Kicking The Butt of Cigarettes and The Addiction to Smoking

first of all, let me truly and sincerely tell you that for a very long time I have held off from publishing a hub like this, a piece that contained the verb, “smoking” and the noun, “cigarette.” And secondly, let me sternly say to everyone who may read this hub that “The Surgeon General has Ruled Many Years Ago that Smoking Cigarettes Will Lead to Cancer, Respiratory Problems, and Other Physical Diseases.”

Do you recall when “this” truthful warning was placed on the packs of cigarettes and the cartons as well. Along with the Surgeon General’s tough message, the Federal Government passed tough legislation forbidding the pictures, text, and all types of advertising that promoted smoking and the selling of cigarettes to minors and this was inclusive for print ads, audio and video messages that told us how dangerous smoking really was, but hardly no one listened as the warnings went out and mostly fell on deaf ears.

Not to be short, but during this painful breaking in period of doing away from the smoking, smokers, and all that nasty tobacco stuff, more legislation was afoot for the American public. In the years to come, laws were passed to forbid the actors in soap operas, sitcoms, and drama’s in prime time from smoking or even mentioning the “Bad Ol’ Cigarettes.” It was like a gang of street tough’s in the 50’s who wore grease in their hair and belly as well as filth in their words to match the cool-looking way a juvenile delinquent looked while puffing on a cigarette to make the pretty girls swoon and sway.

right now in 2018 and do an honest evaluation with yourself as you find yourself backsliding from a prim lifestyle—where you are not tempted to even be near a cigarette or smell the awful aroma of the smoke that a cigarette manufactures. Forget the huge industrial smoke stacks, just worry about being tobacco smoke-free and live like a healthy American should.

You can make up your own minds concerning the use of tobacco, but as for me, I gave up smoking and chewing (smokeless tobacco) back in 2000 and from that time until now, I haven’t desired to light-up or open my jaw to taste that highly-addictive stuff that today’s Big Tobacco Companies pump over the tobacco before it becomes cigarettes and the chances of a non-smoker who dabbles with cigarettes in 2018 for the first time is actually “playing with fire” and smoke. So it would pay the non-smoker or smokeless tobacco user to stay that way—and of all the reasons to NOT use tobacco is the hefty price you would be paying if you were addicted to cigarettes. You can think about this fact that will keep you from smoking.

And from some amount of searching and studying, I not only know, but understand the linkage between the cigarette and our American Youth. With the American Youth, the boundary lines that separated those Cool Cats in Greenich Village once upon an eon or two with their RayBan’s, goatee’s, black sweat’s, pants, and beret’s laying low in some obscure club out of the sight of The Man and the Thinking Public that learned how to turn a blind eye to these coffee-drinking, bongo playing, and cigarette-smoking youth who were to grow up and take charge of their elders’ crumbling society.

Guess what? It wasn’t the Beatnik’s or The Man who formed those radical opinions about how smooth a guy looks when he has a cigarette hanging out of the right side of his mouth. How sexy and alluring it looked for his Beatnik girlfriend who adored her Beatnik man for sticking to the man by playing his Jazz a bit too loud and speaking a decibel or two above what stiff’s were saying about Keeping America Moving—Get a Job!

These guys in black could care less about Motor City and the materialism, so they lit-up their legal smokes again and went to taking their message to the street. This was a few years prior to Vietnam, and I won’t go any further with ‘Nam because here, I only used it as a reference point. But the Beatnik guys did get drafted to the shores of Vietnam cigarettes and all—actually, a few packs of cigarettes to the G.I. in the Bush was like money. Easy to trade for candy bars or for something to smoke which was tougher than the green leafs in South and North Carolina.

both defined in this piece, I want to stop with my soapbox and get along with my Real Story here. But to close-out “this” part of my hub, we can all use a good ole fashion soapbox now and then, but the real wisdom is knowing when to get off of it. So with that, I want to talk to you about an American Legal Icon: “Perry Mason,” the Superman in a three-piece suit: Raymond Burr. “Mason” was created by Earl Stanley Gardner who made himself more money than I will ever spend juy sitting behind his typewriter and talking about Mason, his buddy, “Paul Drake,” an ace P.I., AKA/William Hopper, who was the sharp prototype of Tom Selleck’s “Magnum P.I. Did you ever put those two together?

“Perry Mason’s” right-hand gal was “Della Street,” AKA/Barbara Hale and to round-out the field were “Mason’s” foil: William Talman AKA/”Hamilton Burger,” the hard-fisted D.A. who always lost to “Mason,” and although it looked like “shooting fish in a barrel,” the public loved the action and interaction among Burr and the rest of the “Perry Mason” cast. Note: let us not overlook gravely-voiced Ray Talman, or “Lieutenant Tragg,” who always had a smug look on his face thinking that maybe “this” case would be solved by himself and “Hamilton Burger.”

I guess at this point, you are wondering why talk about “Perry Mason.” Good question. Say, what if I just closed down this hub and never told you the answer? One day before April Fools Day, I just might try that one.

The truth always stands tall in any court room. The reason that I want to finish my narrative about “Cigarette Smoking; The Dangers of Smoking and Perry Mason,”is somewhat easy. It has everything to do with a new satellite system that I love to watch. I cannot tell you the network because some might think that I am hawking for you to lock into that network. Not!!!

On one particular episode of “Perry Mason,” on a Thursday night, I took it upon myself to try and count just how many cigarettes the cast and co-stars not only smoked while talking about the case at hand, or while they walked to lunch and then in the afternoon while “Mason” was interviewing witnesses, who also smoked along with “Mason,” and “Drake,” who was having a slow day because he hung close to “Mason’s” office and did a lion’s share of smoking as to not be made to look stand offish.

15 total cigarettes smoked and the butts rubbed out in ashtrays in “Mason’s” office. Not hardly a pack of cigarettes because 20 is the legal amount of cigarettes in a pack in America. But in all of the court room action, “Drake” (who smoked and drove his fancy convertible) and “Mason” who stayed in his office to get the facts for “Della,” I can tell you up front that “Della Street” did NOT light-up or even ask for a cigarette! She remained smoke-free. Good for you, girl!

And I can second that, Barbara along with the rest of you who have “kicked the butt” of that expensive and nasty smoking habit.

September 1, 2018______________________________________________