smoke rings

the news is on in the background. which normally is just slightly bothersome white noise. yet today they're yakking about raising the cigarette tax and how thats going to make people quit smoking. [rolls eyes]

im a smoker. i like it. no. i love it.
i love the way it smells.
i love the way it tastes.
i love its swirling immediate calming invocation.
im not so fond of the price, but i deal with it.
im not so fond of the inability to smoke in an effing bar, but i dont drink, so its really not that big of a deal to me.

whatever happened to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
seriously? yes seriously.
smoking is part of my happiness.
i read the warning labels.
i dont care.
thats my choice.

im really terribly sick and tired of hearing about lawsuits
simply because people died from smoking.
[eye roll]
its on the label. its your own fault.
just like if i ever contract lung cancer or emphysema or whatnot...
that makes it my fault, not Big Tobacco's.

[blows smoke rings]

they could raise the price to $10 a pack.
i'd still smoke.
part of me says its simply to be the sort of person who doesnt like to be dictated to by pompous asses.
the other part of me laughs and says 'you're addicted dumbass'
yet when i put both halves of myself together, they both make sense.

ive always said when i die, put a pack of smokes in my shirt pocket, stick one in my mouth and put me in the incinerator.

i don't like conformity.
i don't like doing things to make other people happy.
especially when its people i don't know or care about.
i'm a conscientious smoker.
i don't blow my smoke in non-smokers faces...unless they're former smokers and ask me too.
i don't smoke in my house, cuz thats the one place i don't like the lingering stale smell of smoke.
if i have a non-smoker in my vehicle, i won't smoke while driving, no matter how much i wind up with a bout of road rage.

i don't see them raising the sales tax on alcohol.
it's much more dangerous to drive while intoxicated than to drive while smoking.
drunk drivers kill many many people a year, but thats ok.
alcohol when used in excess destroys the liver, causing cirrhosis and then death.
but thats ok. its their choice.

yet smoking isnt ok? gimme a break would ya?
at least be fair. raise alcohol taxes too.
might as well. considering you've raised the price of groceries.
and lets not even discuss the price of gas.

i almost wish Hillary had won the nomination.
that way i'd have a valid reason for moving to Canada.

i bid you adieu.