Apparently those anti-smoking ads are effective...
Matt Patterson
my workplace, on a bench, having just eaten lunch.
It was a beautiful day, and i was enjoying a bowl of Macbaren scottish
mixture in my Dr. Grabow, puffing cheerfully away.
Since i've added a pipe to my break at work, i find the work day much
more tolerable.
So, i sat, ejoying my smoke, chatting amiably with my boss (who was out
having a cigarette), when a three kids walked by. They were perhaps
freshman in highschool.
There were two girls and a boy. The boy walked with the posture, and
talked with the lingo of an innercity thug, though obviously poor,
rural, and white (i amusedly overheard him say "...you talkin' bout a
wanna be thug, yo.").
As they walked past, the middle girl turned to me and said, "You know,
smoke is bad for you."
I looked at her, and puffed for a moment, before exhaling a cloud of
tasty smoke.
AS she turned to walk away, I nodded, and said "So's talking to strangers."
This marks the first time (I'll doubt it'll be the last) that some
person has accosted me in such a manner.
Thus far, the only other encounter had come the day before, when an
obviously drunk guy a few years younger than myself commented that he
also had a pipe, and that he smoked black cherry, and wanted to know
what i was smoking. I don't really mind that.
I do mind underage girls telling me what i should, or should not do.
Curse all this nonsmoking advertising!
I've always been deeply annoyed by the self righteous drivel that the
anti-tobacco front produces, and never really gave it much thought, but
apparently it works!
More reasons to keep children away from the television!
-matt
Tom Greene
Still another example of how respect for people older than yourself as well
as respect in general has been lost.
More and more as I grow older I find that I have come to the conclusion that
perhaps kids should be locked up in a sound-proof cell until they reach at
least the age of perhaps 21.
Seriously, just kidding, so PLEASE no flame wars.
There are those, usually the youthful ones but older people as well, who
must inject their opinions into other's lives. It's just their way of being
noticed. Call it a "rite (sp) of passage" if you will. Manners of dress,
language, music, whatever. All a way of asserting their position in life.
Most of us went through the same phase, if you will, in our passage through
life.
I almost always ignore them. It's not worth the hassle of a rebuttal. They
usually go away like a bad odor.
Life's too short.
But there those times when I, too, enjoy the opportunity to address their
obnoxiousness with a well-chosen rebuttal to their comments.
Yes. Those are moments of enjoyment as well.
Enjoy the moment.
Tom Greene
"Matt Patterson" <ca...@insightbb.com> wrote in message
news:Ma5Ye.153167$084.122584@attbi_s22...
Lars Wiberg
Effective, yes.
True, questionable.
Sound, I doubt it.
We're constantly being bombarded with opinions from others about how we
should dress, act, live. Opinions that rarely have argumentative sound
grounds to stand on.
Don't eat eggs. Don't drink too much coffee. Don't smoke. Don't drink
alcohol. Don't cuss (damn you), Don't drink sodas (your teeth will
surely rot), Don't breathe for heavens sake!
My own kids, whenever I get them, will be brought up with values of
living a good life. I'm not saying I will encourage them to eat, drink
and smoke as they please. I want them to be balanced. I want them to be
openminded, be aware and always question things in stead of just eating
all the shit raw.
With kind regards,
Lars
Allen
Interesting story. I often get funny looks on campus, but to be honest,
I rarely get much more... the campus is so liberal that I guess they
also accept pipe-smokers as well. ;) <g> In fact, a number of months
ago I was playing pool with my brother and his friends at a local
band-venue and had on my cardigan as well as pipe in mouth the whole
time... I later learned that the guys thought I was cool as $hit doing
something completely different. They loved it. :) I never knew. Now,
I didn't have any cute nubile young coeds come up and sniff the air
around me or anything, so I have no idea if it was useful in that way...
but at least I got cred. with my bro's mates. ;)
(who would have thought?!)
:)
Cheers!
-Allen
ps- a few more points: Yes, our children are slowly becoming @$$holes
without respect for adults... True, the PR campaign (mostly funded by
pharmco) against smoking is going very well... even 5 year olds know SHS
kills "a bazillion" people all the time! Unfortunately: there's not
much we can do, other than educate the kids around us and teach our own
children to be respectable and to think for themselves (before they
believe every damned thing they hear). Looks like we've got our work
cutout for us!
Ed
Ed