocked booze cabinet and only think once every few weeks, "a wine might be nice tonight" or "ooh I quite fancy a shot of something in my evening coffee". I forget it's there most of the time.

Sugar, carbs and fats on the other hand, I have absolutely no willpower over and am most definitely addicted. For that reason, I would never judge smokers or alcoholics because I know how devastating it is to be addicted and want to stop, but feel unable.

@charliespie

How often do you eat olives?

Remember you're answer must be a fixed repeating time interval.

Well I have never eaten olives, but if I ate them very few months and once a week plus once a fortnight I would identify as an olive eater.

OK, I no longer care about anything but knowing how this came to be!?

How have you never had olives? They're lovley!

Wait whats the smoking equivilent of alcoholic?

Is it just addict?

Thats gotta be a marketing win that there isn't a word other than smoker!

Yanbu to smoke that amount, but yes, you are a smoker. What's the problem with that though? It's a perfectly legal thing to do.

I think your confusion is coming down to comparison. You might be comparing yourself to a daily smoker and thinking in comparison you don't have many. Actually the comparison is with non smokers who don't smoke at all. Two every ten days is 73 per year, 730 per decade, etc. Non smokers will smoke zero in this time frame.

Yes, I'd say someone that says in an OP that they go "days" without smoking..... is a smoker. Days?

I’m similar OP; I like the odd cig but can go weeks/months without one. If they were cheaper or still sold in 10s I’d probably have more, so it helps that I find the cost a bit prohibitive. I don’t think you should worry too much about whether the label ‘smoker’ applies or not; how you feel about your very occasional indulgence is more important.

I smoke about 10 a week and don't really consider myself a smoker so you're definitely not op.

@TooManyKidsSendHelp

How do you acquire said fags?

Do you have a pack of them at home that you only dip into on these rare occassions? Or do you live with someone who you can nick them off?

Just trying to ascertain if you go for long stretches of time without smoking even if you know there's an open packet of fags in your possession. As an ex smoker, I cannot get my head around this idea lol.

Maybe this is the important point in this weird debate, I have a (very battered) pack of Silk Cut in a bag that are about 18 months old, but for the odd time I want one in the year I know where they are.

As a non smoker I would say you were a smoker.