Since quitting smoking I don't have time to speak with old work friends who still smoke; one of them quit about 6 months ago after a heart attack, 3 stints followed by open heart surgery for a triple bypass. How much more advanced notice does he need? I told him about the website, but I can't quit for him.
How dangerous is for my little nicotine receptors (I sure hope they are shriveled pretty well by now) if I spend time outside with my friend while he is smoking? I never grew to hate fresh cigarette smoke, nor do I feel the need to have one when we are spending 5 short minutes talking outside. However I don't want to push it, and make the exposure something I "need" to have, and not something that is happening once or twice/week.
I sure hope, with NOPE in mind, and 450 precious DOFs, that I should let life happen around me and not be scared.
What would you say?
In answer to your title question - do you want it to be? A trigger? I think it becomes a choice, like anything else in our quits. In the beginning of my quit, sure, the smell of a cigarette would make me want one. Didn't matter, though, because I had made a total commitment and nothing was going to sway me from that decision. Now? If I smell a freshly lit cigarette and pass by that smoke - I love it. It's like taking a lick from that chocolate ice cream cone that a friend offers. Doesn't mean I have to go run in the store and buy one. It's a nice smell. (Unless it's one of those stinky kinds.) I remember it fondly. And so what? It's something I used to do. I don't do that any more. Nor do I have a craving after that brief sniffing. I kind of liken it to passing by someone making popcorn. Or going to a movie theatre and managing not to spend $10.50 on a box of popcorn simply because it smells good. When the movie's over (heck within the first 10 minutes of the movie) - the desire for the popcorn has long since faded.
As addicts I think we're always in danger of reverting to our smoking selves. As quitters, we have a say in the matter. In a sense we have to eliminate our own free will regarding that next choice of a puff and sometimes pretend we have no choice but NOT to smoke. When we eliminate the option and the choice to smoke - the only thing left is freedom.