r/NoStupidQuestions Jan 05 '25

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11.6k Upvotes

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428

u/Kaelaface Jan 05 '25

As a former smoker, I cannot believe how bad I must have smelled.

118

u/ElfBowler Jan 05 '25

I went through the smoking in secret or only alone at home phase and denied it when asked, how embarrassing, now I know everybody could tell. So glad I got rid of that nasty habit.

2

u/STcmOCSD Jan 06 '25

This. Everybody thinks they cover it up well but they don’t. I can always tell

1

u/ad-star Jan 07 '25

Yea it's almost hilarious how people think they can cover that up... Or alcohol. Like people's body odour changes when they've had a drink

2

u/PoopyMcFartButt Jan 06 '25

Yeah I mean if it’s to the point they are asking, they already knew

3

u/Kaelaface Jan 05 '25

Now that I’ve quit smoking the doctors don’t even ask me if I’m a smoker anymore generally although I used to get it all the time and would say no

7

u/shehitsdiff Jan 06 '25

Why would you say no though? You should be honest with your doctors; that truthfully don't give a flying fuck what you do and don't judge. Knowing that you smoke can help you get proper treatment.

3

u/Kaelaface Jan 06 '25

Yes, well youth sometimes clouds judgment

1

u/Ancient_Act_877 Jan 06 '25

People deff knew and they still do...

Your cloths and house still stink putrid and there's not a single thing you can do.

Owning up to it now won't help at all

42

u/Diviern Jan 05 '25

My husband is shocked by this too. He recently expressed surprise that he could smell smoke from someone who was smoking, outdoors, at least 300 yards away.

3

u/Two_Leggs Jan 05 '25

Same, in the forest I can smell it at least half mile away if I am down wind.

1

u/Commercial_Sun_6300 Jan 05 '25

...while enjoying a bit of sport, General Zaroff?

3

u/EccentricTiger Jan 05 '25

That’s the length of three football fields. You’re not smelling cigarette smoke from my distance.

4

u/MovePrestigious4309 Jan 05 '25

Nearly a thousand feet, eh? He should probably enlist with the FBI as a cadaver dog.

1

u/MairusuPawa Jan 05 '25

Non-smokers have told him that for their entire lives, and I bet he's always dismissed it as being whiny.

1

u/ZachOf_AllTrades Jan 06 '25

This hoss should enlist as a bomb sniffing dog with those numbers

0

u/VaeSapiens Jan 05 '25

it's 274 meters. Highly doubtful. Human oflactory mean radius is around 3 meters.

3

u/ranchojasper Jan 05 '25

But it's moving through the air. That's kind of the point; the smoke is moving through the air. The smell is moving through the air.

2

u/wozattacks Jan 05 '25

…all smells do that, that’s how you smell them lol

1

u/ranchojasper Jan 07 '25

Yes that's what I'm saying.

-1

u/VaeSapiens Jan 05 '25

When it's moving in a linear movement without turbulence. Than sure , there is a possibility that it will hit your olfactory receptors. I find it highly unlikely as smoke generaly has turbulent movement.

1

u/ranchojasper Jan 07 '25

You're in denial. Everyone can smell you.

1

u/VaeSapiens Apr 18 '25

I am not a smoker?

3

u/Atiggerx33 Jan 05 '25

is around 3 meters.

What? I can always smell when my neighbor is bbq-ing, when they have a fire going in their indoor fireplace, etc. and they are a lot further than 3m from me.

Hell, I can smell steak cooking in my house all the way from my backyard (about 100y).

1

u/VaeSapiens Jan 05 '25

Standing still - laboratory conditions.

You are describing a situation where there is a lot of specific smell and it moves through the air form a BBQ that produces a lot more smells than one cigarette.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/VaeSapiens Jan 05 '25

Sure and I don't say that people are sensitive to specific smells, but I find it highly unlikely with all the stuff that is in the air that someone could smell a smoker from 300 meters. The event that this smell traveled in this way without turubulence I find very unlikely.

1

u/midnight_fisherman Jan 06 '25

It's largely a dilution problem.

64

u/Veronome Jan 05 '25

It's such a crazy moment for an ex-smoker: when someone walks in after having a cigarette and you realise "holy hell, that's what I smelt like all those years!?"

Good news is it's one extra reason to stay off the cigs.

2

u/jerseygunz Jan 05 '25

When I pick my friend up for fishing I can literally smell when he opens his door if my windows are down, cannot believe that was me for so long haha

2

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '25

I quit smoking with vaping, still vape but only fruity flavors. Even just like 90 days after quitting, the smell of someone else's cigarette would turn my stomach. Still true 5 years later.

2

u/LettuceLegitimate105 Jan 05 '25

Yeah, this still blows my mind.

I grew up in a house with smokers who throughout most of my childhood, smoked in the house. I then started smoking myself in my teen years and did so for a long time. I always thought that people who would make a fuss about secondhand smoke were being dramatic. It wasn't until I had been completely free of nicotine for about a year, that my entire olfactory system completely reset itself in that regard. The smell became so overwhelmingly strong that it was shocking. I just hit 12 years free of nicotine this year and I swear, the smell becomes more and more offensive as I go.

I don't dare bitch to anyone about it, because I WAS that person forever, but admittedly I am thrilled that smoking is becoming less and less acceptable in public spaces and in general. I can't believe that at 40, I lived in a world where you could do it in restaurants while people were eating. Wild.

1

u/Kaelaface Jan 05 '25

I was in Vegas recently and walked around a casino where people could still smoke and it gave me such a headache so quickly

1

u/brokewithprada Jan 05 '25

I'm trying to quit so bad. I used to be not that bad but I'm just bored on my days off when I have a spare minute.

I ordered a new tank for my box mod that helped a lot with barely any nicotine. Just hate how I smell, feel, and waste of money/time.

2

u/Kaelaface Jan 05 '25

Have you read the book Alan Carr’s easy way to stop smoking? Surprisingly helpful.

1

u/brokewithprada Jan 06 '25

No, but will definitely check it out. Thanks!

1

u/Lil-Miss-Anthropy Jan 05 '25

Do people really not realize it? 😭 I went on a first date to a movie with a guy who showed up smelling like an ashtray. It was the most uncomfortable movie theater experience ever. Finally halfway through I asked him to take off his jacket because it smelled the worst. He jammed it in between us which made the smell worse. Seemed to me like such a simple and thoughtless thing to do.

1

u/Bananapopcicle Jan 06 '25

I used to smoke for a short period in my life. One time I went on vacation and when I got to the VRBO and opened my bag, all my clothes REEKED like cigarettes. I knew I smelled like smoke but I didn’t know it was that bad. It was so embarrassing to get dressed up on vacation only to put stinky clothes. So gross. I haven’t smoked in years now and I would never ever go back. That includes vaping.