Not Smoking

I've been doing some thinking.

Or rather, I haven't been doing some thinking.

You see, I don't get a chance to think. I have to be constantly doing something. I'm not allowed to just sit down for 5 minutes, take a break, look at the clouds and think, "boy, they sure are fluffy." I don't get to chill out and clear my head, looking at the passing traffic, being silent and just being instead of doing.

I am your average non-smoking person. And chances are, so are you.

Yes yes, smoking WILL kill you, smoking is expensive and smoking is a dirty, dirty habit which causes fires, brown nails and let's face it - a pretty bad smell. But what happened to the occasion?

Really, it's a small price to pay for a bit of peace.

Yes, the smoker of today gets a chance to take a break. But the numbers of smokers are diminishing greatly. In the heyday of smoking, up to 75% of all males smoked regularly. These days, these sad, non-smoking days, that number is less than half that.

And you know what has gone up with the decline of smoking? Stress.

I don't have to show you any statistics to prove that to you, dear reader. You yourself are probably stressed about something. And it's probably because you don't smoke.

Not only has stress risen across the broader public, but illicit drug use. Back in the day, you had two choices, really. Nicotine and Alcohol. Now and then a bit of mary-jane would show up. Maybe some acid if you were lucky. But now! Wow. The choice. All those chemistry drop-outs have been doing something with their unemployment. I could list all the drugs suprisingly readily available to you both below and over the counter, but I would be wasting your valuble seconds - after all, you're just sneaking a read of a blog between emails and phone calls, aren't you?

And there's more! What's that poking over your keyboard? That's right! All those donuts you've been eating because you haven't got your happy little cigarette to keep you entertained while you're watching TV, driving, reading the paper, walking to the shops, waiting for a coffee, after sex, between shots at the bar, while you're trying to get off and at your best friends funeral. Instead of turning to your lung-cancer causing death stick, you've been turning to your pant-busting, waistline-pressuring sex-drive-reducing friiiiiieeeddd chik-an! Your jam donut. Your biggie fries. No my good man or woman, a pile of fried ice-cream ain't gonna hide your insecurity, your fear of being seen in public doing nothing but chilling out for a moment.

But I tell you what will.

A cigarette.

Go on. It's about the only acceptable way to hang around outside a building without being moved on by security, arrested for loitering or shot at for being a drug dealer. The tragic thing is, they are now trying to get our faithful smokers to move away from that, the mecca of the smoker, the front of an office block. There are signs appearing - "No smoking out front of building".

Good God. There are no words for this dire, desperate, terrible situation.

Soon there will be no place for those who want to chill out, fight off their urges to eat and kill people and unwind for 5 minutes from their busy lives. Busy with trivial events, yes, but busy nontheless.

How do you think JFK stayed so god-damn sexy?

So give them a break. And yourself. Go buy a pack of cigarettes and take 5 minutes every now and then to have a look around and think about what's happening with you. Next time someone goes on about smoking, just ask them. "Care for a cigarette?"