My mother smoked, my father smoked and my grandmother, who lived with us for a while, smoked one cigarette right after another. Growing up I used to hate riding in the car with them because of this. To me it smelled really bad. I have to admit that I actually tried it once, because of peer pressure, but the warm smoke tasted like a mouth full of crap to me. That was the first and last time a cigarette ever touched my lips.
Cigarette smoke stinks and is bad for you. I have found that for some reason if you are not a smoker, the smoke trail from somebody nearby will always blow in your direction. It must be a law of nature or something.
At least now you can enjoy eating out and not having a smoker sitting right next to you, or anywhere in the restaurant. Now the ones that just have to light-up stand near the door so their smoke can drift into the restaurant when somebody comes or goes. So, we never sit near the door.
I know it is not good to generalize, but for the most part smokers tend to be rude. This is not to say they are bad people, it is just that they are truly addicted to nicotine and really need a drag on their cancer sticks.
Years ago we used to live about a twenty minute drive from Disneyland. It was interesting to watch people who had just been on the “It’s A Small World” ride as they exited over the bridge. As smokers walked over the bridge they were frantic to get a cigarette into their lips and quickly lit so they could take a drag. Pathetic! I think the song below portrays the situation pretty well.
At one company I worked at while moving up the ladder, I became close friends with a guy name Walter. He was a hard worker and fun to be around, but he had cigarette addiction really bad. I tried to get him to stop, but he just couldn’t do it. We lost contact for several years, going our separate ways, and finally reconnected about ten years later. One of the first things out of Walter’s mouth was, “Gary, you aren’t going to believe this, but I finally quite smoking about six months ago.” He went on to say how he was getting in shape with daily exercise and really enjoying life. I had a consulting company at the time and we started talking about working together again.
A few weeks passed and Walter started complaining about having a sore throat that just wouldn’t go away. He finally went to the doctor and was told he had cancer of the larynx. They told him they would try to remove just one vocal chord and should be able to teach him how to talk again. To make a long story short, they had to take his whole voice box.
Walter and I were having lunch one day after his recuperation and I said, “Hey Walter, when you were at the class learning how to use your Electronic Larynx, about how many of the people in the class were smokers?” Walter quickly put the device to his throat and answered, “ I’d say approximately 100 percent.”
Things seemed to be going well for Walter again, but he could no longer do what he did best, selling. You see, Walter was one of the best salesmen I have ever known. He lived very well and drove the finest cars on the road. He ate at the finest restaurants. He had the finest clothes and lived in a great house. But now, things definitely were changing in his life. With his daughter just starting college and his son soon to follow, Walter was concerned about the future.
I won’t drag this on much more, but just say that three months later, Walter was dead. He soon learned the cancer was in his lungs too and nothing could be done. I saw him for the last time about a week before he died. It was about an hour drive to his house and I wondered what I would say to him and his wife. He didn’t want me to come because of the way he looked. I was startled to see his face and neck, which were bloated from the medications he was taking. He literally looked like Javva The Hutt in Star Wars. I talked, he wrote notes, we hugged and we cried.
I think of Walter often and am really choked-up as I write this. You see, he died when he was only forty-nine years old.
I’ve told Walter’s story to many smokers over the years, hoping it would make them think about how smoking can change their life for the worst. As we all know, it is not just the smoker who pays the ultimate penalty, but their family too.
I hope you get the point here. Smoking is bad and will kill you.
One last thought. Ian, if you happen to see this, please quite smoking. Your family loves you and they don’t want to lose you. I would hate to be telling stories about Walter and Ian to smokers I meet while traveling down the road of life.
Tags: Addiction, Health, Social Behavior
Hey, Gary! So, I guess ANYBODY can have a blog (and they do). But, I enjoy it when anyone picks on Ian (and smokers). I smoked for 30 years and quit about 12 years ago. Thankfully, I think I survived, although not without consequence. You don’t do your body any favors by smoking. Funny how normally rational people will do something so irrational for so long. Then again, you still have the propensity for ignoring social mores and enjoy removing your pants at inappropriate times and settings. No one at the supermarket wants to see you without pants. So, let he without pants cast the first aspersion.
