The woman next to me in the self checkout lane today absolutely reeked of cigarettes.

She was about 10 feet away from me but smelled so badly that I instantly got a headache and got nauseous. It smelled like she had been wearing the same jacket for years, chain smoking away without ever washing it, and there was just this enveloping, assaulting cloud of cigarette funk emanating from her.

It was so goddamn disgusting, and here I am hours later still thinking about how bad it was. It keeps turning my stomach.

I am so thankful I quit in 2024, because if that is what I smelled like, I'm f'n embarrassed; in a strange way it feels good to feel so disgusted from smelling that woman. I know I don't smell like that now, and you don't have to smell like that, either.

To the "thinking of quitting" and newly quit - you're doing yourself a huge favor by quitting, and I believe in you. I smoked for 30 years at a pack a day, now I'm constantly grateful that I don't smoke anymore and that makes me know others can succeed. You can do it!