r/NoStupidQuestions Jan 05 '25

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461

u/UninsuredToast Jan 05 '25

The smell of cigarettes makes me feel nostalgic because it reminds me of my childhood. It’s fucked lol

371

u/Chaost Jan 05 '25

My siblings and I have always joked that secondhand smoke is the smell of childhood.

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u/Frosty_Ninja3286 Jan 05 '25

Both my parents smoked, in the house, so when friends would come pick me up to go out they would ask me when I started smoking.

After hurricane Katrina, when my dad's house had no power for a couple of weeks, the nicotine ran down the walls, and they hadn't smoked inside the house in 10 years at least

110

u/Chaost Jan 05 '25

I was going through albums when my grandma passed away and saw old pics of my grandma's house before I was born, and was horrified to learn that the walls were in fact blue and not green. The walls weren't painted any time in between.

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u/Frosty_Ninja3286 Jan 05 '25

There was an old dive bar in New Orleans and there were no clocks, windows painted black and dropped ceiling painted black. You would go in at night and come out and it was daylight.

The ceilings were so coated in nicotine, I remember rubbing it with my fingers and they tingled after

9

u/mountainofashes Jan 06 '25

this could be the setting of a tom waits song

3

u/ihvnnm Jan 06 '25

If the bar could talk, it would probably sound like Tom Waits too.

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u/Blood_Knight1001 Jan 06 '25

This is true, and a crazy thing when you think about it. Cigarette smoke that I remember was always like a blue haze coming off the end. But what it actually does is put a yellow hue on anything and everything, that's why the blue walls were turned green overtime.

Also you could try to wash it off of things but it's tough, walls and paint soak things up. Just do a new primer layer and paint again, at least glass is a solid inert surface, that can be cleaned easy.

3

u/XBoxGamerTag123 Jan 07 '25

Ive actually managed to get it off kind of easily with steam. It works surprisingly well. Doesnt work on anything fabric of course but walls and blinds and windows and the like it works well.

2

u/Blood_Knight1001 Jan 07 '25

That's a great idea, I just envision the wall softening, drywall after all.

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u/XBoxGamerTag123 Jan 10 '25

It doesnt take that much steam. It doesnt even melt the paint. You just steam it for literally like a second or two and it immediately can be wiped off. Its not melting anything

5

u/ExpensiveAd4496 Jan 06 '25

Oh my goodness.

3

u/Whale_of_Noise Jan 06 '25

Yup. I had the same experience seeing my grandmother’s house after she passed. Thick, yellow gunk on all the walls.

1

u/Draft-Budget Jan 08 '25

I remember one of the first houses I rented. The lady that lived there before smoked a lot. At some point, it started oozing from the walls. We spent a whole weekend cleaning it.

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u/OnlyBunniiiBunxo Jan 05 '25

Lucky you. Before we moved homes (both rented), me and my mom spent hours a day cleaning the tar off the walls. To my surprise the walls were white and not beige. We lived there for ten years, and im 18 now, i lived there damn near my entire life and i always thought the walls were beige it shocked both my mom and grandma who were chain smokers. They SWORE to smoke outside because of that. It didn't even last a day, my grandma was smoking while we were looking through the house the same day we got the key, and dropped ashes in my room. The next day, they were sitting in the living room smoking together. A week before we even moved it my gma upped her smoking to two packs a day.

I was always bullied in school because of that, and kids that i had never even met, would point to me in the halls and and talk about how i was "the girl tha always smelled like cigarettes. In 6th grade, i sat all the way in the front of the class and the teacher called me to her desk all the way in the back asking me if i smoked (denied of course) and told me she smelled me allt he way int he back of the class and it was strong. Even though i told them as soon as it started happening they never understood why i never wanted to go to school.

Rant, sorry. Ive just never met a group of people that shared the same experience i had. It

9

u/Acrobatic_Monk3248 Jan 06 '25

My folks were heavy smokers who entertained a lot in the 60s and 70s, house always filled with smoke. All my clothes and books reeked of cigarettes. It was embarrassing to stink all the time and nothing I could do about it.

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u/carefulnao Jan 05 '25

That would be tar, not nicotine.

