Smudger Snippets
Created | Updated Nov 11, 2005
Smoking
We have recently banned smoking in our house! Now for a lot of you that may not mean much, but for us it was a big step to take. You see my wife and I are both smokers, which in todays climate of health is not an ideal habit. Especially in my wife's case as she suffers for emphysema, a result from having pleurisy as a child, along with a life time of smoking cigarettes. Mind you, she has tried to stop in the past, but never really managed it. In fact she was not given much encouragement from the specialist she saw some time ago, who gave her the bad news that her condition was terminal!
When asked if she stopped smoking at that time, if that would extend her life span, she was told that it would not, as the damage to her lungs was already done. Yet I can not help thinking that if he had just told a little white lie in his response it would give her some encouragement to stop at that time. Anyway, despite many efforts in the past to stop, she has not yet achieved it.
In the past when she has tried to stop I, myself, would never smoke in her presence, so I would disappear outside or volunteer to go the shop to buy something just to be able to have a smoke. This, however, was of no use when her family would come to visit and light up right in front of her making my gesture totally futile. In fact, I must admit to being relieved when she gave up her quest to stop as it made her so irritable and bad tempered that my trips to the shop became even more frequent just to out of the house.
Then a few weeks ago we went to visit some old friends we knew from our days in the small village of Dysart where we used to live. They had moved away and had invited us over to see their new flat in a town near by. The flat was beautiful and both of us admired it as it was so fresh and clean. It was on our way back from that visit that my wife announced that we were going to have a few changes around our house and that the smoking ban was going to be the main one.
That, along with a few other changes such as a total de-clutter of all ornaments along with some redecorating, which I thought was just talk at the time. To my surprise I found myself at the local DIY shop the very next day, buying paint and other materials that we would need. We made a start on the work as soon as we returned from our shopping trip.
Now for us to tackle a job of this size it was not going to be easy being as we are both disabled; I with my limited movement due to a back injury and my wife with her shortness of breath, but we just took it on at a pace we could both manage. It was only when we saw just how much dirt and nicotine came off everything we washed down that we realised how much damage the smoke had done to our house. I think it was that which gave us the energy and strength to keep going despite our tiredness. Then the next day one of my wife's sons popped in to see us and was only too willing to help out. In fact, he did a lot more than just help out. He basically did most of the work leaving us to do the little things that finished the job off.
It was not long before it was all completed and our house took on a totally different appearance altogether. In fact, it was a pleasure to be in the rooms as there was just a totally different feeling to it all. It has been over a week now since we finished and we still go to one of the windows to have a smoke or even stand outside the front door if the weather is favourable. Of course, we got the expected ridicule from her family when they visited but the 'no smoking' rule has been adhered to them all, despite their objections. In fact, I am proud of my wife for being so adamant in her decision.
It was while I was having a smoke at the window in this room where my computer is, that the memory of smoking at a window came rushing back to me. It was many years ago when I used to sneak into one of the bedrooms of our house when I was only fourteen years old and smoke out of the open window. The room was one which was used by lodgers and had one of those big old-fashioned beds in it. The bed had a massive wooden headboard, with carving and tassels inlaid on it in gold. I used to lie across the bottom of it and the smoke would go right outside as I lay with my elbows on the marble window sill. Of course cigarettes were a lot cheaper in those days and I can still remember my favourite brand, Will Gold Flake. There were others at that time which you not see these days like Cadets, Number Six, Players, Senior Service, Capstan - the list goes on.
Of course smoking was allowed everywhere in those days. I can remember going to the pictures and watching the lights of the projector trying to penetrate the clouds of smoke as it sent the picture to the screen. There were adverts everywhere, all the stars used to smoke in the films and even used to endorse different brands in the adverts that were shown on screen in the cinemas. We had no idea that smoking was bad for your health in those days. I even remember being given free cigarettes when I served in the Navy. Everyone smoked in those days. You couldn't go anywhere without seeing people smoking and we always smelled of smoke. My father smoked Turkish cigarettes which gave a different smell. In fact, the lodgers used to joke that he was smoking camel dung!
I was brought up amongst smokers so it only seemed natural for me to start, though I must admit that I would like to quit the habit. Then again, after all these years of being a smoker I think it would too late in my case plus the fact that I spent all those years as a welder where I must have inhaled more fumes than I ever have as a smoker. I must be honest, though, and admit that since this no-smoking ban in our house I have cut down a lot. In fact, a two ounce packet which used to last me around seven days now lasts me at least another four days. So I suppose the ban is helping me as well as my wife as she has cut down a lot as well.