Note to Ian: Quit it, man.
Dad, you drilled into our heads from birth that smoking was bad, it smells and to never smoke. I’m proud to say I’ve never taken even one drag. I remember you talking about Walter years ago and what happened to him. Now because of my job I see first hand the tragic results of smoking. Young people Walter’s age with stage 4 lung cancer and mets to the brain. They have emphysema, COPD & have to drag an oxygen tank around with them 24 hours a day. Their families suffer… watching helplessly as their loved one withers away and dies before their eyes. I wish I could take smokers with me to the hospital for just one day to follow me around as I do my job. Maybe seeing it with their own eyes would help them quit before it’s too late and they end up just like those laying in the hospital bed… tubes all over the place, bloated with no hair.
Congratulations to those that have kicked the habit! I’m proud of you! And those that love you thank you! To those that are still puffing and say it can’t happen to you… wake up! If you care at all about the people that love you, please quit for them if you can’t quit for yourself.
BTW… I can’t say I’ve ever seen you take your pants off in inappropriate situations. My husband is another story, though
Love you!!
I was just in Germany and the warning on the package said exactly that, “Smoking Is Bad And Will Kill You”. I appreciated the frankness.
To be fair, however, you don’t always die from tobacco. Evidence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRHvZazd4IM
I did, already!! It hasn’t been easy, and it is a chore each day so far, but I find carrots and celery help. Thanks to your constant haranguing I am adding to my already considerable girth by filling the hole cigarettes left with crap food. But I DO feel better.
And as far as a suggestion for your blog I only have one: you being the tech savvy kind of a guy that I know you are, you must find a way to ban Philbert from commenting. At the very least ban him from commenting about me.
Ah, I loves ya, Philbert, you know that!
Is there anything you can’t do? Seriously, a very poignant tale. If I hadn’t quit 8 years ago, this would definitely give me pause. I’ll make sure Jen sees it too. Way to go Ian!
I must say, I had the same exact experience growing up. I would dread going anywhere, in a vehicle, with my parents because they smoked in the car. This feeling is so vivid in my mind, etched if you will. I have never smoked, nor will I. In fact, I swore I would never even date a smoker(sure hope my wife quits soon).
Ian, this is great news. This has made my week to hear that you are taking the steps to get away from this nasty habit. Congradulations to you and your family!
Some of my friends smoke, a lot. A pack a day for some of them.
Cigarettes are grody. If I’m hanging out with someone who smokes, I always drive because I refuse to let them smoke in my car.
…of course, when we get to where they’re going I get a “hold up, man, let me smoke a cig” as soon as we get out of the car…
Hey Dad! Like the blog.(especially the photo of the adorable kids with the baskets on their heads) Now I’ll have to sit here awhile and read your older posts.
I’m so glad we never had to grow up in a smoking household. Casey told me that when he was a kid, he used to crawl around on the floor to try to stay below the smoke. He also spent a lot of time in his room by himself so he didn’t have to smell his parents’ cigarettes. I think his asthma may be a result of all the second hand smoke too. We’re drilling the “smoking is bad and will kill you” into our kids’ heads all the time. I doubt either one of them will ever smoke.
Thanks for breaking the cycle!
I love you!
Lori
I quit when they started shoving cameras through my leg and into my heart. It amazes me that with the amount of people that are injured by this product the government still loves it. In Ca you will need to jump through hoops and be fingerprinted to buy a .22 cartridge that MAY chase someone down the street and hurt them. Want smokes? Walk up to the counter and buy them. Which one hurts the most people? Kind of bass ackwards, isn’t it?
Gary #1, you sure nailed it with this comment.