WARNING!!
Photos may be graphic. Photos from Google images "pictures of smokers"
When I was growing up smoking was normal as not thinking about breathing. Smoking was acceptable everywhere. You could smoke in the movie theater, in restaurants even on the trains. There were restrictions on minors purchasing cigarettes but it wasn’t enforced. Cigarettes were advertised on TV, even during children cartoons.
Check out this Winston commercial
In Times Square, NY, the Marlboro Man stood tall in the skyline, with his white Stetson hat and mustache, blowing smoke on the crowd below. Pick up any magazine and you would find several advertisments for cigarettes. Always young and beautiful people smoking, giving the illusion that it was cool to smoke.
They use to promote cigarettes by handing out free samples on the street. Everyone smoked; even pregnant women and we smoked everywhere and around everyone. Doctors, nurses and patients smoked in the hospital.
As we approached the 80s’ the dangers of smoking became prevalent. It was and is the major cause of lung cancer. It causes scaring and air pockets in the lungs called emphysema, which is irreversible. What happens is the air gets into your lungs and it’s difficult to release. Breathing then not a natural thing; you become aware of each breath.
At fifty years old I have three lung diseases and abnormalities in my lungs which has yet to be diagnosed. I use oxygen when I walk to help me breath. I take four medications daily and when needed I use a rescue inhaler and a nebulizer. I grew up in a house where everyone smoked. I started smoking regular at eight years old and I smoked for over forty years. Had I not gotten sick I would probably still smoke. I enjoyed smoking, as I guess any addict enjoys their drug of choice.
When the price of cigarettes started going up rapidly, when the cost was seventy-five cents I vowed to quit when they became a dollar. When they became a dollar I was so strung out I couldn’t quit. Cigarettes were over nine dollars when I stopped.
Over the years I would stop. I stopped to have my babies or when I would cough too much. But I always picked up again and again.
Two years ago, I couldn’t walk a block without gasping for air. I would walk up the stairs and it would be difficult to catch my breath. On my way to the emergency room I thought I had an infection and would get antibiotics, go home and get well. In the back of my mind I knew I had lung cancer, or COPD, yet refused to believe it could happen to me. Despite all my years of smoking I believed I would beat the odds. I was the exception.
In the emergency room, they measured my oxygen levels, my saturation was at seventy five. I had difficulty breathing for years. I knew it was the cigarettes. Like a crack head you see wasting away, but continues to abuse their self.
I’m pleading with people to stop smoking. The pleasure is not worth the consequences. If you can’t stop for yourself, stop for your babies. If you still can’t at least, DO NOT SMOKE AROUND YOUR CHILDREN. Even when you go in another room your children are inhaling those toxins and it’s affecting them. They develop asthma, bronchitis and lower immune systems. Children have the right to clean fresh air. You are setting an example for your kids when they see you smoke. You are setting a precedence saying its okay.
In addition smoking decreases the circulation in your digits (fingers) and/or limbs, sever circulation problems, will make you an amputee. It deprives the brain of oxygen, which can cause a stroke. Smoking also limits the amount of oxygen to your heart, which in turn can cause a heart attack and instant death. Not to mention the funk on your body. Smoking is so not worth it.
I see teenagers smoking and I just can't understand what would tempt them, in this day and age, when there are so many commercials warning against the dangers. There are many smoking limitations today, there aren't any advertisements. Do the movies make it glamorous? I don’t think they are more influencing, then witnessing the parents and the grownups they are around. Therefore it is your responsibility to set a positive example.
I was talking with my grandchildren about this movie where the kids’ wishes came true. One one of my grandchildren wished for her family to be rich, the other wished his family didn’t smoke. As they say out of the mouths of babes.
It should be illegal to smoke around children. Parents should be charged with child abuse if they smoke in the same building where children live. They should be charged if the children clothes smell like smoke. You’ve given birth to these precious little lives and they deserve a healthy start. We know better now.
Would you give your child a bottle of whisky to drink? Will you light a crack pipe for them? Will you expose them to porno? Smoking offers the same dangers.
AGAIN PLEASE DO NOT SMOKE AROUND YOUR CHILDREN!!
There is a wealth of information to assist you with quitting as well as the dangers. There are free programs to help you stop smoking. Please get help.
Dear Ms. Kim -- I think I've said this to you before, but I'll say it again. What I admire the most about your writing, whether it be poetry, blog or otherwise, is your strong voice. The world needs you! I also deeply admire the fact that you are speaking out to help others avoid some of the same suffering you have endured by using your lessons and experiences to educate. Rather than victimize yourself, you're working for the greater good. God bless you!!!
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to add that if a person wants to do something badly enough, they will make it happen. Nicotine is a poison which effects both the mind and body and quitting is a great choice all the way around. You'll be healthier, happier, richer and most importantly, you'll be setting a better example for the children.
Thanks Kim! I'll be snooping around here and there. lol