Smoking Stuff

I can't stand those asthma commercials on TV. People talk about how long they have had asthma. Some say 5 years, 14 years, or all their lives. Okay, I have asthma. I don't have bad symptoms like some, but usually this time of year I will cough and feel a tightness in my chest. When I was a kid, itwas pretty tough around the State Fair time. They used to use sawdust around the fair that would cause me severe problems. They have since paved the fair area, so it isn't as bad. But, if I go near hay in the animal barn, I can start coughing. I also have chronic bronchitis. Some attacks can be severe. I have been known to separate a rib or two. I know there are some things I can do to keep that from happening. I have also used an inhaler. So, I say all of this to talk about smoking. When I was in junior high school, I thought it was cool to smoke. Unfortunately, my parents didn't share my feelings. I was too young to buy cigarettes, so I stole cigarettes from people's cars, if I saw them on the dash while riding on my bike. I also found half-smoked cigarettes on the ground at our high school from other students who had gone to their cars in between classes to smoke but couldn't finish them. I had a problem. When I got home, I would wash my hands in mouthwash and eat a bunch of mints to try and mask it from my parents. I don't know if they ever knew, but I think they suspected it. When I got to college, I wasn't smoking. But, in my junior year at PC, I discovered two things--small cigars and grass. I did a play that required that I smoke on stage. My Mother said that she found it uncomfortable to see me smoke. I told her that I didn't inhale and actually blew into the cigarette to make it glow. That wasn't true, but maybe she believed it. I continued to smoke off and on. I had my last cigarette in 1984. I just quit cold turkey. Thanks to my asthma, bronchitis and ex-smoker's lungs, I have a little problem breathing today. I also used to run for exercise. I used to be in top shape. Now, not so much. When I am around smokers now, I feel the tightness. I cannot judge smokers for what they do. I just know that I can't do that anymore. Kind of like drinking, but that's another story.