“I care”

A friend recently learned something about me. I am not an activist, so I will not follow you around every day rubbing it in how bad cigarettes are. I might mention or joke about it here and there, but I try to respect a person’s comfort zone when it comes to that.

However, the way I look at things…is that there is no debate on whether they “are” or “are not” good for you. There is no study that has shown they have a truly positive impact on someone. There is no side of the debate that claims they give you healthier lungs, cleaner oxygen, cures cancer or extends your life. Every study results in negative conclusions about how unhealthy they are. So in truth, there is a 100% chance that by smoking, you are doing some sort of severe damage to yourself.

So if you are smoking around me, I’ll try my best simply to avoid standing down-wind from you…or I’ll just keep my distance. I’ll try to never harass you too badly about it (heh). I warn you though, if you for some reason ask me to hold it for a second while you do something…you won’t get it back.

Think about it. If you had a gun or an explosive, were in a pits (mood) and started talking about how you don’t know if you can take the stress of life anymore…I’m going to take it from you. If you have a knife and I can see you have been cutting yourself with it for pleasure…I’m going to take it from you. If you have been slowly feeding yourself rat poison just for kicks or to find out what happens…I’m going to take it from you. If you have had so many drinks that you show signs of instability and reach for another or your keys…I’m going to take it/them from you. If you hand me your cigarette………I’m going to take it from you.