I don't need no stinkin' lj-cut

[beelikej]

I'm still upset and need to let this go, so I decided to post about the subject that has been wracking my brain for the past few days. Because after seeing this picture of Brendon Urie with a cigarette my mind has been on overload. I need to get it out of my system.

I don't really give a shit about personal choices people make. As long as they are not standing next to me getting in my face, I couldn't care less about others, but this habit just confuses the hell out of me. To realize that yet another person I had high hopes for made the decision to light up is making me angry.
I'm not attacking Brendon personally, but he represents everyone I admire for their apparent ability to deal with the world and people much better than I'm able to. I am so very disappointed to find out he is just another human who can't live up to my expectations.

Let me make this clear: I don't care whether it ruins his voice or not, I don't care if he ruins his lovely appearance, I in general don't care if people fuck up their body. I don't. As long as you are not in my personal space you are none of my business.
I'm also not one of those people who thinks smoking tobacco will lead to 'heavier' stuff. Even if it did I wouldn't care. Your body, your brain, your choice.

My problem is that I don't understand WHY anyone would start smoking. Okay, my biggest problem is that I can't always avoid smokers and they stink and I like my air clean, but trust me when I say I do everything in my power to not get in your way.
Not understanding people in general is one of the reasons I prefer to be alone anyway. Sadly this doesn't mean I can let go of the subject. Many people have tried to explain it to me, but it still doesn't make sense to me: WHY does anyone decide to smoke?

Notice how I don't wonder about people who are smokING. It's obviously something they enjoy and I've heard about it being comforting in stressfull situations or it tasting good after dinner or sex or whatever. But... honestly? You are an addict and most of those reasons are fake arguments. Smoking doesn't really do you any good; if you don't smoke you don't need a cigarette to make you feel better.

I get that most people need something to hold on to. I have used chocolate for comfort for a long time. But food is something your body needs to survive. Eating comes naturally. Smoking doesn't. From what I understand the first one does not even taste good. I have yet to meet the smoker who enjoyed the first cigarette. So why take another one after you satisfied your curiosity?

I will not go into the 'obvious' reasons why smoking bothers me. But I have been reading the comments on the picure here and I must say I'm baffled by the amount of people defending the habit with arguments on the side of healthy. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? You want to go with the 'it's not so bad, really' after the anti-smoking lobby spent years fighting the big tobacco companies and getting the consequences out in the open? I'm surprised my eyes are still in my head after all the eyerolling.

I'm gonna assume the message about it being bad for your health has been made clear to everyone younger than me. Let's say you don't care about that, because it's mostly about effects in the long run anyway.
Or maybe you are just curious to try things, even if you know it could damage your health.
This is not something I can relate to because I've never felt the need to experiment with my body and brain. To clarify: this does not only apply to taking drugs; I am also not interested in pushing my body to the limit with -say- bungeejumping or exercising to the point of exhaustion. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I've been told some people may try things if they see others doing them or because others tell/ask them to. This is not an easy concept to grasp for me, because I never EVER had the need to please my peers or be part of a group, not even when I hit puberty and one is supposed to be in that 'wanting to belong' or 'kicking against society' fase.

I think it's rather sad if your motivation to do anything is based on anything else but rationality. I can't function any other way. I don't understand how people can ignore reason. Their behavior confuses me. And that pisses me off. I hate it when I don't understand something.

I wish I could shut down my brain. I swear I spend more time on smoking than any smoker. Irony is a bitch.

ETA: rant continued here

Comments

[sillie]

...people are weird. And you know, stupid sometimes. *snugs* :3

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes"? :-p

Thanks for being there for me, bb.

[sillie]

Heh.

You're welcome. :D

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Hey, new icon?

[sillie]

Yup. :3

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Niice:)

[sillie]

Saaank you. :D

[rispacooper.livejournal.com]

Because people -with few exceptions- don't operate on logic. Because their underlying psychology makes them seek out some sort of (I hate to use the word crutch, but I can't think of a better one right now) crutch for the *hard* and *unceasing* crap that life is throwing at them, (that *is* life, in fact) and if it's not cigarettes it's something else (your example was chocolate, which, if milk and sugar are added, is still bad for you, and in any case, still features a chemical that messes with your brain chemistry to make you feel better in times of stress). It's a weakness, and yeah, they use all sorts of crazy justifications for it, because no one wants to admit to weakness, or an addiction, but it's a *human* weakness. Some people consciously choose to stop dealing with life's stress by going a healthy route, these people choose yoga or hiking or whatever, but it's a *conscious* choice, made usually in adulthood. Most of these other habits/addictions/coping mechanisms are chosen on the verge of adulthood (ah those teenage years) without any conscious thought of anything except, in the words of Poe, surcease of sorrow. I'm in America, and they aren't kidding about the obesity issues over here, and maybe some kids aren't choosing cigarettes anymore, but choosing sweets is honestly just as bad for them in long run, but I still understand the choice. Either choice, honestly.

:)

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Ah, but the non-logic part of people is what's making my brain hurt. I get the crutch-explanation, but doesn't that only apply once you already have taken up the habit? I get that none of the answers to my 'why would you start'-question is gonna satisfy me, since they usually include justifications that I simply don't understand. That's what's so frustrating.

The hardest thing for me to understand about smoking is the 'acquired taste'-part; why would you continue to consume a cigarette, if your body protests with the first try?
Sweets usually don't take an effort to like and are also mostly only potentially bad 'in the long run'. To my knowledge sugar is not necessarily bad for you, nicotine is.

I know most products have (added) chemicals in them, so anything you put in your body will affect you one way or the other, but I will never understand the choice for something that has such an obviously harsh effect.