There is a great lie out there that was perpetrated by Big T's called "Joe Cool". When my friends and I were still in middle school, the great dare was, "smoke one of your parent's smokes." And, of course, if you refused, you were a wimp, coward, lame-o...pick your favorite there. And, for many of the disenfranchised, the poor, the "welfare people" the pressure was on to be "hip" or "in" so you would actually HAVE a peer group where you could belong. ALL kids want to "belong" at some point in their lives to something or belong somewhere as they begin to assert their independence from adults, guardians, whoever is raising them. The rich or well-off were always just assumed to have a peer group, the best of course, which is also a great lie. But the pressures put upon them, while similar, were still different and in some ways more demoralizing.
This desire for independence from adults has begun earlier and earlier as the generations flow one to the next. And as one of the disenfranchised, raised in a home with "issues" of alcoholism, addiction, and co-dependency, not to mention being shorter than average (and an easy target for bullies), peer pressure got to me when I was still very young. I was still in elementary school when a girlfriend tried to get me to smoke the first time. Believe it, 5th and 6th grades are still a hotbed for pressure and especially bullies. And I grew up with the old ad, "you've come a long way, baby" (I just gave away my age, didn't I, lol!), and seeing this apparently strong cowboy on a horse on a billboard...I just never really got that his lasso would be a noose for so many people.
I did watch some of those hearings with the Big Tobacco companies, and I'd sort of heard about Dr. Jeffrey Weigand who "blew the whistle" on them--but I didn't really pay attention. By the time this was going on, I had a helluva life going, partying, running around, working at minimum wage...and smoking with the pals after work, at the beach, at the party, on the road...it was what we did, dontcha know? It was cool! You looked "grown up" with that stick in your hand! It was no big deal, we could quit but why when it was no big deal to be a smoker? You could smoke in so many places...and on and on. But I saw an interview with the good doctor just the other night, and I became outraged when I discovered THEY KNEW! Those bigwigs KNEW for decades--not just a few years--before I was even BORN, that these things were addictive and could kill you. KILL ME! And they also admitted they marketed to kids like me and my friends. They did it for the money, pure-ass greed. Outrage doesn't really come close to what I felt.
So here's the bottom line: as hard as it may be, I will be a non-smoker by Halloween one way or the other. For a great resource on quitting if you want to, there's a great book out there you can get from Amazon for a low price, written back in the late '80's called "The No-Nag, No-Guilt, Do-It-Yourself Guide to Quitting Smoking" and it's been a great help in this. This blog is for me, really, and to mark my progress as I go on this journey for what seems like the umpteenth time. I did quit for six months cold-turkey (I will NEVER do that again, OMG! Besides, my doc says not to since I have a form of epilepsy and sharp withdrawals of that sort are very very bad for me) some years back and have been trying to quit again ever since. 11 times I've tried, but now I believe I CAN do it and WILL do it with the help of that book and it's very valuable tools. Give it a shot and see if it won't work for you. For now, it's time to make dinner with my son. Have a good one!
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