Nicholas's dad died from smoking. His dad had lung cancer. Because of this Nicholas's mom is against smoking. When Nicholas was little, he promised to never smoke. When he got older, however, his friends encouraged him to try it. Nicholas started smoking when he was 18 years old. At first, he would only smoke once a week. As time went on, he started smoking 5 cigarettes a day. He stopped for a couple of years. However, he continued once he graduated from college.
At Nicholas's job, everyone smoked during the break. It was hard not to smoke. If he didn't smoke, he felt like he would not be accepted. This happened to one coworker. Lawrence did not smoke. Because of this, he didn't go outside with the other coworkers during the break. He missed out on a lot of socializing and conversations about work. Lawrence did not have as many connections as Nicholas.
One day, Nicholas's mom visited him at work to surprise him with lunch. When she saw him, she immediately knew he smoked because he smelled. "How could you?! You know your father died from smoking!" she said. Nicholas's mom started crying and his coworkers stopped what they were doing and stared. Nicholas begged his mom to stop crying and promised to never smoke again.