by Maksuder RahamanEvery day, every morning, as I exit the subway, there is one thing that I do. I am sure many New Yorkers can relate. What is it, you ask? Smoking cigarettes. Personally, my vice of choice is Marlboro Lights with a cup of regular coffee—my day is incomplete without my two friends and companions. As I walk to school, I think about and simply enjoy the pleasure derived from the taste of both coffee and tobacco, mixing and creating a new flavor that is unique to me. Some say addiction, but I say, it’s my prerogative. Most of my friends are smokers too. We smoke on a regular basis, and it seems there is no shortage of cigarettes, because if I don't have a cigarette, then my friend has one, if my friend doesn't have one, then there always someone else who has. Therefore we don't need to worry about it. But it wasn't always like that, because a few of my friends whom I have known for quite a few years weren't smokers when I met them for the first time. It was just a few of us, smoking, for quite some time. One of my closest friends didn't smoke 3 years ago, but that all changed once he met our friendship circle. He started to smoke with us, once or twice a day. Then he kind of started to like it, and then it became habit. Now he smokes even more cigarettes than we do, and he is really addicted to it. There is another friend who also didn't smoke a year ago. But last summer he started to smoke. It was not because he had to or anything. For him it started out as fun, because since most of his friends are smokers and it was summertime and we hung out late at night. It influenced him, and he was curious about what smoking feels like. In the beginning it started out as fun, and he smoked once a day. Now I see it's not just for fun with him. He has gotten used to it. Sometimes we make fun of him and remind him that he always used to say that he would never get used to smoking. He still claims that he is a not regular smoker, because he doesn't buy a pack of cigarettes. But I know that's not true. Even though he doesn't buy cigarettes, with large numbers of friends he doesn't need to buy the cigarettes to become a chain smoker. He always can borrow one or two cigarettes from us whenever he needs it. And end of the day, if we count how many cigarettes he smokes from here and there, it would mount up to more than me or other regular smoker friends. Most of the time we have bought our own packages of cigarettes, but for him it's kind of unlimited, because he can borrow from anyone whenever he wants to. He doesn't realized that he is now a regular heavy smoker, but I know that he is addicted, because that's how I started, and since then I couldn’t stop. I m not much of a talker outside of my comfort zone. That's why most my friends are fellow Bangladeshi and neighbors. As much as I like to talk to people and become friendly with others, outside of my comfort zone it's really difficult for me to socialize. That's why most of the time I just stay quiet or just listen to other people. It’s same for the college, where I don't have many friends, nor do I know many people. But there are some people who I used to hang out with, and there are few people I hang out with after school or between classes. I can socialize easily with these people because we all have one thing in common: we all are smokers. This socialization starts with a borrowed cigarette or lighter. Then we start to ask each other’s names, and then before we know it we begin to talk regular basis, and become friends. I’m not saying that people need to smoke to make friends, but for me it helped, because I am sure otherwise I wouldn’t be able to make friends in college. I think smoking is a habit that is, most of the time, influenced by the friends or people with whom you socialized. It doesn't start suddenly, one day when you wake up and decide to smoke. It's more that you observe or follow the people you hang out with. Then the next thing you know, you have also start to smoke, because you want to do what they do, share an activity and a moment in time and a space. Later people get so used to smoking cigarettes that they become physically addicted to it. On the other hand I think smoking also a form of sociability, because in my personal experience I have found that smoking lets people start a conversation with anyone, anywhere. You may be wondering what is the difference between smoking solo in the morning as I walk to school versus smoking in the evening with my friends after class—this question, I am still pondering….but what I know for sure, as of now, that I have to have a cigarette between my walks to and from school and the subway. Am I addicted to cigarettes or the routine and habit of smoking—I don’t know. But I know that after every meal I have to have a cigarette whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner; otherwise it doesn’t feel right. I also know that it releases my tension and give me peace of mind for a while. We all know smoking cigarettes is bad for our health. The purpose of my writing is not to encourage people to smoke. It’s just my personal experience. Perhaps that’s the same experience many other smokers I know have. Otherwise it’s difficult to explain why people smoke. Since I am Muslim some people many question the morality of smoking in religious point of view. I don’t know whether smoking cigarettes is allowed or not. But some Muslim people in my South East region say it’s allowed and some people say it’s not, because there is a lot of Muslim people smoke. I didn’t try to find out which one is true, because I think I am not ready to quit smoking yet.
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