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I don’t mean all the usual stuff: it’s bad for your lungs, it stunts your growth, it gives you gangrenous extremities. We all know that.

What I was wondering as I was struggling very hard with day 9, was “is there anything that I learned from smoking that I might otherwise not have learned?” In other words, is there anything positive that I can take away from years of something which is almost always portrayed in a negative way?

Now, don’t get me wrong. Anything I do present here should by no means be seen as a reason for a non-smoker to go out and buy a carton of Camel Lights in the quest of these things – far from it. But, being fairly optimistic about everything – there’s got to have been something that was of some use to me:

1. Time Management

Smokers are excellent at managing their time. Or, I should say: excellent at managing their time around their smoking. No matter how busy they are, how many projects are late or approaching their deadline, how late they are to pick up the kids/meet the wife/be on-time for the appointment – there’s always a few minutes for a cigarette.

Let’s just say 3 minutes for each cigarette (to get to where it’s going to be smoked, to light it, smoke it, then go back to where you started). Pack a day. That’s a whole hour per day, every day, that has been set aside purely to appease the nicodemon.

OK – so no more smoking … what to do with that extra time? There’s got to be something else extremely important that needs doing – maybe not 20 times a day.

2. Financial planning

Takes a lot of dedicated cash juggling to always have enough money on you to buy the next pack/carton of cigarettes.

A smoker’s train of thought …

If I go out and buy the sandwich for lunch first, then I won’t have enough cash left to buy the pack of cigarettes on the way back to the office. And I don’t think I’ve got enough to get through the afternoon. Doesn’t matter that it’s raining – I’ll go to the bank first – get more cash out (I’ll have a smoke on the way – yeah!), then I’ll buy a pack of cigarettes on the way to the sandwich shop – that way the sandwich will still be hot by the time I get back and I won’t risk having to stand in line at the cigarette stand.

Bit short of cash at the end of the month? Use credit cards. Or don’t buy food or something. After all – the cigarettes are an absolute life necessity, aren’t they?

3. Prioritizing

The #1 priority for any smoker is the cigarettes. Number one. Nothing comes above it. The cat can wait to be fed. Those people that I invited out for a drink: they can wait. Those people in the meeting waiting for me? They can wait too.

4. Being extra good at socializing and breaking the ice

All smokers have an understanding among themselves that they are the nouveau lepers – the outcasts of the 21st century, and that they must stand together in the face of tuts, hard stares and disapproving looks from grannies with big handbags and women pushing babies through their downstream smoke.

Nowhere is this solidarity more prevalent than outside a bar. Anywhere else, you’re seen as a bit of a freak to go up to someone and say something ‘just coz’. But, because you’re out there smoking and they are too – there’s nothing wrong with a “how’s it going?” or “hey there – damn it’s almost too cold to smoke isn’t it?”. The latter generally gets a laugh and gets the conversation going. In fact, so good is this camaraderie between smokers, I’ve actually heard of single girls (and guys) taking up smoking, in order to have a greater shot at meeting someone outside.

In summary, yep – there are a few things – a few (albeit very tenuous) positives. Some aren’t even positives – they’re just downright selfish. Do they outweigh the negatives? Of course not. Could these things be learned elsewhere – some other way? Of course.

Got to keep thinking positive though!