Dear Smoker
Dear Smoker,
Please stand in one place and smoke and do not walk down the street puffing away on your cigarette and then blowing it so that I walk directly into it. I don't need your health issues. Thanks!
MKP
I've been reading a lot lately, and it seems that second hand smoke is causing just as much cancer as actually smoking the cigarette. I have to admit that I'm quite happy that restaurants, bars and clubs are going to a smoke-free environment. What I want to know, though, is the root cause of smoking. Why do people start in the first place? When I was in NC, I learned that it was the governor who advocated smoking because it would help the tobacco industry. That's why everyone and their brother either chewed or smoked. At that, many of the folks I spoke to admitted to starting at the ripe age of 14. So young. But, I'm serious. Do people start because of stress? Do they start because of boredom? Do they start because of peer pressure? Maybe it's a combination...maybe I'm completely off the mark.
There's one image that will never, ever leave my head. I was doing an internship at the hospital one summer with the PR director. We were walking together to another building and she lit her cigarette up (and was blowing smoke away from me to "protect my young lungs"). As we approached the other building, there was an emphysema patient outside in a wheelchair hooked up to an oxygen tank and taking short breaths as if he was gasping for air and the PR director said in her deep, raspy voice, "Yeah, if I don't quit this shit, that's going to be me in a few years." The sad thing is that the patient looked longingly at the cigarette and I wanted to say, "That's what got you where you are in the first place!!!"
Everyone's got a vice, I'm not denying that. And I know many smokers and love them dearly (which is why I'm supportive when they decide to quit). I've been told many times that quitting is an act that is self-motivated. I just hope the motivation kicks in before the oxygen tank switches on.
Please stand in one place and smoke and do not walk down the street puffing away on your cigarette and then blowing it so that I walk directly into it. I don't need your health issues. Thanks!
MKP
I've been reading a lot lately, and it seems that second hand smoke is causing just as much cancer as actually smoking the cigarette. I have to admit that I'm quite happy that restaurants, bars and clubs are going to a smoke-free environment. What I want to know, though, is the root cause of smoking. Why do people start in the first place? When I was in NC, I learned that it was the governor who advocated smoking because it would help the tobacco industry. That's why everyone and their brother either chewed or smoked. At that, many of the folks I spoke to admitted to starting at the ripe age of 14. So young. But, I'm serious. Do people start because of stress? Do they start because of boredom? Do they start because of peer pressure? Maybe it's a combination...maybe I'm completely off the mark.
There's one image that will never, ever leave my head. I was doing an internship at the hospital one summer with the PR director. We were walking together to another building and she lit her cigarette up (and was blowing smoke away from me to "protect my young lungs"). As we approached the other building, there was an emphysema patient outside in a wheelchair hooked up to an oxygen tank and taking short breaths as if he was gasping for air and the PR director said in her deep, raspy voice, "Yeah, if I don't quit this shit, that's going to be me in a few years." The sad thing is that the patient looked longingly at the cigarette and I wanted to say, "That's what got you where you are in the first place!!!"
Everyone's got a vice, I'm not denying that. And I know many smokers and love them dearly (which is why I'm supportive when they decide to quit). I've been told many times that quitting is an act that is self-motivated. I just hope the motivation kicks in before the oxygen tank switches on.
posted by mkp @ 8:36 PM
2 Comments:
At 4:54 AM,
Vaman said…
I think it's a combination of wanting to do something cool and depending on where you're from a cultural thing. Out here in California, none of my friends smoke regularly but when I visit friends elsewhere, everyone seems to smoke. Do some people smoke to stay warm? I've heard that excuse too. They should drink instead haha.
At 10:41 PM,
archana said…
i've seen people at the cancer clinic hooked up to their IVs and dragging themselves outside to the 100m mark to drag on a cigarette. the sight is terrifying.
i think the social aspect of smoking seals the deal for some people -- there is instant community with other smokers, you can get a break from the party, you can chat with other smokers or busy yourself with the act. the repetitive action is also comforting (so i've heard).
smoking is still the stupidest idea in the world. but those are other reasons i've heard that make slightly more sense to me than "it was the cool thing to do when i was 14".
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