THE SMOKER’S CHALLENGE: The Simulation
What happens when you don’t want to quit smoking? This is the starting point for many. In this interactive chapter of The Smoker’s Challenge, we explore that exact feeling of resistance when a friend tries to help before you are ready:
You’ve finally finished all your chores. With nothing left to do for the rest of the afternoon, you sink into the couch and flip on the TV. With the pace you’ve been keeping lately, you’ve definitely earned some downtime.
You channel surf until you find the show you’re looking for. It’s a reality format that everyone trashes for being mindless, but you don’t care. Right now, you just want something to help you tune out the world and achieve a total «flatline» brain state—nothing that requires thinking or any intellectual effort.
In this moment of total Zen, your hand instinctively reaches for your pack of cigarettes. You pull one out, but just as you’re about to light it, your phone rings. You check the ID; it’s your best friend, Johnny.
«Hey! What’s up?» he says before you can even get a word out.
«Not much… just hanging out on the couch, watching TV,» you reply.
«Perfect. So… can you meet up right now?»
«Now?» you ask, surprised by the impatience you can hear in his voice, even over the phone.
«Yeah, now. Is it a bad time?»
«No, no. No one else is home anyway… so, sure! Let’s do it. I’m just watching some trash TV anyway,» you say, twiddling the cigarette between your fingers.
«At our usual spot?» He sounds more and more restless, and you have no idea why.
«Alright, but… can you tell me what the rush is? You’re making me nervous! Is everything okay?»
«Better than okay!» he exclaims. «Everything is great… but I’ve got a gift for you.»
«A gift? For what?» You’re totally lost now. It’s not your birthday or anything. Why now?
«Ahhh, if I told you now, it wouldn’t be a surprise. See you in half an hour?»
«Fine, punctuation, fine. See you then.»
«Catch ya later!»
You get up from the couch, grab a few things, and finally light the cigarette you’ve been holding the entire time. Usually, you would’ve lit up while talking, but Johnny had captured your attention so completely that the craving vanished during the call. Interesting—between the conversation and the moments right after, a good five minutes passed where the urge to smoke just… evaporated.
But whatever, it doesn’t matter. The craving is back now, and you take a long, deep drag while wondering what he could have found that’s got him so hyped to give you a present. You can’t think of a single plausible thing. «Well, I’ll find out in thirty minutes,» you think.
You’re the first one to arrive at the coffee shop. You glance at the patio and notice two tables are already taken at one end, so you pick a spot at the far opposite corner to have some privacy. The waiter, who’s just stepping outside, heads your way.
«Hey! The usual?» he asks.
«Yeah, and bring the same for my friend, he’s on his way… and an order of spicy fries.»
«Coming right up!»
Right after the waiter disappears, two couples walk in. Despite there being a dozen empty tables between you and the rest of the patio, they decide to sit right next to you—one couple to your right and the other to your left. So much for that privacy.
«Do people not understand personal space? I can practically tell what brand of underwear the guy next to me is wearing!» It never fails: the one time you want a little peace, people seem to sense it and swarm you. They even gave you a once-over before sitting down.
You feel like your personal bubble has been invaded, so you light another cigarette to try and wall yourself off again. Besides, it’s a way to kill time until Johnny shows up and to go along with the drinks the waiter just brought out.
Facing the truth: «I don’t want to quit smoking» right now
Ten minutes later, Johnny arrives, walking fast like he’s in an Olympic power-walking event. He spots you, beams a smile, and before even sitting down, he pulls out a package.
«Surprise!» he says, holding out a gift shaped like…
«A book? This is the big surprise?»
«Just open it and tell me what you think! I really think this is going to help you.»
«Alright, hand it over… by the way, I ordered some fries. Grab some if you want, though they taste pretty bland to me…»
Johnny pops a fry into his mouth and frowns.
«Bland? What are you talking about? These are great!»
«They taste like nothing to me, I don’t know what to tell you…»
«That’s weird… anyway, whatever. Are you gonna open the gift or what?» he prods.
«Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on!» you say as you tear into the wrapping. When you finally see what it is…
«A book on how to quit smoking?? Now?? I don’t even want to quit right now!»
Even though that’s what you’re thinking, you open it, flip through the pages, and give Johnny that typical half-smile people use when they don’t know what to say but don’t want to be rude. Whether you like it or not, he means well, even if quitting is the last thing on your mind.
«So? What do you think? Are you gonna give it a shot?» he asks, sporting a grin from ear to ear and practically bouncing in his seat with excitement. He’s clearly desperate for a «yes.»
«Well… yeah… I don’t know…» you stammer. «But is this really a quit-smoking book? I just glanced at a page and it said something about a business meeting or something,» you say, trying to change the subject.
«Yeah, that’s how it works. It’s made of short stories that show the daily life of a smoker, and at the end, it lets you choose what you want to do to avoid, you know, lighting up.»
«And can I choose that I want to keep smoking?» You couldn’t resist the sarcasm; the setup was just too perfect.
«Come on! It’s to help you quit!» he exclaims, throwing his arms up.
«Look, sometimes I’ve managed not to smoke in certain situations without changing anything or reading a book…»
«And how did you feel in those moments? Good or bad?»
«I mean… fine… well, maybe not ‘perfectly fine,'» you admit. He trapped you.
«That’s what the book is for. To help you quit and make it as painless as possible.»
«Sure, sure, but… what if what it says doesn’t work for me? What if I can’t do it?» you counter.
«Look, at the very least, it’ll make you stop and think. You’ll see yourself in those scenarios, and even if you don’t like the book’s suggestion, it forces you to figure out what you would do in that spot to avoid lighting up.»
«Wait, wait, let me look for something,» you say, flipping to the back cover to find the author’s bio.
«Wow, you didn’t look very good in this photo,» you say cynically.
«What are you talking about?» Now he’s the one who’s confused.
«I mean, you’re defending this book so much I thought you wrote it.» You’re just trying to deflect now; the conversation is starting to wear you out.
«Agh… fine. I can see you’re over it,» he says—finally! Praise the Lord! «It’s a gift, and I’ll let you do whatever you want with it, just like in the book. No matter how much the rest of the world wants you to quit, until you want to do it, nothing’s gonna happen.»
«I know,» you tell him. «I really appreciate the gesture, and I’ll think about it. I promise.» You say it just to make him feel better, but what you’re really thinking is:
- I actually do want to quit smoking.
- I don’t want to quit smoking because I enjoy it.
- I feel like I’m incapable of quitting.
- I’ll gain weight, and it’s not worth the effort.