Nicotine Fiend

Smoking is harmful to your health. Yet I continue to do it. It is expensive. A waste of hard-earned money. Puffing away as I type this. We, smokers, are the new social lepers. The signs are everywhere, the No Smoking ban is accepted without much fuss. I never thought I would see the day when you couldn't saunter into the local tavern and not light up. Oh, the times they are a changin'. The pharmaceutical companies are now pushing Chantix. It does have a rather decent success ratio. Just like all the other drugs, there is quite a long list of side-effects. I used to pay good money to be constipated and dizzy/lightheaded. Glad I don't have to worry about erectile dysfunction. It used to be suave to smoke. Now you are a pariah. Imagine James Dean with a nice patch on his shoulder. Not! Please go easy on the judgment when you see the clusters of people huddled in the rain, the smoke swirling around their exiled beings. Say a prayer, and remember, there was a time when that was the circle everyone wanted to be part of. Trendy. Fashionable. I'm in with the in crowd. We've come a long way baby! I think self-destruction is a personal issue. Depends on your method. Free will is a gift we all possess. What we do with that blessing is what makes each of us unique. Nicotine cravings call like the heroin monkey. The opiate demon and I made peace quite a few blue moons ago. Tobacco? When the automatic drip of the coffeemaker starts and I smell the aroma of the toasty roast, my hand start groping for that pack. Where the hell are my cigarettes? Dammit. "What? You ran out of yours in the middle of the night and smoked mine?" Great, fucking great! Sorry, I have to get dressed and go out now. I need a cigarette.