Top 5 Reasons Why You Will Smoke Cigarettes
By Chica Mala
1. To Be Social.
Smoking cigarettes with someone, much like smoking pot, can be a real bonding experience. Asking for a lighter, or even bumming a cigarette can initiate a thought-provoking conversation. Neither of you is high, so you can sound intelligent while pondering life’s complexities in that little bubble of smoke that surrounds you. Smoking can also be an excuse to get away from a party and have one of these one-on-one conversations with your crush or your best friend. This is my number one reason for smoking. It’s really a social activity. Most of my friends in Bulgaria smoke, and it didn’t take long for me to hop on that bandwagon. I’ve had some of my most intimate conversations with people over a cigarette.
2. To Take A Break.
Procrastination flows through my bloodstream like the beer into frat rats at a party. So every time I have to complete something important, I look for any excuse I can to take a break from my “hard work.” These excuses can come in the form of cleaning, eating, or less time-consuming, smoking a cigarette. You can only clean so much before there’s nothing left to do, and you can only eat so much before you become full, but a pack of cigarettes provides more than 15 occasions to take a break!
3. To “Deal” With Angst.
Nothing says, “My life sucks,” like a puppy-eyed girl with poor posture and a cigarette in her mouth. Smoking can really provide the image you want when you just want to feel bad for yourself. There’s a whole cycle when you smoke to “deal” with the issues life threw at you. First, you probably cry a little bit because you’re so stressed. If you don’t cry, it’s not from a lack of trying. Second, you go outside to light one up to “feel better.” You really just want to poison your body and feel worse for yourself. Third, you sit and think about how much your life sucks while you look depressed and try not to cry as that smoke you just exhaled gets into your eyes. It’s a vicious cycle that I am all too familiar with. What can I say? People just like to feel bad for themselves sometimes.
4. To Look Euro.
This was the first reason I ever put a cigarette in my mouth. It wasn’t the last either, seeing as it’s applicable both when you are not living in Europe, and when you are living in Europe. I used to walk around campus with a spring in my step as I exhaled smoke after an exaggerated removal of the cigarette from my mouth. I mean, being European means being a modern, fashionable, trendsetter, right? Well, let me tell you, that’s how I looked when I smoked. And who doesn’t want to look like that? Since Europeans already carry this image by virtue of living in Europe, the reason to smoke in Europe is that so many people do. The only difference here is that to look Euro in Europe, you can’t have the exaggeration in your smoking motions. Don’t worry, I adapted quickly, and now I look like I’ve been smoking since I was 8!
5. To Add To Your Drunk.
There’s nothing like having had 10 shots and not feeling them. Especially when you paid for that entire bottle of Pink Lemonade Burnett’s! Don’t feel down though. If you’re stuck in this situation and you smoke a cigarette, you’ll get drunk instantly! This usually doesn’t end well, actually, but it is really awesome until you find that your only friend at the end of the night is the toilet bowl.