I once had a school board president tell me she had voted against my hiring because I smelled so badly of smoke; we had driven 3 1/2 hours to the interview, smoking in the car on the way up. It was a very rude awakening.

I've had staff tell me they didn't want so and so on their committee because of the smoke smell.

One client in my obesity counseling program was kind enough to not keep it to himself that when I was in his house it made it smell smoky.

One customer, having received an item that had, because of a long holiday weekend, sat in the car for three days before it was mailed wanted to return the item because it smelled badly of smoke. NEVER leave a boxed gift in a closed car if you smoke!

One dear friend told me, when I used to smoke in my home, that she hated to meet at my house for coffee because she always had to wash her hair afterwards - even if I didn't smoke when she was there!

Here's the important news: most people will never tell you what they think about how you smell, and they surely won't tell you if you are being left out of something or not chosen for something because of it!

It is up to us, as smokers, to be considerate of others and take care of ourselves.