Posted by jkm822 at 208.140.189.12 on August 28, 2001 at 10:04:57:
In Reply to: Tell me if this seems weird posted by Queen of the May on August 27, 2001 at 16:00:44:
I started smoking (barely) in the last week of my freshman year at college. That'd make me, what, 18? But I wasn't really a smoker until a year or so later. I realize this comes under your umbrella of 18-19, but up until college, I was the only one among my friends at home that DIDN'T smoke, and most of them started in the 15 or 16 year old range. I've seen people start at really odd ages, so I don't think there's a cut-off age for being stupid. ;-)
That said, I still smoke.
I think it depends on a lot of things. For me, it was a rebellion thing; my mom had smoked all my life (she quit about 3 years ago - how's that for irony?) all my friends smoked, and I was a goody-two-shoes vocal music major. What better way to rebel than to start smoking? Of course, I didn't just start smoking cigarettes, but that's another story. I know ALOT of theatre majors and communications majors who didn't start smoking until they got hit with the college workload coupled with long hours in studios, drafting/design rooms, in rehearsal, building sets, etc. It was a way to relieve tension, and to have an excuse for going outside for a little while. And now that I'm a grown up (AACK!!!!!), one of the reasons I continue to smoke, ridiculous as it is, is because I like getting to walk out of work every once and a while and enjoy being outside for a few minutes, even if it's only to pollute the air a bit. Sad, ain't it?
Jill