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August 16, 2000

A few more words on smoking

I'm resisting the temptation to remain silent after reading Lori Pearson's letter in last week's Tribune. I'm sure most of those who read it dismissed it for what it was, the comments of a smoker in full denial mode.

My problem is I've known and liked Lori Pearson for most of the last 20 or 30 years. Her answering service was one of the few places awake in the wee hours when I was responsible for that part of Tribune circulation where the rubber met the road. I was in her office from time to time at odd hours, working my way through the thick haze, getting information I needed to do my job. Her answering service provided a vital human connection for Tribune carriers and drivers, while she was also servicing the needs of taxi customers and drivers, as well as those of a host of other businesses in town in the days before full phone automation. Every time I dial into one of those time-wasting automated machines that replaced Lori and her competitors I wish she was back in business.

Much as I hate cigarettes and the evil tobacco companies for what they did to my Dad, other relatives I loved, and friends and associates I liked a lot, I can understand why so many started and continued the habit. It's more than just addiction, though it certainly is that. Cigarettes are companions to the lonely, buddies when there's no one else as dependable. When one smoker bums a cigarette from another, it establishes a bond. When a child desperately wants to be an adult RIGHT NOW, he smokes. Suddenly he is that adult, instead of the inadequate child he's desperately afraid he really is.

That's why my dad started smoking at 14. He would have a cigarette to start his day. Cigarettes were his steady companions as he accomplished the impossibly hard ranch and construction work he did as a younger man. When he operated his own business as a food wholesaler, cigarettes were with him at home and on the road. When he finally got over the denial and fully realized the damage they were doing, they still stuck with him. I blame the tobacco companies. I hate them. But Dad took full responsibility. He never blamed others for his own weakness. I watched him as the emphysema drained his strength, sapped his very breath. It robbed him of his sleep. Every hour of every night, he fought to breathe. He dropped from 160 lbs to a frail 110.

I understand Lori's rationalizations. That's the addiction talking. But what kills so many smokers also sickens those near them. Babies, children, wives, bartenders, barbers, waitresses, all are victimized by the smokers in their lives. I probably wasn't in Lori Pearson's office often enough to be severely affected by her atmosphere alone, but I'm well aware I've breathed in an awful lot of other people's smoke these past decades. As Lori pointed out, not every smoker dies of cigarettes. Certainly not every non-smoker dies from them. But if you take Lori's advice and buy teenagers cigarettes, buy them only for those kids you really hate with an all consuming hatred. Kids, if I ever give you as much as one cigarette, even a candy cigarette, you will have good reason to think I detest you.

Some recent Reactor columns may be found at Paul Azevedo's website, http://www.thereactor.net/ E-mail him at reactor@wenet.net

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