Smoking is the in thing to do. There's something really amazing about being hooked up to oxygen. All your friends think you're cool when you are so debilitated by cancer and heart disease that you have to walk with a walker. There is nothing like the thrill of being hooked up to chemotherapy.
Light up that cigarette. Everyone does it. Right? Wrong, many pople who begin smoking begin as a child or early in their teenage years.They don't realize with that first puff they are signing on for life. And what a life it is.
Take for instance Joyce Friedman who started smoking cigarettes when she was 18 years old. She is now 64. Her body is wracked with several forms of cancer, congestive heart failure and several other immune system disorders. Oh yes, that's one of the other perks of smoking. It wrecks your immune system. So it's harder to kick a cold or an upper respiratory infection.
I asked her why she decided to smoke and she replied, "It was the in thing to do. All of my friends were smoking and then once I started, it became addictive." If she could turn back the hands of time, would she once again decide to smoke? Her response: Never.
You see Joyce has two older sisters. They are taking yoga classes and water aerobics. Joyce feels victorious when she walks down her driveway. Her sisters enjoy dining out with their families and friends. Joyce struggles to get through meal. Her sisters enjoy visiting friends. Joyce is embarrassed and intimidated by her appearance. She stays home and watches television. Joyce's sisters are enjoying their golden years. Joyce is enduring her last years.
Okay, so this is one case. And granted not everybody who smokes will struggle with cancer and heart disease. Other smokers have less serious issues with which to deal. Ever smell a smoker's breath? It's wonderful. Have them talk right in your face with their stinky smoky breath. Take a glance at the yellowed teeth that are almost always one of the advantages of smoking. Notice how their clothes, house and car always smell like stale hotel rooms.
Oh, and here's another reason to smoke. Can you image how much fun it must be to have to stand outside on a 20 degree day because your office, the restaurant or whatever doesn't allow smoking? So while your friends are enjoying their coffee or meal inside, you get to huddle alone on a cold sidewalk sucking on that cigarette. Can you even think of a better time than that? Wasn't smoking supposed to make you part of the group? Wasn't smoking supposed to make people think you were cool? But where is that group when you are outside alone, when people look at you with disgust in restaurants, when people refuse to allow you to light up in their homes?
Over the years, you've become an outsider, not part of the health craze, not part of the people who are intelligent enough to know the havoc that smoking wreaks on the human body. You are just that lone outsider with a small white stick of fire to keep you company. Enjoy!
by Chase W.
Warwick School District, PA