69 Chevy:

"we should never stop working to rid ourselves of the beast. "

We seem to be headed in the right direction. It is a dying habit!

Yeah, we still have a long way to go, but you only have to look back a few years to see that progress has been made.  However, the disturbing thing is that apparently the number of young people who take up the habit is increasing.  More than likely due to the fact that it's actually becoming LESS socially acceptable, which perversely increases it's attraction to the young.  They think it's "cool". That's a real catch 22.  Dunno what it will take to change that, but it should only make us try harder to make it more difficult for people to kill themselves with the damned things by banning their use in as many places as possible.

I have heard of quite a few people quitting because they can no longer afford it.  The prices have gotten so outrageous, it is either food for the kids or cigarettes...and most will go with taking care of the kids first...

Johnna R:

I have heard of quite a few people quitting because they can no longer afford it.  The prices have gotten so outrageous, it is either food for the kids or cigarettes...and most will go with taking care of the kids first...

Yeah, I do think that more and more thinking people who have gained some maturity are dropping the habit, if not for health reasons, then for financial reasons.  Wish we could figure out how to reach the kids who think we are all a bunch of old fogey killjoys.  What's so horrible about it is that the addiction is so hard to kick once you really get hooked, and then the one time kids who once thought it was so damned cool can no longer muster the will power to kick the habit.  And the cigarette companies are finding ways to subvert the law by hooking the kids by back door means. 

I wish it would be feasible to outlaw the manufacture of cigarettes.  It wouldn't stop bootlegging and all that kind of stuff. but it sure would put a big brake on things.  That's a pipe dream of course.  No way will it ever happen.

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and share my "smoking" story...I was ALWAYS yucked out by smoking. Back in 1993 my husband (now ex) got a BIG promotion but we had to move to southern CA (Laguna Beach to be exact) He had gone out there for a couple of weeks to meet his staff and came back to Plano drinking bottled water and SMOKING! I couldn't believe it ...we had been married for 12 years and he had NEVER smoked. Well, I later discovered that he was trying to "fit in" with the new atmosphere that we were to become a part of. He keep smoking and I was PISSED for years...then in 1996 when we were separating I decided that I should start smoking to somehow try to have "something in common" with him...as if having 2 children wasn't enough. Cigarettes took over quicker than I could ever imagine. I finally quit in 2005 and now I'm back to HATING the smell, taste, etc. I have friends who smoke and that's okay...it's just NOT for me  

Yeah, Mel, that's the way it works sometimes.  I guess we all, smokers and ex-smokers,  have a story of how we got conned into the habit.  Maybe some of us don't think of it that way exactly, but that's really what happened to every last one of us.  We got conned into it, one way or another, and then we almost all of us discovered after time that we didn't like it so much any more, but were trapped.  Or we thought so.  We thought we could never kick it, and some still think they can't kick it.  But, I started smoking as a teenager, and smoked for over 30 years;  tried and failed to quit for at least the last ten of those thirty years, before finally succeeding.  But, I did suceed, and I know that anybody can do it if I did it. 

Actually, I'm not bothered all that much by the smell of tobacco smoke unless I'm in a small enclosed space with a lot of smokers.  In spite of the fact that I know that second hand smoke is something we should avoid, I don't really mind all that much when my smoking friends light up in my presence.  And, I can't really get upset with them for their habit, because I walked in their shoes for too many miserable years myself.  I think most long time smokers are unhappy that they have the habit, but just can't find a way to shake it.  So, there ain't much point in kicking them about it. 

So, I can sorta understand why a lot of people feel like their rights are being infringed upon when smoking is outlawed in bars and everywhere they want to go, because they feel like they should have the right to kill themselves if they want to. But, actually, suicide is neither a God-given right, nor is it legally permissable. But, nobody has said it's illegal to commit suicide by smoking.....society is just asking the smokers to do it behind the barn, downwind of the rest of us.   And, personally, I think that's only fair.

Hell, when you think about it, you can get busted for smoking a little weed in your own back yard, probably one of the more innocuous of all illegal substances, so, I don't see any rights being trampled on by banning cigarette smoking in public places.  At least you won't get hauled off to the pokey if you light up a cigarette in the privacy of your own digs.

Just be done with it... outlaw it!! Make it illegal.......

ehh..... That ain't gonna happen. Follow the money...... the money..... the money.....

drewK:

Just be done with it... outlaw it!! Make it illegal.......

ehh..... That ain't gonna happen. Follow the money...... the money..... the money.....

'zactly.

Addicting and then killing people is a horrible way to make a living!

Same case could be made about booze....

