A knock on the front door, brought a visit from the neighbor who lived down the hall, in the apartments where I used to live. There was a look of desperation on his face, and we didn't know each other as friends...but only as acquaintances and exchanged greetings around the complex from time to time.
"You quit smoking...didn't you, Jer? My doctor told me that if I didn't quit smoking, I was going to lose a leg!" This is what this man told me, as he had a pretty grim look on his face that night! I invited him in to talk about when I quit smoking and how long it took me to do it, which was about a year, to get all the cravings out of my system, etc. When he left my apartment, he had a look more grim, than when he came in. At about 55 years old, I guess it wasn't the news he wanted to hear. I was just being honest with him...there is nothing easy about quitting smoking, and it takes time,etc.
I didn't know this man well at all, and I didn't know if he was suffering from diabetes as well. I don't stick my nose into other people's business. I saw the man about two weeks later...and he was on crutches...MINUS ONE LEG! The next time I saw him was about three months later, and the ambulance people were wheeling him out of the apartments, and he looked barely alive to me! That's the last time I saw him!
From: Kids Health.org;
Everyone knows smoking is a bad idea. And by now, you've probably heard, that breathing someone else's secondhand smoke, is also hazardous to your health.
What is secondhand smoke? Secondhand smoke comes from both the smoke that smokers exhale (called mainstream smoke) and from the smoke floating around, from the end of a cigarette; cigar; or pipe. (called sidestream smoke)
It may seem pretty harmless, but secondhand smoke actually contains thousands of chemicals...from arsenic; ammonia; to hydrogen cyanide...many of which have been proven to cause cancer! (called carcinogens) High concentrations of many of these chemicals are found in secondhand smoke. In fact...secondhand smoke significantly increases a person's risk for the following:
- respiratory infections (like bronchitis and pneumonia)
- asthma; is a risk factor and can trigger attacks for those who already have it)
- coughing; sore throat; sneezing; sniffling;
- cancer; heart disease
So, secondhand smoke just doesn't impact a person in the future. It can cause problems right now...like affecting someone's sports performance and the ability to be physically active, etc.
When I started writing seriously in 2006, I promised myself I wouldn't be a crusader for anything or be "preachy" to anyone. So, if a person wants to commit suicide...one puff at a time...there's nothing I can do about it. Do I care if a person dies from smoking? NO...because they know the risks!
This is the fifth article I've written on the dangers of smoking, and the reader can find the others in my portfolio. In one of those articles, I refer to smokers as dragons...because they remind me of a dragon, with smoke bellowing out of their mouth; their nose; their ears; and in places where the sun don't shine!
Anyway, when me and my wife would have a few of these dragons over for dinner, and the house looked like it was on fire...with smoke coming out of the windows,etc. With a cloud of smoke so heavy inside, that the visibility was poor, and I thought someone might trip over the coffee table and hurt themselves. In the sunlight, you could see the cloud of smoke, just lingering and hovering over everything. I was always worried that the neighbors were going to call the fire department...and with those high pressure hoses they use...they would surely destroy the house!
Over the years, I've heard people say something like this; "My grandfather smoked almost all his adult life, and he lived to be 94 years old!" That may be true...but did he live a quality life? My father lived to be 81 years old, and smoked non-filtered cigarettes until he went to the grave. He did NOT live a quality life...for he was always complaining about everything that bothered him. He was sick all the time! Smoking breaks down the body's defenses, and my mother had to put up with him...crying and whining all the way to the grave! Smoking has a tendency to break down the body defenses! Aren't we all seeking a quality of life...free of breathing dangerous chemicals? Isn't that our right?
I feel pretty comfortable in saying, that there is nobody on this planet, who can give me ONE benefit of smoking...not one! If you're the kind of person that believes that smoking will help you with your weight problem; or if you're the kind of person who believes that smoking helps you with your stress and nerves problem...you're in denial! Many of these people, with a "donut hole" mentality...lie to themselves all the time...and are in the best position to watch their nose grow!
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Copyright; Jerry L. Aragon (The Humor Doctor) 2007
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