But,
only if you have no children... or wife?To smoke or not to smoke... it is no longer the question!
(It is more like a privilege, but only in the right place).
But,
only if you have no children... or wife?
Remember when smoking was more of a "manly" thing! (Having a pipe in the den with the older men)!
Then those Virgin-ya Slim ads started on TV, telling liberated women it was their right to smoke as well...
But, that was a long time ago... before the Marlboro man died of cancer, even before second-hand smoke!
I did it a little bit in high school, until I spit on my girl friend while I was coughing.
I smoked some in college too, until I got thrown out of my apartment.
It was the Army that taught me how to do it... in school you did not get a break to go outside unless you smoked!
(And after everyone started blaming us for losing over in Vietnam... smoking even seemed to help the nerves).
Later... I moved to Deadwood and became an "old-west" character on the streets! (But I hated smoke).
(It ruined lots of pictures, and it just does not go over very well with the public... especially around the kids).
I have been ask to smoke a cigar while acting in a movie set. And have promoted "Poker Alice" in true form as well...
I have also been told by very young children what one of our own presidents did with his cigar once too...
One said he learned about it while watching Headline News in the gym at school. (Part of a classroom assignment).
Wicked jokes like this poster were found everywhere...
In the past most in higher offices did many wicked things, but it was never talked about in such a public way.
We can, in fact... SAY just about anything we want on this new thing called the INTERNET!
And everyone can choose to read it, believe it... or simply ignore it! (But this smoking problem is different).
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In the old days, life was simple... And a pack of smokes were less than a dollar, in the military anyway.
(Actually, a pack of 3 came with each "ration" meal during war times... and they were never wasted).
After Vietnam many things related to freedom changed a great deal. (And so did the electronic age)...
Ten years after that they came out with a very neat 1 gig hard drive that used the new CD technology!
Twenty years later, I paid five thousand dollars for a faster two gig hard drive...
Now that tiny solid state storage card is faster yet... and it often comes free in many digital cameras!
Yes Virginia, we have all come a long way!
In the seventies I smoked on the beach in LA... By the nineties I could only do it on South Beach at Miami.
It is still that way, but they allow almost anything there... like the nearby town of Sturgis does during the Bike Rally!
Relaxed "standards" or "loose" morality seem to go hand in hand with breaking rules when the public wants it.
The South Beach of Miami is famous for topless women, and it is the only public beach publicized in America.
Sturgis is famous for the "biker style" nude behavior of all kinds. (Look up "no panties Wednesday" as well)!
Many come to this rally just to "let their hair down" and do something totally outrageous... or watch it anyway?
In fact both Deadwood and Sturgis have signs in bars saying "Thank You for Smoking"...
(Normally it is to draw attention to another smaller one requesting no nasty cigar or strong pipe smoking).
This may end soon though... a public smoking ban is on the November ballot in South Dakota.
Maybe Deadwood will do like casinos in Las Vegas... (They just pay a monthly fine to allow smoking).
Nothing will change in Sturgis either... (The week of the Rally the cops are way too busy with major crimes).
Loud pipes, no mufflers, smoking tires, nude people on the move... whatever! (Just keep moving).
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I have a boy in the military who is very much against smoking! (His children even tell me I smell like smoke).
He actually saw this happen to a public smoker...
I have another one that smokes over two packs a day... and so does his wife. (They lead stressful lives too)!
He says he puts it out before he gets even close to the dynamite...
We make jokes about such things at times, but the cost of smoking is not even funny anymore now!
(Between the two of them they spend almost a thousand a month buying a pack before & after work in Deadwood).
He told me if they buy a carton they never run out... and wind up smoking even more than two packs a day!
Then they start coughing almost as bad as I do and neither have had any luck cutting back or quitting...
I have rolled my own since becoming an "old west" dude. (20 years ago I spent $18 a month, now it is $95).
I have one daughter who deals cards to smokers and "gets it in the face" all the time. She really hates that...
Another one is a school teacher, she has a problem being close to me as well...
(When I visited her in New York... she allowed me to smoke outside with the dog)!
In Atlantic City you could smoke on the Boardwalk, if nobody objected... And Vegas allowed it almost everywhere!
The best hotel idea was on the east coast, where they allowed smoking in a room with a nice view at the top...
But the worst experience I have ever had was also at a Holiday Inn, in the "bible belt" town of O'Neill, Nebraska...
They figured out a wicked way to use their smoking law to generate extra profit.
It reminds me of a joke I heard in Deadwood not long ago... (Girls do funny things if they get too much free booze).
A very innocent looking cute blond was sitting on a round bar stool wearing a mini skirt.
Someone ask her boyfriend if he smoked after sex...
(She acted like she thought they were talking to her).
She spread her legs and looked down, saying simply "I don't know, I never checked"...
Now, if you are a bit outraged by that foolish joke, or this picture... click on WHAT HAPPENED IN O'NEILL