Yeah, you guys are right. Two of arguably the most toxic and dangerous addictive substances on earth, alcohol and tobacco, are perfectly legal, and socially acceptable, while the law and the public worry and gnash their teeth about diddly squat things. But, it's like you said, Drew.......follow the money.   

Better add food to that list....it is one of those "acceptable" addictions...I should know...been there doing that!

Johnna R:

Better add food to that list....it is one of those "acceptable" addictions...I should know...been there doing that!

Preacher, you done stopped preachin' now, and started meddlin'. 

"Same case could be made about booze...."

Some forms of alcohol used in moderation have been found to lower cholesterol etc.

“Mind if I smoke?”

No. Mind if I fart”-Steve Martin

old dawg:

Johnna R:

Better add food to that list....it is one of those "acceptable" addictions...I should know...been there doing that!

Preacher, you done stopped preachin' now, and started meddlin'. 

 

hahahhahahahahahahahahahahaa!!!  I figured that might get a slight response!!! hahaha!

Johnna R:

old dawg:

Johnna R:

Better add food to that list....it is one of those "acceptable" addictions...I should know...been there doing that!

Preacher, you done stopped preachin' now, and started meddlin'. 

 

hahahhahahahahahahahahahahaa!!!  I figured that might get a slight response!!! hahaha!

 

Well, I used to have five vices:  Sex, Booze, Drugs, Tobacco, and Food.  Please don't make me give up the only one I got left. 

I was once told to never trust a man without a vice................... You have to have at least one Dawg!

OLT

I agree dawg, it is the only vice i have left as well...

oneluckytexan:

I was once told to never trust a man without a vice................... You have to have at least one Dawg!

OLT

Well, I woulda kept all of mine, but couldn't talk 'em out of leaving.  Not very nice of 'em in my opinion, considering the loving attention I had given 'em all those years.  Sorry ingrates.

Johnna R:

I agree dawg, it is the only vice i have left as well...

Yeah, ain't it a drag, JR?  I guess this calls for a bowl of ice cream right about now.

old dawg:

Johnna R:

I agree dawg, it is the only vice i have left as well...

Yeah, ain't it a drag, JR?  I guess this calls for a bowl of ice cream right about now.

 

You are singing my song,Dawg...went and stocked up on the ice cream supply here at the hacienda last night.!!

You better not be "ON FIRE" in Galveston.... Al Gore will show up wanting to see your carbon credits....

drewK:

You better not be "ON FIRE" in Galveston.... Al Gore will show up wanting to see your carbon credits....

Yeah, so now it's not acceptable to breath OUT....too much CO2, ya know......only breathing IN is permitted...... 

Dawg, If you start making Lynnie and I the only ones having a drink at our Cyber-Tribe lunches then I'm gonna' have to just take my toys and go home! LOL

chrismel:

Dawg, If you start making Lynnie and I the only ones having a drink at our Cyber-Tribe lunches then I'm gonna' have to just take my toys and go home! LOL

Hey, I just recovered my ability to take a drink!  I'm CURED! It's a MIRACLE!

Hallelujah!

I have plenty of vices, but unlike smokers I keep the harmful side effects to myself.

69 Chevy:

I have plenty of vices, but unlike smokers I keep the harmful side effects to myself.

Yeah, it's nice to share things with folks around you, but maybe the concept can be carried a tad too far sometimes.

old dawg:

chrismel:

Dawg, If you start making Lynnie and I the only ones having a drink at our Cyber-Tribe lunches then I'm gonna' have to just take my toys and go home! LOL

Hey, I just recovered my ability to take a drink!  I'm CURED! It's a MIRACLE!

Hallelujah!

 

Well, just remember it buddy. Mel and I aren't gonna be the only lushes at our cyber tribe bash.

Lynniebell:

Well, just remember it buddy. Mel and I aren't gonna be the only lushes at our cyber tribe bash.

Well....okay.  It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it. 

It's Saturday night and I gotta get drunk and I shore do dread it!

Well....okay.  It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it. 

It's Saturday night and I gotta get drunk and I shore do dread it!

Dawg, you look forward to getting drunk.......... that's the fun part! It's the morning after you dread and regret!

Oh man.................. my head feels like a frozen pineapple...................... I sure need to pee. I better open my eye's and get rollin. 

That dog licken my toe's sure does tickle though.................... wait a minute......... I don't have a dog??

What the duece............. where am I?

Who's this brunette beside me???

I know, I'll sneak out without waking her and head to Captain Jacks. If I get drunk again I'll forget all about it. No worries no regrets mate!

There's no dreadful regrets dawg! I was wrong! There is a cure for everything. Avoid hangovers! Just stay drunk!

OLT

Looks like Council will tweak rather that gut the smoking ban. Looking forward to January 1.