The wisdom of cigarette smokers
We’ve done an effective job at drastically reducing the percentage of cigarette smokers in the population. From a public health perspective, this is probably a good thing. But before we eliminate smokers for good, I want to warn you about something extremely valuable we might lose as a result – wisdom.
Smokers represent healthy ideals for a society. Maybe not in terms of physical health, but certainly in terms of sociological health. In many ways, smokers represent the best of us.
I’m saying this as a former smoker who feels like smokers are unfairly treated because I sincerely believe that smokers represent a few big things worth celebrating.
#1: Smokers represent a contrarian position in society that we desperately need more of.
Recently, there’s been a lot of pressure put on us by politicians, bureaucrats, and corporations to just do what they say. But oftentimes, what they say is wrong or downright misleading.
But even when politicians, bureaucrats, and corporations are right, we should always be skeptical of their motives. Newsflash: these people do not have your individual best interests in mind. Why would you listen to them?
Even when they are right, AND have good intentions, the evidence needs to be overwhelming to take what they say at face value. In those extremely rare situations where our politicians, bureaucrats, and corporate overlords are right, have good intentions, AND the evidence in favor of what they’re saying is overwhelming, it is STILL worth disobeying them and conventional wisdom sometimes just for the sake of it.
Smokers know this better than anyone. Everyone knows smoking is bad for you. The evidence is overwhelming. No one wants to be around smokers. Smoking is largely banned everywhere people gather. Yet there are people who STILL decide to smoke. That is bad ass. In fact, participating in an activity that provides very little objective benefit that almost every part of society disagrees with is about as bad ass as it gets.
As an aside, I think I’ve just come up with an effective three-part framework for determining whether you should listen to someone who doesn’t know you personally:
Are they right?
Do they have good intentions?
Is the evidence in favor of what they’re saying overwhelming?
If the answer to all three questions is yes, you should probably listen. But sometimes, you should still ignore them just so they know they can’t control you. Not being able to be controlled is bad ass.
On a related note, have you ever met a smoker who didn’t have a unique perspective or worldview?
#2 – What they never told you in health class… Smoking feels good.
Something that people who have never smoked don’t understand, and something your health teacher never told you in school is that smoking feels good. When you pull in the first drag of a freshly lit cigarette, a momentary sense of ease and comfort washes over you.
And the taste! The taste of burnt tobacco is as pleasing as a freshly brewed cup of coffee to those of us who love our morning fix. The earthy flavor and the warmth of the tobacco (or coffee, or both) hitting your mouth and lungs is a taste as inspiring as nature itself.
And the smell! Ok, I’ll admit there are plenty of current and former smokers who don’t love the smell of cigarettes. I am not one of them. I love the smell of a lit cigarette, a dimly lit bar that smells like cigarettes have been smoked inside of it for decades, and perhaps best of all, the smell of someone who just came in after a smoke break.
That other thing they told you in school – that people smoked because they thought it made them look cool when in reality it didn’t – yep, that was a lie. Smoking makes you look cool as shit. Smoking’s “cool” factor probably has a lot to do with the contrarian position discussed above, but it’s still worth mentioning. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. And if you don’t believe me, look up “Marlboro Man commercial” and you will find cool personified.
Like so many other things, it’s easy to criticize people and their decisions from the cheap seats. We’ve seen non-smokers do this to smokers for the past several decades. A bunch of people who don’t understand the psychology behind a person’s individual decisions telling them how to live their lives. Sound familiar?
#3 – Smokers are vulnerable.
Have you watched any reality TV dating shows lately? “Being vulnerable” and “vulnerability” are all the rage right now. Smokers ought to be praised for their vulnerability and bravery!
Think about it. We all struggle with our respective vices – whether it’s drugs or alcohol, food, TV, social media, gaming, pornography, etc. (the list goes on!) – tobacco is one of the few vices you often can’t partake in secretly.
Smokers have to smoke out in the open. In many cases, smokers are relegated not only to the outside, but to specific locations outside! Never is this more absurd than outdoor patio areas that prohibit smoking or even worse, prohibit vaping (WHICH CONTAINS NO SMOKE). But I digress.
In their designated spaces outside, smokers must participate in their vice publicly for all to see. A modern public shaming of sorts – all because their vice has gone off trend.
It takes real vulnerability to bare your imperfect humanity publicly while others look on disapprovingly.
Reason #4 – because fuck it and fuck you.
That’s right.