My parents were the post 1930s adults of whom many smoked. My Mum loved the movies where, at that time ,many stars puffed away on screen ( think Bogart, Bacall, Gable and others ) and made it glamorous. My parents were rarely without cigarettes in their mouth. Five of their six children followed suit....the only one of us who never smoked, my sister Rosalind, sadly died of cancer aged 59.
Happily we have all stopped smoking now except my younger sister.
I gave up in honour of my sister when she died. I stopped like that and avoided friends and family who smoked ( more or less ) for at least six months after which I had kicked the habit. Now it seems a very strange thing to do and seldom ever enters my head. Make it a New Years Resolution Auggie, and good luck to you.
P.S. Don't be paranoid about Muslims.....I kind of prefer when I was blissfully ignorant about what was really going on....now I am not paranoid, just a bit more cautious. I taught muslims for years....mostly lovely people but with important parts of their education left out. I stopped telling my students that I was of a Jewish background after 9/11. I no longer felt safe and that feeling has only got worse. What's that about ??
