Cigarettes!

What the heck is up with Cigarettes?

I'm pretty sure I've been a second hand smoker for years. I don't smoke, but I've always sort of half-relished the company of a smoker. It's been this way ever since my dad used to take me to Redskins games. One of the greatest things that stuck with me was the smell of the stadium, which of course reeked of tobacco. I remember being simultaneously repelled and attracted, like the feeling you get with a loose tooth or a hangnail, where the pain is unpleasant but you can't imagine wanting it to go away.

Well, not quite like that, because it wasn't entirely unpleasant, nor was it pain. I guess the only real upshot of this is that I would be a smoker but for the grace of God. Without any smoking role models, I never had any reason to pick up the habit (not having any of my own money helped here, too), so I remain a second-hander. I almost started habitually smoking cigars last year, but they bothered other people, and I realized that it was stupid and pointless.

The lesson is, smoke and your children will want to. This is why I want to drink. Because my parents do it. No other reason. And no, I'm not kidding.

Still, what is it about tobacco smoke that is so enticing to people? And I'm not just talking about nicotene. People get addicted to the nicotene, but they smoke for other reasons. Incense is the same way, just minus the drug. But the comparison doesn't really hold up-- comparing incense to cigarette smoke is like comparing tea to coffee. On a certain level, they're similar, but really, they have nothing to do with one another. Of course, coffee is loaded with the drug caffene, so maybe it is just the drug that's enticing. Somehow I don't feel like that's all there is to it, though.

So my other question is when tobacco took this big downward turn. Has it always been this bad for you? Or is it just all the crap that the cigarette manufacturers put in there? It's probably just the case that no one noticed back in the day because everyone died early anyway, so it really didn't make a difference. Black Lung was a more pressing concern. Or bear attacks.

So, I'll talk about drinking next time, since I'm out of time now.

In the meantime, steer clear of Bears. Also, Tigers.