A Dying Breed

Headline: Smoking foes try to stop parents from lighting up

Anti-smoking activists who are driving cigarettes from public places across the country are now targeting private homes -- especially those with children.

Madness. Pure madness. Children are usually the leading cause for picking up a pack of cigarettes in the first place.

I grew up with a parent who smoked and nobody in my family ever developed cancer or breathing disorders of any kind - emotional disorders, maybe, but that's another story. Of course living with a smoker can produce hazards but not of the medical nature. Kids today just don't know how good they have it.

For instance, sitting between my parents in front seat of the green, Plymouth station wagon, my Dad reached over toward the already over-stuffed ashtray to deposit a foot long stack of ashes. Naturally, his hand passed right in front of the A/C vent which resulted in a volcanic-like eruption all over me. But considering we were Catholic, having ashes plastered onto the forehead wasn't so out of place.

Another issue was running around barefoot in the yard - as all southerners do in the summertime - and inadvertantly stepping on an unextinguished cigarette that had been recently tossed out onto the grass. Although painful, but only for a second, it was no cause to contact Child Welfare Services, just cause to wear shoes.

It's not like I was ever tricked into believing I'd get a present when told to hold out my hand, only to have ashes flicked onto my palm. Or had a magic trick performed for me called, "Ever Seen a Match Burn Twice?"

For those of you who haven't seen this style of trickery, this is the way it worked. He lit the match, which allowed me to see how it burned once, then he'd blow it out and quickly press it to my arm, thus burning a second time. I wonder if David Copperfield's father did the same thing to him?

And it certainly wasn't like I was ever ordered to go into the store to buy a carton of Winstons -- at age 7. Ah, the good ole' days.

I don't understand how these people think just because parents smoke it automatically makes them a bad parent. I survived all these things and I turned out okay.

At least that's what my therapist tells me.