Friday, October 16, 2009

Smoking Cigarettes



Nicotine has conspired to make me her dirty whore-and I am not ashamed of it.
I do not stand alone. I stand outside, five metres away from the entrance to all public buildings- in rain, sleet and snow and light up. Sometimes I sneak one in my 'non-smoking' house during one of my many predictable insomniatic sprees.
I light up after good sex, after bad sex, while having a coffee, after a big meal, for a quick break from the restaurant, waiting for the bus, listening to music, after a join and am reduced to being a chainsmoker while drinking.

I don't know what it is about the finely packed cancer sticks that attract me.

It's not the cost, the smell, the taste, the dirty looks from non-smokers, the coughing, the phlegm, the shortness of breath.
In fact, I detest all of those things.
It's not just another oral fixation. It's not just an addiction, dirty habit or to fit in.
It has little to do with being able to get a break, relax or look cool.

The Canadian government has been shoving 'antismoking' propaganda down our throats for years now. The grotesque photos of black lungs, hideous teeth and gums, sad children begging me not to poison them, a hospital bed, a wheezing old man and my personal favourite, the limp cigarette warning me of impotence.

It has been argued that smoking is taking a toll on our already failing health system, but I have to question these so-called 'concerned' Canadians.
Each cigarette costs fifty cents. Of that, twenty cents goes directly into the provinces pocket and twenty cents goes into the hands of the federal government.
I will end up quitting this 'filthy habit' soon enough, but until then if you see me light up consider it my personal stimulus package for my home and native land.

cough cough

1 comment:

etoile said...

haha omg ... this is my favorite in a while lol... hurray for the maple leaf