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I'm not
a smoker. And although I understand that
once it becomes a habit it's very difficult
to quit I still find it hard to commiserate
with them. But today I had the chance to
watch them in action up close.
I was
having a quiet afternoon by myself inside
Starbucks when I noticed that there were
more smokers out and about than usual. I
think it's the weather. Autumn has finally
arrived and it's a bit chili, especially
compared to what the weather was like a few
weeks earlier.
They
seem to flock directly in front of me.
There's an ashtray on the ground on the
other side of the window and the two massive
pillars on both end sort of insulates them
from the cold breeze. I noticed this girl.
She nice looking actually, but her hands
were shaking. She could hardly stick the
cigarette in her mouth. I dunno... but in a
way I kind'a feel sorry for her. And from
where I was sitting it didn't seem like
she's enjoying her smoke at all, at least
not as much as I was enjoying my coffee. It
looked as though she was smoking to sort of
relieve some kind of discomfort. She was
definitely not doing it for fun.
And
after she finished, she grabbed another
cigarette.
Four
cigarettes later she left, probably
homebound. I started to think about the
whole thing. Secondhand cigarette smoke is
unpleasant to those who don't smoke like
myself, and the whole act of smoking doesn't
seem to make sense. But then I can't help
but wonder if smokers really have a choice.
They obviously crave it, and as some of my
smoker friends put it, it's something that
they don't really want to do all the time,
but something that they need... like going
to the toilet.
I
don't think I'll ever see things from their
point of view, unless I start taking up the
habit of course. But neither do I have a
reason to loathe them for being hooked.
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