Do you Smoke?

[milod]

I actually did a piece a long time ago on this that went kinda viral pre-Facebook.

 

Bottom line is that my Dad was in a club in our small town. The main lounge outside the meeting room was polished oak and leather furniture, chairs were placed inside the bookcases that lined the walls; ashtrays were alongside each chair and the smell of various sorts of pipe tobacco, relatively spicy blends as I recall, wood polish and freshly-brewed coffee did indeed permeate the room.

 

Memories of those smells and the dialog between sunlight and shadow, bring pleasant memories of a time when men could sit together after their day's work and enjoy a dialog of their own to the accompaniment of a bit of tobacco and coffee, occasionally some other libation. At 10 or so I was allowed on occasion to be a silent participant seated at the edge and sipping a 5-cent soft drink.

 

The topics would range from metaphor in keeping with Plato's allegory of the cave to politics of the day, local to international.

 

Frankly if one might refer to some sort of paradise lost, that might well meet the definition. Too seldom does such now occur, too seldom the time, too seldom the mere opportunity, too seldom the friendships shared.

 

m

[zigzag]

Unfortunately, those times are gone for good, m. My grandfather taught me to hunt and fish. He was a southern gentleman in a time when class and tradition were respected and revered in our culture. He had his own special blend of pipe tobacco that was put together at the local tobacco shop. After a day on the stream or in the field, it was a pleasure to sit with him and my dad while they sipped their libations and he puffed on his pipe.

[Mr. Natural]

I smoke two to four cheap cigars a week. A couple of times a year I treat myself to three or four better cigars. Every once in a while a friend will give me a pretty good cigar.

[mosquito3]

Gave it up about 3 weeks ago. I used to smoke about 2 packs a day :)

[Rocky4]

This topic has come up before. I'm a non smoker. I watched both parents breathe their last breaths after a life of smoking. My mom from lung cancer. She couldn't walk or talk the last 6 months. A short stay in the hospital for radiation turned into a 3 week stay from which she didn't survive. My dad dies a slow, slow death from COPD. Over a course of 5 years, he lost the ability to get around and breathe. Getting up to get a cup of coffee was a 10 minute event with many rest stops. He kept a plastic urinal under his seat at the kitchen table because having to walk down the hall to use the bathroom would wipe him out. The last three months were a cycle of trips from home to the nursing home, to the hospital. No more than a week at any place. Grueling for him as well as me. I can't believe these things are legal. I have to wear a seat belt, but I can drive to a store and get a carton every day. What a bunch of BS

[moparguy]

This topic has come up before. I'm a non smoker. I watched both parents breathe their last breaths after a life of smoking. My mom from lung cancer. She couldn't walk or talk the last 6 months. A short stay in the hospital for radiation turned into a 3 week stay from which she didn't survive. My dad dies a slow, slow death from COPD. Over a course of 5 years, he lost the ability to get around and breathe. Getting up to get a cup of coffee was a 10 minute event with many rest stops. He kept a plastic urinal under his seat at the kitchen table because having to walk down the hall to use the bathroom would wipe him out. The last three months were a cycle of trips from home to the nursing home, to the hospital. No more than a week at any place. Grueling for him as well as me. I can't believe these things are legal. I have to wear a seat belt, but I can drive to a store and get a carton every day. What a bunch of BS

I completeley agree, I never knew how bad it smelled until I quit, now I can smell someone smoking at a stoplight 2 cars ahead of me. It smells like ***. It should be made illegal in my opinion. Ive been smoke free since I was 28 and Im 48 now and dont miss that crap at all. Ill still smoke weed a few times a year but thats only like 3 or 4 times, they activley drug test at work so toking is kept to a minimum