Interviewing a Smoker. (New)

"So, do you remember when you started smoking?" I asked.                                                                        
     "At the age of thirteen."
                                                                                                                                                                  "Wow. That's young!" I exclaimed. "And why did you start smoking?"
                                                                                                                                                                 "I don't know... I was deep in the woods with some of my friends on a Saturday night and someone offered me one. In a friend group like mine, I guess I'd be a jerk if I turned them down." She shrugged.
                                                                                                                                                                   "Alright, and do you regret smoking?" I inquired as I scanned her expression.
                                                                                                                                                                 "Sometimes... I regret it for sure when I have to run and I'm out of breath after the first few seconds!" She chuckled dryly. "My lungs definitely aren't what they used to be, I'll tell you that."

"Do you have plans to quit?"

"Yeah actually, I don't know if I'll ever actually get to it though. It's really easy to procrastinate something like that. I mean, I know I should quit. That's what everyone tells me, so I try but their nagging almost makes me not want to quit out of spite!" She admitted with an amused expression.

"True, true. Does your family know you smoke? Your friends? Or is it a private thing." I said.

"It was never private. Nobody ever seemed majorly bothered by it since they'd all be hypocrites if they criticized my choice so they stayed out of it. A few of my friends though really disagree with me smoking so I try not to do it around them."

"That's decently respectful. Have you tried smokeless tobacco?"

"You mean the stuff you chew?" She asked

"Yeah." I replied.

"No, no... That might be a little too much for me. Kinda gross... It gives your mouth sores, one of my friends has a bunch of them and it looks nasty when he spits the tobacco out." She cringed instinctively.

"I see. Do you try to get your friends to smoke?" I said.

"Eh, no. Well, most of them already do, but the ones who don't I don't try to pressure. I mean kudos to them for not smoking. It'd be really hard for me to be smoke free."

"Alright, and do you think that society and media is glorifying smoking?" I questioned.

"Well, I don't think it is on purpose, but who knows. Maybe tobacco companies are making their own product placement deals. It wouldn't surprise me. Although if they are it must be somewhat subliminal, because TV didn't really come to mind when it came to me choosing to smoke or not." She explained in a lengthy way.

I nodded, "Who influenced your choice?"

"My friends mainly. I know peer pressure sounds like a cheesy topic and such a health class concept, but it exists and it's terrifying. I hated the idea of all of my friends teasing me and stuff so I didn't show much hesitance when it came to the first puff."

"Who was the first person you saw smoke?"

"Oh, no doubt both of my parents. They smoked all the time." She responded.

"Did that bother you, do you consider it an abusive habit?" I tilted my head to the side slightly.

"It didn't bother me. I mean, I know it probably wasn't a good thing and I'm not supporting smoking around kids, but when I was little I didn't really think about it."

"Well, are you ready for our last question?" I asked excitedly.

"Lay it on me."

"Do you, think, that you'd ever smoke around your own kids in the future?"

"Oh, definitely not! I don't hate my parents for doing it, but I would not. I just know its an unhealthy habit, and If I had kids I'd probably try to quit smoking all together to try and discourage them from it." She nodded in certainty.

"Oh, well that's it! Thank you for your time!"

"No problem."