smoking

i was fortunate to be a late bloomer, so to speak, as evidenced by the fact that i never took up smoking. i've been late at everything, all of my life. there have been plenty of times when this lethargy has been painful or unpleasant, but there are also plenty of examples of my deliberate nature being fortuitous, as is the case with smoking cigarettes.

when my friends were experimenting with marlboros and camels, (around the age of 14,) i was still knee deep in baseball cards. as i turned 18 and donned a trench coat and a handful of ska buttons, i tried to smoke the clove cigarettes my friends were fond of to almost no avail. i bought a few packs of the pungent djarum cigarettes and i literally enjoyed dangling one from my bottom lip like james dean or clint eastwood, but the smoke that curled upwards into my nostrils made me cough even when i tried not to breathe it.

cigarettes are destructive. cigarettes are addictive. the cigarette industry pedals destruction and has demonstrated a willingness to act immorally. i am glad i never got into that.