Smoking at the DZ

[Brisco 0]

Ok, I’m a smoker. Yes I know it’s harmful. And I have, on occasion, tried to quit, but the fact is that I enjoy it. Will I regret it someday? Perhaps. Many family members of my parents and my grandparents generation are/were smokers and none have died from smoking related causes or illnesses. I am aware of the risks and I choose to smoke anyway. It’s kind of like skydiving. We know the risks and
choose to accept them for whatever reward we get. So the personal consequences of my actions are none of anybody’s damn business. If someone isn’t aware of the risks of smoking by now, they shouldn’t be getting out of bed in the morning.

From a social standpoint, I try very hard to be considerate of non-smokers. I don’t throw my butts out the car window, I use appropriate smoking material receptacles, I don’t smoke around children and if I see that my smoking is obviously annoying someone, I’ll either put it out or move away.

But I’m getting damn pissed off at the social climate in this country that has made it perfectly acceptable to attack smokers on any level at any time. Smokers just happen to be an easy target right now who, for the most part, won’t fight back. We just skulk away to some corner to puff on our cancer sticks.

So what happens when the day finally comes - and I have no doubt that it will - when cigarettes and smoking are finally banned, outlawed and done away with? Does anyone really believe for one second that the anti-smoking “do-gooders” will clap the dust off their hands and say, “Ok, we finally won. We can all go home now and live out our days
in smokeless peace.”? Don’tcha bet on it folks. The do-gooders are going to have time on their hands and are going to go after something else that they find distasteful or just don't happen to agree with. We already see the great debate on guns and those that would like our right to own a firearm taken away. And they have made some serious incremental progress toward their ultimate goal of getting all guns banned in this country. Fast food and snack food is coming up fast with various law-suits against McDonalds, et al. Geeze, some crack-pot lawyer even wants to ban Oreo cookies for God’s sake. And I’m willing to bet that beer and alcohol aren’t far behind. And what about that one lady’s crusade to more heavily regulate skydiving? The one who’s son was killed in skydiving accident? Hell, if she had her way (and there are some people out there, including politicians with the power to do something about it, who happen to agree with her), skydiving would be banned. And I'll bet she's just LOVE to get beer banned from all drop zones if she ever makes that connection!

And what about religion? There are some folks in this country who would love to see Islam and/or any non-christian religion abolished, and I won’t even go into what the Muslim extremists would like to do. Go ahead, abolish Islam and then what? Which religion will be the next to be classed as socially unacceptable? Hell, they’re already pulling any and all signs of religion from our public buildings!

So all you anti-smokers out there better be careful of what you wish for. You just might get it. A smoke-free Amerika. And then soon an alcohol-free America, with no fast food and no religion too. And maybe even skydiving will go the way of the dodo bird.

Do you think that I’m thinking to extremes? You say that can’t happen here? Go back a scant 10 years. Did anyone think in 1993 that smoking would be banned in so many places the way it is now? That smokers would be forced to stand outside in the rain and cold to satisfy their cravings? Tobacco is just the first in a long line of things that will be banned in this country because someone else finds them offensive or deems them harmful.

And do you think for a single minute that I, as a now cranky, forced-to-quit, ex-smoker because of the anti’s, am going to raise a single finger to help protect the things YOU like from the do-gooders? Don’t count on it! Without my cigarettes I may just get pissed off enough to join the causes to help eliminate alcohol, fast food and religion from our society and then we can all sit at home, happy and healthy with no risks in life, living to the ripe old age of 150 or so and playing with our toes.

Gee, that sounds like so much fun.

Wasn't personal FREEDOM great when we had it?

Flame away.

[tbrown 26]

Last year my wife and I helped nurse her mother through dying of a smoking induced mouth and throat cancer. First, half of her tongue was removed surgically. Then part of her right jaw. The last four months of her life she never ate with her mouth again, she poured a nutrient directly into her stomach through a hole in her side. The tumors in her mouth swelled her face up until she resembled a chimpanzee. Then a tumor grew on her throat to about the size and shape of a fist. It finally literally strangled her, over a period of about a week. Through the wonderful help of hospice nurses we were able to keep her comfortably doped up.

I will tell you that none of her grandkids who saw her are ever likely to smoke now. Smoking does cause cancer and it's ugly, frightening, and smells awful. It's one version of reality that we have the choice of not taking.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[smiles 0]

Being there for your loved ones and nursing them when they are terminal is so incredibly difficult for all involved, especially young children.

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I will tell you that none of her grandkids who saw her are ever likely to smoke now.

I have recently nursed my sister through end stage liver disease, she was a smoker but never a drinker. She contacted hep C dental assisting. I was there when she died in my arms.

My brother got a sinus infection working at the mill and it abcessed. He was rushed to hospital where surgery was done to drain. After growing bacteria in the lab, it was discovered he had a fungus infection.
Surgery was required last week to remove his eye, and scrape the cheek bone where fungus is growing. 25 days after our sister died and he now has fungus growing in the eye socket.
All anti fungals have been stopped and he is being treated in hyperberic chamber.
He has lost all nerves in his face and very unlikely will he make it, as the brain is so close.
He is also a smoker- got him out in the wheelchair today in the sun for a few.

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Smoking does cause cancer and it's ugly, frightening, and smells awful. It's one version of reality that we have the choice of not taking.

Amen, I choose to smoke while I mourn my sister and brother thank you.

SMiles

[mjosparky 3]

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z-hills has lots of signs asking you to dispose properly of your butts, and also has lots of places to do so. I think this helps a lot. I know I use them.

I don't smoke all that much, mostly on weekends. I'm very busy during the week. I don't have an addictive personality, so I quit for days at a time no problems, but still I enjoy smoking while I drink, and on the weekends so I do it. I will not smoke or allow anyone else to smoke in my house. It smells and I have a dog.

I think it is wrong for people to smoke with their kids in the house. My aunt does it and her son has asthma. A friend also does it. I don't make a fuss about it, they aren't my kids, and regardless of what I think, it's none of my business.

Angela.

Angela,
Don't kid yourself, you are hooked on cigarettes. If you don't think so, prove it and quit completely.
Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals