Noel King

And that comes into play with dating as well.

And there's this real moment of fatigue with dating.

Gen Zers and dating apps being like, well, we don't want to do this.

We want to do something else.

And I think smoking really comes into play in terms of meeting people naturally there because it is a very natural conversation starter.

But smoking a cigarette kind of hits.

It helps you get outside.

It helps you make friends because you're going to be like, hey, do you have an extra cig?

And most of the time people say yes, right?

It's something that I've seen playing out online in terms of even people that don't smoke might carry a lighter with them.

So if someone needs a lighter at the bar, they can spark up a conversation.

And just that smokers, they talk to each other, which a lot of people now...

don't do they're not inclined to do that but like you're much more likely to in a pub garden or outside the bar on the street as everyone loves to do in london sort of sitting on the curb with a drink in their hand and a cigarette in the other you talk to people which you probably don't do if you're inside of a bar in the same way and you definitely don't do if you're in a reformer pilates studio

But it would be funny if you tried.

Okay, so to this point, we have been strictly vibes-based in this conversation.

What does the data actually say about whether people are smoking more?

So the data doesn't show that they're smoking more.

Okay.

Which is interesting and kind of feeds into this theory of it really being a pop culture thing rather than an actual thing.

The most recent data I've been able to find is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.