SMOKERS RELAX... YOU'RE STILL #1

BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted April 12, 2005)

A few months ago, there was a collective sigh of relief among smokers in this country.... or perhaps a collective "wheeze" of relief.

Last year, the CDC published a report stating that "obesity" was about to overtake "smoking" as the leading cause of 'avoidable death' in the U.S.

But then, it turned out to be not true. They said it was a computer software error.... that the weight problem in this country was "overstated".

That turned out to be welcome news for everybody, with the exception of skinny non-smokers, who have no worries at all, about anything.

Those of us slightly overweight could still look down our noses at the smokers.

And the smokers could still consider themselves brave and fearless.
Even though they engage in the #1 avoidable health risk.... they are invincible, and not to be bothered about it.

I know some smokers who will absolutely fight you in the street if you challenge their right to smoke, or suggest that they should --or can -- quit, if they really want to.

So I don't bother them.... but here's the thing...... I am constantly astounded at how smokers are so insensitive -- even oblivious -- to the discomfort they impose on children and non-smokers around them.

I started thinking about this last week after the sad announcement that ABC anchor Peter Jennings is battling lung cancer.
Peter admits he was a heavy smoker for years. And even 20 years after quitting, he lapsed into smoking again during the emotional turmoil surrounding 9/11.

Truthfully, I try not to argue with smokers. I know the mindset. I was a smoker myself years ago. A heavy smoker. Three packs a day, for 13 years. I know it's tough to quit.

But it seems to me, the most effective way to quit... is just to quit. No tapering off, no cutting back, no patches....... just stop.

My favorite example of that method was my Dad.
My mother -- also a smoker -- was struggling with health issues, and the doctor told her she absolutely couldn't even be near anyone who smoked.
My Dad had been a serious smoker of unfiltered Pall Malls for 40 years or so...... but when the doctor spoke....... Daddy stopped, that day! Cold turkey. Just quit. No complaining. In fact, he never mentioned it again. From that moment on, you'd never even guess he'd been a smoker. He lived to be 86, as a skinny non-smoker.

I gave up cigarettes in the middle of a Channel 4 newscast, about 28 years ago.
My co-anchor was Carol Marin. She turned to me, as smoke billowed up between us on the news desk, and said, "You know, I worry about you. You make your living with your voice, and you really should stop that."

With an air of arrogance, I said emphatically, "I can stop anytime I want".
She said, "Then prove it... do it".
Not to be caught making empty boasts, I put my cigarette out, and amazingly -- even to me -- never inhaled another one.
I won't tell you I didn't struggle.... I did. I occasionally smoked those nasty little cigars, though they were terribly distasteful, and I had no inclination to inhale.

Perhaps the key to stopping is nestled in "consideration and concern" for someone you care about.
That can work in either direction, a smoker concerned about affecting someone else.......
or, a non-smoker concerned about a smoker, for obvious reasons.

And by the way, I've got a surprise for people who do their smoking in secret, thinking no one knows.
We know. It stinks, and we know it. You cannot fool a former smoker.

A lot of smokers won't quit because they fear gaining weight..... to them I say, OK, gain weight.
Remember, according to the CDC, extra weight is still less dangerous than smoking.
And it's almost always less obnoxious as well.

My apologies to my dear friends who smoke. I worry about you.

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