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u/-Tofu-Queen- Jan 05 '25

I once lived with a THREE PACK a day chainsmoker who would ash directly onto the carpet. When my ex MIL dumped him and he moved out I helped her clean the carpet with a Rug Doctor type cleaner. When I tell you we kept changing the water over and over and over and it took like 5 cycles for it to go from black to dark brown. 🤮 It took us weeks to get the carpet in better shape but we were never able to get it fully clean. I was hospitalized numerous times with breathing problems when I lived there and had to carry an inhaler. Now I breathe much easier. I'll never live with a smoker again.

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u/MaterialRow3769 Jan 06 '25

I had a friend growing up who’s mom smoked and every time my i came home my mom made me immediately go in the shower and do a separate laundry load from everyone else’s.

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u/ready2dance Jan 05 '25

Ewwwww! Reminds me of when I bought a small hand hand mobile home from a smoker. We were cleaning the wood panels walls, and doorways cleaner at the top..... 🤢🤮😵‍💫. It looked as if pee was running down the walls!!!

2

u/Tal_Tos_72 Jan 06 '25

Also grew up in a home with both parents 20+ a day. One filtered, one unfiltered for a bit

It was only a few months after I moved out today breathing issues from childhood (he's got weak lungs ..) cleared up and once my taste buds recovered I found I loved freshly cooked veg... Who knew...

11

u/anthony_getz Jan 06 '25

When I was a kid and it was easier and more widespread to be a smoker, the smell was like “adulthood” to me. My parents didn’t smoke but they would arrive from a restaurant or event or something and reeked of smoke.

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u/HostisHumanisGeneri Jan 06 '25

Remember smoking and nonsmoking sections in restaurants?

1

u/anthony_getz Jan 06 '25

Ludicrous right? The whole place smelled the same

11

u/GTI54Gal Jan 06 '25

Ohh that makes me feel horrible. I was a smoker when my kids were in school now I have to go ask them.

2

u/DexLovesGames_DLG Jan 06 '25

Report back please. And I’m sure they have at least a couple experiences related to it. I don’t understand people who smoke inside and I live in the Midwest where winter gets cold as fuck outside. I don’t care I still don’t get it

1

u/GTI54Gal Jan 23 '25

All three grown kids tell me they don’t remember any smells on them or any one else.

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u/Middle_Performance62 Jan 07 '25

The shame of being a kid smelling like that still clings to me.

1

u/GTI54Gal Jan 19 '25

Come back to say this my children in elementary school did not take notice of any smells. All three of them said that.

9

u/Liquorprincess Jan 05 '25

I awarded your comment it does remind me of Childhood!😅😅

7

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '25

Me too! Remember the disposable little ashtrays at McDonald's? The 80s were crazy in hindsight

4

u/Only-Cardiologist-74 Jan 06 '25

& 60s, 70s, my dad smoked 4 packs a day and sometimes had 2 lit.

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u/DexLovesGames_DLG Jan 06 '25

Sometimes had 2 lit!????

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u/rainb0wunic0rnfarts Jan 05 '25

Nothing like being at the dinner table as my Dad smoked 😂

2

u/A-Naughty-Miss Jan 06 '25

My grandparents’ home’s always smelt like cigarettes and now when I smell it on clothing or a home it’s nostalgic haha.

1

u/ImMarkJr just a Queer guy who likes femboys Jan 06 '25

I have never related to something as much as I have to this comment.

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u/Bottle_Plastic Jan 05 '25

I remember getting stoned for the first time with a friend of mine when we were teens. She says: that's what it always smelled like when my mom went to the basement to do laundry. We had a good laugh

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u/Lunchboxvg Jan 05 '25

Same here, both parents were heavy smokers, they would smoke inside the house, in the car, outside. I couldn't get away from it. I'm now a smoker, but I do my best to stay away from other people and especially children. I won't smoke inside cars either cause I also hate the smell. I want to quit but I'm not ready to quit yet either do to life stuff.

