Smokers

                The air is becoming cool and crisp here at Virginia Tech, and it makes me want to go outside and walk around just to enjoy the weather. Walking around in a sweatshirt and jeans is how I tend to appreciate the simple pleasures in life. But on multiple occasions as I walk around campus I have felt that the life was being sucked out of me as I breathe in air from some smoker that happened to be in front of me.

I have noticed a fair amount of smokers on campus and it has always had me wonder, why did you start smoking? In the 1960’s when almost everyone smoked, they didn’t know it was bad for you so that is more understandable. In today’s time, it has been proven through many studies that it’s destroy your lungs and the smoke that you breathe out also hurts the others around you. Then I thought why would anyone want to start something that you’re going to be addicted to? I see smokers that stand out in the freezing cold just to get a smoke. It looks completely ridiculous for someone to subject themselves to that kind of weather for some puffs.  Also to supply that addiction a smoker has to buy their cigarettes, which can easily get expensive depending on what brand and how often a person gets them.

Smoking is terrible for the health of both the smoker and the unfortunate people that happen to be around them. Have you ever noticed that generally when comparing people that smoke and people that don’t, the ones who smoke lose their breath more easily when doing an activity? That in itself is a sign that a person shouldn’t smoke, because nothing good can lead from a shortness of breath.  Some of the severe consequences of smoking cigarettes can be lung disease and a loss of vocal cords. I remember when I was in 6^th grade my school had a presentation for us about the dangers of smoking. They brought a man that talked to us through one of artificial vocal cords, so he sounded like a robot and he had a hole in his throat. Seeing that freaked me out and when I think of him it can still give me the chills. The thought that went through my mind while I saw him was that my grandma also smokes, so what if she ends up like him? My grandma has been smoking since she was 16 and now she’s 65, so for 49 years smoking has been a part of her life. I felt that she was in serious danger and I tried to convince her to stop smoking, but I realized then that it’s easy to say that people shouldn’t smoke and list terrible facts about it, but getting someone to stop is a truly difficult task. It’s not easy for a person to change their lifestyle, so needless to say that I couldn’t get my grandma to stop smoking. I had asked her why she started was because she was curious about it, and I’m sure that same reason of curiosity applies to the people who start smoking in today’s time. So please don’t smoke, even if you’re curious about it. Just think, is that moment of curiosity worth a lifetime of addiction and bad health?