Smoking

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It's crazy to me to think about a time when there were still cigarette commercials on TV and when there was a smoking and nonsmoking section in restaurants. I remember all of our cars had built in ashtrays. In Ohio, they didn't ban smoking until I had already graduated high school. My entire childhood was filled with smoke filled rooms. Neither of my parents smoked but most of my dad's family did and my mom's dad did. My mom hated us being around smoke and would often send us outside to play when we went to visit family. Fun fact, when your parents are smokers you're more likely to be a smoker yourself, surprisingly neither of my parents smoked despite all of the smoking they grew up around, and it was to great disappointment that they learned my brother ended up being a smoker. Smoking was so normal back in the Golden days of Hollywood. It was rare to see a movie without someone smoking. Back in those days, they didn't realize how harmful smoking was, at least not like they do now. If you ever watch anything with Dean Martin especially anything where he isn't playing a part but just doing a show whether it be a talk show, variety show, or doing a concert, etc. he always has a cigarette in his hand. It was part of the era. Lucille Ball smoked all the time and eventually, she lost her perky look and her voice got rougher. I don't think a lot of smokers realized just what it was doing to them. Even when they learned what smoking did to themselves most people didn't realize how dangerous second hand smoke was. They didn't know they were hurting their children by smoking around them. Now statistics are everywhere about how terrible smoking is for not just yourself but for those around you. I remember when E-cigarettes came out and I had a friend who would use them and thought it was completely safe (something that, shocker, they are finding isn't as safe as it was once thought) and informed me he could smoke it anywhere, including my home. I told him flat out that it was too new and I wasn't allowing him to smoke that in my house and if he came into my home he wasn't allowed to use it in my house or around my kid. Now they're finding out that vaping is just as bad for you and others as smoking, it just doesn't have the nasty cigarette smell with it. This isn't a judgment to those who do smoke, I understand that people make choices without thinking them through, but I have yet to find anyone who doesn't regret their choice to start smoking. While smoking in public places didn't stop for many US states at the time the '90s were around the time they stopped allowing cigarette ads on TV and it was really driven home to younger generations how bad it is for your health. Then vaping became a thing and Gen Z and younger Millennials latched on and it has caused a whole new set of issues. I remember writing an essay in high school about cigarettes and all the things they put in them. I remember learning about all of the additives they use to make it more addictive. It's crazy to me to think about how different the world was when I was a kid. I remember going to restaurants and asking for the nonsmoking section while we were led through the smoking section and would then have a big fan blow the smoke into our section anyway. I laugh about it now. It was not uncommon to see a mom with a cigarette in her hand while doing various activities with her children. It was just part of the culture, and it was the culture they grew up in. Most of the adults I knew who smoked didn't realize exactly how harmful it was to themselves or their kids. It wasn't until they were already addicted to smoking that they started to learn how terrible it was for them. That said sometimes knowing how harmful something is for you doesn't stop people from using it. Sometimes it gives it an edge and it's not until someone is dying from those choices that they really care about it. I remember them banning the Joe Camel mascot because he made smoking look cool to kids. I also remember eating candy cigarettes as a kid, I used to pretend I was smoking them and never actually became a smoker myself. I remember thinking it looked cool on TV as a kid, but as I got older I realized how terrible they were and I hated the smell of them. I can't sit and judge smokers too harshly, I just wish some wouldn't smoke around their children or where other people have to breathe it in. I blame tobacco companies more than anything. They profit off of killing people and giving them cancer, but I guess the same could be true for other companies out there but I won't go too far into that. Some people can smoke and drink and do everything else in the book and still live long lives because some genetics are strong. There are older celebrities that lived very long lives, and they were heavy smokers, but most people aren't that lucky.