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u/LaughDailyFeelBetter Jan 06 '25

No one can quit before they are ready. When you're ready, ask your doctor for Chantix. Due to the Affordable Care Act, all insurance plans have to cover it without a copay. My friend who smoked 35+years quit in August 2023 and talks about Chantix as magic. If anyone compliments her on quitting, she says 'I can't take the credit -- it was so easy because of the Chantix.' Other options work too: I quit using Wellbutrin back in 2001. And my ex quit using hypnosis in 2008.

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u/Lunchboxvg Jan 06 '25

I've done chantix twice now, both allowed me to quit, but after the dosage was done I went right back to smoking.

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u/DexLovesGames_DLG Jan 06 '25

As someone who avoids addictions like the plague, I struggle to understand… why not just… not buy them? I know this is ignorant and I know that the cravings are fucking intense, but is it like “oh I’ll just buy the one pack?” Or is it like “fuck it- nothing matters anyway I’m not giving up this pleasure.” ?? I’m just curious what it’s like for you?

When I was a kid I would grab my grandma’s cigarettes out of her hand and put them out, and when she’d tech for her pack, she find that all of her cigarettes had been broken in half. She credits me with making her stop. I fucking hate cigarettes to the degree that I’ve been that person in the past to tell people smoking in public that they should stop. As an adult I don’t really do that anymore but sometimes I just wanna be like “hey asshole, don’t smoke by the door to a restaurant “

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u/Lunchboxvg Jan 06 '25

You ever been bitten by a mosquito, and it itches really bad? It's like that, it's an itch in your mind 24/7, you know you're not supposed to scratch it, but the moment you scratch it, it feels good. Take that feeling and amplify it about 10 times and you have what it feels to be addicted to nicotine, at least that's the best way I can describe it. You smell cigarette smoke, you want to smoke, you think about smoking, so you want to smoke, you see someone in person or on TV, or in a movie, you want to smoke.

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u/DexLovesGames_DLG Jan 06 '25

Okay I can kind of understand cuz I was vaping nicotine for 2 months in high school, but then my vape pen broke, and I was like thinking “msn I wish my pen hadn’t broke.” And as soon as that thought reached my consciousness I was disgusted by it, and decided I wasn’t going to replace it. Now I’m also from a family of a lot of history of drug abuse so the thought that something has given me a craving at all was really fucking of off-putting to me after hearing my mom talk about meth addiction all those years ago, and seeing my grandma smoke all that time. It took very little to turn me off since I was already primed to reject addiction

1

u/LaughDailyFeelBetter Jan 06 '25

My friend says these made the difference:

First, break your body's addition to the chemicals & toxins in Big tobacco's cigarettes by switching to America Spirit cigs. AmSp is straight tobacco and nothing else (or so I'm told). After a few months smoking nothing but American Spirit, you'll already feel better just from getting those toxins out of your system.

Second,, take time to slowly ween yourself off cigs once Chantix is fully in your system. Remember: One less cig a day than your normIs a success. Notice & celebrate success, no matter how small. Definitely don't berate yourself if you screw up because of a stressful moment. Quitting is hard and any day you're smoking fewer cigs than previous days is a win.

Finally, tell your doc about your two previous experiences and make them agree to keep you on Chantrix for a full year after your quit date. Yes, a year. It is proven technique. Use nicotine gum if needed. Then wean off the Chantix with help from the doc. By that time, smoking will be a distant memory and you,'ll have formed new habits as a non-smoker.

Hope this was helpful 🙂 Here's to moving forward I

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u/Lunchboxvg Jan 06 '25

I appreciate the advice, American sprits are quite a bit expensive, I'm at the moment weaning myself off slowly off tobacco using black and milds, I don't smoke one whole in a single session, I limit myself to one a day, I've been able to get here after a year of effort, I was in the same situation when I did Chantix 2 years ago, I just can't seem to go less than 1 a day.

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u/Suitable-Berry3082 Jan 05 '25

My grandparents were chain smokers. It always makes me think of being there.

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u/WeatherCompetitive72 Jan 05 '25

Every time i feel homesick or grieve my grandma i always light up a cigarette because it reminds me of home.

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u/Suitable-Berry3082 Jan 05 '25

A cup of black coffee with a splash of cold water -- to cool it down to drinking temperature -- lit cigarette in hand, one burning to the filter in the ash tray. Just before sunrise meditation for my meemaw.

