When I was old enough to ask why I only had one grandfather but had two grandmothers, my mother explained that my other grandfather had died 7 years before I was born because he'd smoked. He was a product of his era, a 2-pack-a-day man, and he died of lung cancer in the early 60s. My mother never smoked, though her brother took it up, and my maternal grandmother didn't smoke either. (Nanny lived to 97; she was the oldest of six children, but she outlived all of her siblings who all smoked.) Mom's brother gave up smoking a few years ago, but his wife continues to smoke.
When I was somewhat older, my father told me that his parents had smoked, and so had he when he was younger. However, my grandmother partly dislocated her retina with her smoker's cough, and when my father heard about the diagnosis, he quit cold turkey that day. Both my grandparents gave it up as well. My grandfather lived to 84, and my grandmother lived to 87.
I've never even been tempted to pick up a cigarette.
For a year in the early 90s, I worked as a temp at a place that essentially encouraged its employees to smoke (they printed labels for Phillip Morris, B&W, and other major cigarette companies). I came home reeking of smoke every night, and my asthma got worse and worse. In retrospect, I'm glad they decided to dump the temp, because I was able to get away from the smoke (I could never leave on my own so long as this place paid more than any other place for the work I could do -- a whopping $7/hour). I wonder about that place sometimes; whether they still allow smoking in the plant (the most frightening sight I've ever been witness to was two men hauling open 55 gallon drums of ink and solvent... with cigarettes dangling from their mouths), and whether the guy who taught me my job is still alive, or if he's gone down, like so many others, with cardiovascular or pulmonary illnesses.
no subject
When I was somewhat older, my father told me that his parents had smoked, and so had he when he was younger. However, my grandmother partly dislocated her retina with her smoker's cough, and when my father heard about the diagnosis, he quit cold turkey that day. Both my grandparents gave it up as well. My grandfather lived to 84, and my grandmother lived to 87.
I've never even been tempted to pick up a cigarette.
For a year in the early 90s, I worked as a temp at a place that essentially encouraged its employees to smoke (they printed labels for Phillip Morris, B&W, and other major cigarette companies). I came home reeking of smoke every night, and my asthma got worse and worse. In retrospect, I'm glad they decided to dump the temp, because I was able to get away from the smoke (I could never leave on my own so long as this place paid more than any other place for the work I could do -- a whopping $7/hour). I wonder about that place sometimes; whether they still allow smoking in the plant (the most frightening sight I've ever been witness to was two men hauling open 55 gallon drums of ink and solvent... with cigarettes dangling from their mouths), and whether the guy who taught me my job is still alive, or if he's gone down, like so many others, with cardiovascular or pulmonary illnesses.