You Should Quit Smoking

After my first class of the day I decided to go to the 7-11 to buy a pack of cigarettes since I smoked the last one I had last night.

After buying the pack I decided to go next door to Toxic Hell... I mean Taco Bell to eat something for lunch. Once I finished consuming my meal I walked over to the trash can to throw away my debris. (One thing I left out at this point, I had pulled out my pack of cigarettes and was holding it in my left hand.)

At that point this lady behind me said "You should throw away that pack of cigarettes while you're at it."

I suppressed a laugh while I responded with "It's a brand new pack. I'm not throwing it away."

This woman then proceeded with telling me that she was serious, and that I really should throw the pack away. She went on to tell me how if I continue smoking then I'll get wrinkles and by the time I'm 50 I'll look like I'm 65.

At this point I'm slightly annoyed... as I always am every time some anti-smoker informs me of information I'm very well aware of.

The woman then said "Besides, if you don't quit smoking then you won't be able to run a marathon with me."

???

With that comment I laughed and said "I won't be running any marathon whether I smoke or not."

She inquired as to why. I then told her that I can't run because of a genetic disorder that gives me arthritic type symptoms so runing a marathon would be the equivalent to torture.

She then asked if smoking helped my condition. I laughed and told her "No" as I continued on walking. She continued saying something but I didn't hear her, nor do I really care what she was saying.

That was the end of that interaction.

Ok...

For any non-smoker who may be reading this... Don't annoy smokers by telling them that smoking's bad for them.

I mean seriously, do people think that we (smokers) think cigarettes are packed full of vitamins and minerals? Do they think we believe tobacco smoke contains some sort of ancient magic that will protect us from all harm?

I just don't get it. I wouldn't go to a bar and tell everyone within that they shouldn't drive home after their night of fun. Everyone in that bar is well aware that driving drunk is not only illegal, but potentially fatal for them and everyone they pass on the road. What purpose would it serve for me to stick my nose in their business to inform them of information they already know about?

With all that being said, I have decided to attempt to form a student organization on campus for smokers. I've got to figure out a name (I'm thinking Smokers United... but am definitely not set on that), get an adviser (a staff member), and a certain number of members. So, I guess I'm going to be putting fliers up on campus for people to contact me if they'd be interested in this group. We'll see what happens.