What's Up With This?...anybody else?

Cacia

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• Nov 12, 2006

• #1

So...I have wanted to ask.

All the DEMA posts are making me remember when I attended DEMA in Houston a couple years back....

I could not get over ONE thing.

Everybody smoked. Outside the entry way, there were huge billows of smoke...people puffing butts all day long....honestly, I could not get over this and was kinda shocked.

I think I get around and I have never seen so many smokers, except maybe Vegas.

Is it just me? Is it still like that?

They just made smoking illegal in public places here, even outside.

When I think of DEMA, the first thing that enters my minds is the image and smell of smoke. am I whacked?

I don't even really care much..but I was so shocked that that many people still smoke cigarettes, and that all those people are divers.

I don't ever see people smoke much anymore.

 

Bill51

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• Nov 12, 2006

• #2

I met some of the most interesting people in the smoking area at DEMA – plus it was a great excuse to get outside and see the sun. Or maybe it was because all the cutest British dive gals smoked.

 

OP

Cacia

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• Nov 12, 2006

• #3

so..do you think a higher percentage of divers smoke than the general population?

 

Bill51

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• Nov 12, 2006

• #4

I’d say it’s about average but it may look like more smokers because I think many of us are held to higher standards than the general population.

Must get over this 3 month ordeal of root canals and dental work so I can quit again.

 

W

waterbearer

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• Nov 12, 2006

• #5

Hmmm...I didn't notice a smoking area or anyone smoking outside.

Not that I ever smoked a lot but I quit for good when I started diving.

 

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Cacia

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• Nov 12, 2006

• #6

gasp..not you! That nicotine will mess with your gums...the blood flow, ya know?

Bad, bad Bill.

well, Waterbearer, good to hear it..might just have been the Houston crowd....or maybe cause the only smoking area was by the entry.

Anybody know what percentage of people smoke?

 

Doc Intrepid

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• Nov 12, 2006

• #7

I have it on good authority that daily life in your late 80s and 90s is highly over-rated.

If you have healthy lungs and no cancer, it's some other damned thing or another...

Smoke'em if you got'em!











[Endorsement: The above is humor. Doc does not smoke, and does not recommend that young people of any age start smoking, especially divers. OTOH, if you ever walk into a room and Doc is in it 80+ years old and hooked up to some machine, he will be eternally grateful if you turn the damned thing off. This message approved by Doc. ]

 

neophyte

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• Nov 12, 2006

• #8

catherine96821:

Anybody know what percentage of people smoke?

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it's somewhere around 25% of adult Americans.

While most people here probably wouldn't think of diving as risky behavior, I'm sure plenty of non-divers would. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the tendency toward "risky", thrill-seeking activites translated into a higher percentage of divers who smoke, compared to the general population.

This is pure conjecture though, and I'm sure that there are all sorts of other demographics and issues involved that I'm not even thinking of.

 

Mako Mark

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• Nov 12, 2006

• #9

there is something about the fact that a large part of the people at DEMA do not live in the US. I remember coming back from Houston airport (where I had to walk a mile to get a sneaky and shameful nicotine fix) to Mexico where when I asked a cleaning lady where the ashtray was, she pointed at the floor and said the whole world is an ashtray.

I wonder if this is because smoking is more acceptable outside the more developed nations and that is where a lot of dive professionals live. It is also a lot easier to stay addicted when they are a dollar a packet.

Much to my shame, I am still addicted.

 

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Cacia

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• Nov 12, 2006

• #10

interesting to me.

25% ...wow..I feel the need to know, that sounds so high.

I might have to google search...

Doc, you had me going there for a second.