I loved how the alcoholics are gathered at the AA meeting to confront their issues with addiction to alcohol... and they're all sitting there smoking cigarettes. Kinda' funny, really. Maybe it was unintentional, or not, who knows? lol
Trying to give up booze is very, very tough as it is. Trying to give up two addictions at once would be loading the odds even further against you.
shareYes, I observed it too. I guess it was intentional. I found it hypocritical in a way for someone to believe one can quit alcohol, but it's ok to carry on smoking, when it is even more harmful.
shareSmoking back in that era was common among most people. My wife quit over 20 years ago but back in the early 60's she was smoking while in labor plus watch any old movie from the 40's on it seemed everyone was smoking during the film.
shareYou've never attended an AA meeting have you? Nearly everyone smokes.
shareExactly !! And drink coffee with lots and lots of sugar.
File under "first things first"
You're right of course, that smoking is worse than drinking, but in a different way. Smoking doesn't cause inebriation, hangovers, etc. I.e. smokers can function normally...until they die of course. But it's important to tackle one demon at a time, and the best way to quit smoking is taper off gradually (which I know from experience).
For who would bear the whips and scorns of Hollywood... (;-p)
They were not annonymous at all. They gave first and last name at the meeting!
shareI'ts alright, even good to get to know people in the group, 1st and last name as such --- BUT outside the meeting you don't tell anyone else name linked to AA ,, NO ONE else needs to know
NO ONE out side the group needs to know the group members names
Exactly. Very typical of AA meetings, cigarettes and coffee.
I can tell you first hand because ive been to a few AA meetings that.That's what they do they smoke and they drink coffee .They either walk in with it or they have it brewing there for the AA people .I remember when i first saw it i couldnt help but giggling myself. I heard it was difficult to give it all up at once usually people who drink smoke and people who smoke usually have a coffee on hand .All three of these things are interconnected some how .
"If you want art, don't mess about with
movies. Buy a Picasso"
Smoking will probably kill you eventually, but as an alcoholic, I can tell you that if I drink today, drinking could easily kill me today. Not next week, or next month, but today. Or, I could kill someone else today while driving, or go to jail or some other institution today because of drinking today. Smoking won't kill another person today or put me in jail today.
Like another commenter said, "first things first." It's crucial to learn to live without mind- and mood-altering substances before even thinking about quitting smoking. The last time I quit smoking (yes, there have been several) I had about 17 years clean and it was still one of the few times I seriously thought I could relapse and drink.
Looking back on my first days, even years, clean, it would have been impossible to quit drinking and smoking at the same time. It just wouldn't have happened. I would not recommend to anyone with a short time clean that they try to commit smoking. I wouldn't suggest they try unless they had at least a year clean.
These thoughts are just my opinion. It is funny to look around at the smoking in meetings. Yes, in meetings there is also a ton of coffee with sugar to go with the cigarettes, and there are definitely some sugary snacks to go along with them. I used to LOVE my smoking meetings. They're getting harder and harder to find these days as every kind of gathering place goes 100% non-smoking.
A life lived in fear is a life half-lived... Strictly Ballroom share
And alcoholic drinking slowly tears families apart in a way that smoking doesn't.
"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"
As you may remember Jack Klugman's character reading that AA members' "primary purpose is
to remain sober and to help others to recover from alcoholism." Alcoholism screws up people's lives in a way that smoking never could.
"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"
All the ex-substance abusers I've ever known all smoke.
They rationalize it by claiming "It's my only vice."
Oh yeah - as someone else in this thread mentioned - they also like tons of coffee.
I don't know - I drink a lot of wine (with soda water) and light beer - but I could never give them up for cigarettes. I can't stand smoking and I can only drink decaf coffee.
I guess I fail as a legitimate alkie.
"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"
Overall smoking kills much more people than drinking.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of Hollywood... (;-p)
I loved how the alcoholics are gathered at the AA meeting to confront their issues with addiction to alcohol... and they're all sitting there smoking cigarettes. Kinda' funny, really. Maybe it was unintentional, or not, who knows? lol
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I was going to post something about that!
People who drink LOVE smoking cigarettes when they drink, and I guess even after one quits drinking they still love their cigarettes.
This is a funny thread
most of you folks seem totally unaware that 1962 was 50 years and yes things were different, particularly in regards to smoking
There were ashtrays in the aisles of grocery stores, in movie theaters,
Smoking hadn't been demonized yet, it would be another 10 yrs before they even put warnings on packs of cigs.
Second hand smoke as a threat hadn't been developed
You don't have to stand tall, but you have to stand up!
That's true. When I was a kid in the '50s and '60s, almost every adult I was aware of was a smoker. There were ash trays on the public library tables. People smoked in grocery stores, restaurants, movie theaters, planes, busses, and offices. I had two doctors who would smoke while they were in the small exam room with me. One of my tasks as a box boy in a supermarket was to go up and down the aisles once an hour with a wide broom, sweeping up cigarette butts. Smokers knew about cancer and emphysema, but the anti-smoking message wasn't pounded into their heads every day on tv and radio, like it started to be in the '70s, and public smoking restrictions had not been legislated. The prevalence of smoking you see in old movies is completely realistic. It was a different world, my young friends!
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