In the distant past, I used to be able to sit down at a bar where people would smoke, and not mind at all. Then came the smoking ban, which made me find it unpleasant, but not a big deal. Then came the lockdowns, and I got used to breathing super fresh air all the time. Now I start coughing if someone outdoors smokes 5m away from me and the wind blows it in my direction. Does this happen to anyone else or is it just me?
The thing that always shocks me, is how fucking vile cigarette smoke smells. It’s almost like they intentionally engineered it to smell like death.
I think cigar smoke and pipe smoke actually smells sort of pleasant. Why do cigarettes smell so bad? Is it just all the preservatives and other nonsense they put in them? I went to France a few years ago and thought the cigarettes smelled significantly less horrible than they do in the US. Maybe they smoke more natural cigarettes?
I used to smoke occasionally and I also noticed a huge difference between self-rolled cigarettes and “normal” pre-rolled cigaretts. After smoking one “normal” pre-rolled cigarette, my hand and pretty much all of my clothes would noticeably smell for the rest of the day (to the point where even I would smell it on myself). The self-rolled cigarettes would smell too of course, but nowhere near as bad as the pre-rolled ones. Maybe it’s the additives that make the pre-rolled cigarettes burn better.