Not Smoking...The Divine Pain

First off, I'd like to share the wonderful Disney cartoon above, made in 1951. It stars Goofy and is -- at least ostensibly -- an anti-smoking cartoon, although personally I have my doubts. The foibles of smoking are so loveably recreated that I can't escape the suspicion that the entire creative team was puffing as they drew. Goofy attempts to quit, but (spoiler alert!) just can't bring himself to do it.

His failed attempts to procure tobacco while he is "nic-fitting" (I don't think I've used that phrase since high school) will be instantly relatable to smokers. What is glossed over, however, is the perverse enjoyment that smokers (can) receive from just such a predicament.

We have all had to go for stretches of time without smoking; some enjoyable, some not so much. The knowledge that you will be sans nicotine for 6+ hours during an uncomfortable flight is enough to spawn a minor panic attack, but holding off on a smoke break during a family get-together for Easter (don't want to explain to your little nephew what you're doing) can be exquisite torture.

Holding off on temptation, teasing yourself with the possibility of succumbing, excites you. Even now as I write, my throat is itching, truly itching, for tobacco smoke. The knowledge that I will sate my desire momentarily makes that itching pleasurable, even erotic.

The pay-off will be, and always has been, immensibly enjoyable. But it's the waiting, the itching, the foreplay, that makes it oh-so-much better.