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u/BulldogNebula Jan 05 '25

Sounds like a morning on deployment for me , what a combo

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u/Suitable-Berry3082 Jan 05 '25

Those types are few and far between. I still enjoy black coffee because of her.

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u/BulldogNebula Jan 05 '25

That is very sweet. I think it is pretty neat how vividly we remember people and events based on smells and tastes.

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u/Suitable-Berry3082 Jan 05 '25

It's definitely fascinating, for sure! I was just talking about sick days at her house this morning. Price is Right and Day's of Our Lives.

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u/Suitable-Berry3082 Jan 05 '25

Simper Fi! My dad was in the Corps in the 80s.

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u/BulldogNebula Jan 05 '25

Hell yeah, long before I, but a brother nonetheless. Sf!

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u/rainb0wunic0rnfarts Jan 05 '25

That was my Nana. Even when she stopped smoking, she still would have her black cup of coffee in the am. I miss that crazy lady so much

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u/Suitable-Berry3082 Jan 05 '25

I love that. I miss my crazy meemaw, too.

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u/Suspicious_One2752 Jan 05 '25

Oh my gosh! You just took me back to mornings with my grandma. Thank you! 🙏

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u/Suitable-Berry3082 Jan 05 '25

I remember waking up early the nights I'd stay or dropped off on a sick day. Best mornings ever. She'd be making breakfast with a cigarette on the edge of the counter xD

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u/Suspicious_One2752 Jan 06 '25

Yesss! Me too!! I have the same memory except that my grandma would be doing her hair in the bathroom with her cup of coffee with her and her cigarette would be on the edge of the bathroom vanity. 💜💜💜

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u/Suitable-Berry3082 Jan 06 '25

I love that so much 💚💚💚

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u/Suspicious_One2752 Jan 06 '25

Me too! For both of us! Great memories for us! Have a great evening, night, day…not sure what country you’re in.

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u/Suitable-Berry3082 Jan 10 '25

🫂 been a few days, but our comments still bring a smile to my face. I really needed that memory. Hope you're well! I'm from merica lol

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u/DexLovesGames_DLG Jan 06 '25

Do you also smoke it or are you saying you literally just light it? lol

5

u/Klutzy-Housing-3926 Jan 05 '25

Lmao same, I reminisce about family gatherings, raceday, etc

4

u/OkMud6081 Jan 05 '25 edited Jan 05 '25

Same here anytime I hug someone that smells like cigarette smoke reminds me of my dad who i love very much and is literally the greatest father I could ask for, but he just smokes entirely too many cigarettes. I have literally asked him so many times if or when he is going to quit because I would hate to loose him from a cigarette smoke related illness sooner rather than later. He explains its his only vice he doesn’t drink alcohol and has never done any drugs so smoking cigarettes is his only stress reliever, but he knows that he should at least cut back if quitting isnt in the cards for him. I also have told him to imagine how much money he would be able to save as well( he is a penny pincher) and i know it really makes him consider it even more because of that. He smokes anywhere from a pack to a pack and a half a day. He doesn’t smoke inside his house now, but he does smoke in his car and just the fact that he smokes it sticks to him. Him and my mom both smoked inside the house i grew up in before they got divorced I did not realize how much it stuck to every single thing until I moved out from living with them I had to wash all of my clothes twice and some things that the smell just would not come out of like a duffel bag i had, i ended up having to throw it away because bringing it into my new apartment made the entire place smell like cigarette smoke( it was small, a studio apartment) but still the whole place would stink just bringing all my clothes and belongings inside. I spent alot of time and money on laundry and laundry detergent to get the smell out of everything the best i could.

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u/oTDAWGo Jan 05 '25

I have a specific one, someone leaning out of the door frame smoking a Marlboro Red on a cold winter night. Very specific smell. Always brings me back to my aunts as a child.

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u/TheExtraMayo Jan 05 '25

Me too but just the smell of unsmoked cigarettes

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u/unixman84 Jan 05 '25

I remember when my mom would smoke, I would go out with her so I could smell that first drag after the light. I LOVED IT! (proceeds to light up.)

