I was at my local Indian casino the other night watching the goings-on at one of the Blackjack tables. Seated there was a man who was puffing away at his cigarette. Yes, casinos are one the few public areas left here in California where smoking is still allowed. Seated at the same table was another man (I’ll call him Rodney) who sucked in a deep breath of the wafting smoke and lamented “Oh, that smells so good! If I hadn’t quit already, I’d love to light one up right now!”

Excited to find a fellow quitter I proceeded to engage him by asking “How long ago did you quit?” Rodney replied “Last September was the most recent time that I quit. Before that I had quit in 1990.”

He continued on by telling me that in the year 2000 his brother-in-law found himself in dire financial straits with no place to live. Feeling sympathetic, Rodney invited his chain-smoking brother-in-law to move in with him, and that’s when the relapse occurred. “He smoked in my house incessantly and it was driving me nuts. Finally, I told myself I would have just one. Well, that’s all it took and I started smoking like a fiend all over again, all the way up until this past September.”

There are several things I can say about Rodney and his situation(s). First of all, it was commendable for him to allow his down-and-out brother-in-law to move in with him. But, as for allowing him to smoke inside his home?? That was mistake number one. At the very least, he should have insisted that all smoking AS WELL AS ALL SMOKING PARAPHERNALIA be kept outside the home and well out of sight.

Rodney’s second mistake was in thinking that he could have just one. No addict can ever have “just one” (and that’s just what we current and former smokers are: addicts.) Rodney should have been more in control of his own living space. If his brother-in-law refused to comply with his no-smoking policy, then he should have been shown the door. Period.

And now we come to the present day “mistake” that was made by Rodney. If just the smell of smoke is so tempting to him (which is usually the case for recent, if not most, quitters) then he should NOT be sitting at a blackjack table where smoking is allowed. He should make it a point to avoid all places and areas that allow smokers to blow their smoke in all directions. To do so is to invite temptation.

Leave a Reply

You must be registered and logged in to post a comment.