Smoking Matters



Hi Everyone,

It's been a while, yeah? A lot has happened. A lot that I want to blog about, but half the time when I try to write I lose my gusto.

AnywayI read something that got me a little worried. It's about smoking and you can read it on Jeremy's blogspot here. Now if you do read it, please go as far as to click on the link in that blog and see the BBC story on smoking. That is the issue today.

I'm not a smoker. I really DO NOT like cigarette fumes and I'm slightly asthmatic. I understand that lung cancer and emphysema are deadly killers. So any moves to get me away from the pollution caused by cigarettes is welcome. That said, however, I have lots of friends that smoke, male and female. And I love them so much that I will hang around them even if it means falling a bit ill. That is a choice I have made BY MYSELF. Not because someone made me, or because of excessive advertising by the tobacco companies. So what I don't understand is why people who call themselves adults, grown-ass mufuckers, will get up from their sick beds one morning and say, you know what, I'm gonna sue the tobacco company for killing me. Did they force the bloody thing into your bloody mouth?!!!!

Now before I go on , let me clarify something. There are those who actually know who I am, and they will conclude that its because one of my clients is a multinational tobacco company, that I am naturally in support of them. Let me tell you a few home truths at the risk of this getting to the wrong ears:
1. I am not a huge fan of that particular client (and that's putting it mildly). Not the organization, but the individuals who work there, especially the ones I have to relate with on a daily basis. I think that they are just a bunch of over-priced, overworked people living detached from reality. Outside their all-important, over-serious behaviour at work, they tend to be pricks at play as well.
2. I really do fall ill when I inhale tobacco fumes , and I encourage my friends, who smoke, to quit.

That said, I still attempted to smoke twice in my life. When I was, maybe 10 and when I was 21. The first time was the usual experimentation shit that kids do. My dad had kicked my mum out of the house because of this over-sophisticated chick he had started seeing (another story for another day). This babe smoked like her life depended on it. So one day my elder brother stole a cigarette and ran to the back of the house to smoke. I met him there and he allowed me a drag. It was terrible.(Neither of us smoke to date, by the way.)

The second time was when i was in University. Almost all my flatmates smoked, so I picked up a cigarette. The taste still hadn't changed from 10 or so years ago, so that was that. so what am I driving at with all this?

If people feel aggrieved and they want to sue to prove their point, fantastic! But when the reason for the suit is illogical I think someone has to say something. And that someone is me.

Wetin concern tobacco company if you get cancer after smoking? I mean it's actually preposterous that people sue tobacco companies after they voluntarily started smoking! Did anyone force you? As far as I am concerned it's a cheap way to get money from these companies.

Another thing I'm aggreived about is the BBC news story which alleges that in the north underaged people are convinced to smoke. That I know, first-hand to be a blatant lie!! But so that I wont be seen as a Tobacco Company Apologist , I'll leave that defence at that. However, I will go a step further on that underaged issue. I know for a fact that teenagers in the US and England begin smoking at the age of 13. And some even smoke 'pot' in some situations. Are they less prone to the health hazards than those here? Are they being encouraged as well?

As I write this there is a mixture of trepidation and nonchalance. I KNOW some do-gooders will want my head for expressing myself. Is she saying it's ok to spread disease, they will ask? Well, here is what I'm saying: I have a right to express myself as much as those placard-carrying people. It beats my imagination that those who most want to be heard, are the strongest in suppressing those opinions that are contrary to theirs. (Like those who march for gay rights and lynch people who march against it or express dislike for it.)

Taking care of one's health is good but don't blame someone else for your own mistakes.


How ya Livin'

Chili

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