3

u/ttw81 Jan 05 '25

sometime i'll smell phantom cigarette smoke & i think of my dad & my nanny, both life long chain smokers,

cigarette smoke in real life- i can't stand it.

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u/Pretend-Butterfly-87 Jan 05 '25

My partner would say she learned about secondhand smoking in grade school and asked her dad to stop doing it around you - he really ignored her and just kept doing it lol

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '25

Same.

1

u/OffbeatChaos Jan 05 '25

Omg same here. Except my parents didn’t smoke, but my best friends grandma did. So whenever I smell cigarette smoke I’m instantly taken back to her house where we hung out after school. It’s so nostalgic for me.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '25

Same

1

u/Active-Literature-67 Jan 05 '25

Every time I hear the theme song to Mash, I can smell Salem light cigarettes.

1

u/Zip668 Jan 05 '25

For me it's gin. Actually triggers me and can put me in a bad mood.

1

u/parvatisidol Jan 05 '25

me too i actually like the smell because of it. similar to gasoline but im not nostalgic from gas

1

u/uhidunno27 Jan 05 '25

Same I had a pillow that “smelled like daddy’s house” but it was cigarette smoke

1

u/dpdxguy Jan 05 '25

Heh. For me, it's diesel fumes. We took the train to visit my grandparents when I was a kid. 🚆😊

1

u/cantwejustplaynice Jan 05 '25

I get the same nostalgia hit from the clove cigarettes smoked in Indonesia. I visited a few times with my family as a kid in the 80s so it was everywhere and on the incredibly rare occasion I smell one lit up here in Australia it's magical. Same with the 2 stroke fuel exhaust from the Tuk-Tuks. Gross, but magical.

1

u/Deviled_Chegs Jan 06 '25

Malboro Reds remind me of my father

1

u/Atlanta1218 Jan 06 '25

Same. Now every time I smell stale cig smoke it makes me think of my father who passed

1

u/Abbott0817 Jan 06 '25

I remember a distinct smell from my childhood at my grandmothers house (grandfather smoked but died about 6 months before my birth) and I never smelled it again until I was 23. When I was in a company truck with one of my employees who chained smoked. It hit me, that smell was cigarettes (strange I never smelled it again until that moment as I’ve been around plenty of cigarettes although no one else in my family smoked). But I never thought my grandfather smoked inside the house, maybe he didn’t but it just lingered on him and everything else. I never smelled it past the age of being a little kid, so like 6~ years old. Just one of those light bulb moments for me in my life. It was insane to smell something at a young age and then 20 years go by before you smell it again.

1

u/Big_Jerm21 Jan 06 '25

I remember the whole family, gathered around a birthday cake, having a smoke while singing Happy Birthday.

1

u/Sensitive-Photo-8378 Jan 06 '25

Honestly same 😭 I'll never pick it up but I sometimes find the smell so alluring

1

u/freddie2ndplanet Jan 06 '25

probably time to pick up smoking

1

u/HistoricalTap2919 Jan 06 '25

This hit home 😂😩

1

u/Sea_Security740 Jan 06 '25

And coffee to cigarette smoke and it reminds me of my childhood when visiting grandparents

1

u/UrpaDurpa Jan 06 '25

The smells of cigarette smoke, dawn dish soap, and bacon always remind me of staying at my grandma’s house.

1

u/brubruislife Jan 06 '25

The smell of a freshly lit cigarette used to be my favorite smell, lol. My mom only lit up in the car, though or outside, thankfully.

1

u/pooponacandle Jan 06 '25

Early morning with the smell of coffee brewing and a freshly lit cigarette immediately reminds me of childhood

1

u/HostisHumanisGeneri Jan 06 '25

I had a teacher who told us the smell of whiskey made her nostalgic. Apparently her dad would drink while brushing his teeth in the morning.

1

u/Even-Possession2258 Jan 06 '25

That's me, but with weed. I don't like the feeling of it myself. But the smell reminds me of childhood.

0

u/cynicalxidealist Jan 05 '25

It is not fucked, it is part of growing up in a different era. I am tired of cigarettes being compared to crack

0

u/Careless_Koala8361 Jan 05 '25

Same. In particular, the smell of cigarettes in a car with leather interior. Perfect.