During the war, I smoked the occasional cigarette. They were all around, they’re a pleasant diversion, and when you don’t shower for 37 days straight you don’t worry too much about the smell it leaves behind on your clothing. But then a warning on a carton of British cigarettes told me I should mend my ways…
…and I never smoked again.
Well, except for cigars. They don’t count.
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Well, except for cigars. They don’t count.
Cheapies or the handrolled, imported, long fill, came out of a humidore at the store kind?
Any cigar — even those gasoline-tasting ones you buy at the Exxon station.
Actually, I was trying to ask Eric what cigars he smoked. The cheapies or the good one’s. But now that I look back at the post, I see that, to a certain degree, I failed in my intention.
That should have been ones, not one’s. Oops.
Good Heavens. We do not want America’s fighting men screwing their lungs up with cigarettes (or whatever). I’ll drop a note to John Kerry and see if there’s anything he can do to get us a tobacco-free military.
And what the — ? Did the DOD spend taxpayers’ bucks to ship butts to Iraq? Deesgusting.
Cigars don’t screw up anybody’s lungs. Everyone knows that you don’t inhale cigars. If you try, well you’re in for an unpleasant surprise. Therefore cigars don’t cause lung cancer (mouth cancer…now that’s another matter entirely).
And at the rate most cigar smokers consume cigars (one a month or less)you don’t have to worry much about cancer of the mouth, either.
I used to work in a tobacco store, so I developed a taste for good cigars. I was allowed to smoke any cigar I wanted while working. They had gourmet whole-bean coffee, too. I walked out every night reeking of smoke and jittery from caffeine. It was the best job I ever had, though I only made $5 an hour.
The American field PXes sold American cigarettes for $3.50 a pack or so, but the Brits, God love ’em, sold name-brand cigs for $1.50 a pack. That’s $15 a carton! At that price, you can’t afford not to smoke! Of course, you had to put up with the EU-mandated warning messages.
Eric,
You do realize that you were profiting from British socialism in those low cigarette prices, don’t you?
The guy who’s doubled-over in agony next to the jeep behind you looks like he’s had one too many cigs . . . ;-)
Christopher,
He’s either making sure his fly is completely up or else he dropped something on the ground and was looking for it. Perhaps he dropped a cigarette.
Actually, he was looking at a busted CV joint. He’s a mechanic — they’re required to smoke. If you notice, he’s got a cig in his mouth.
I couldn’t tell whether that was a cig in his mouth or it was his dogtags hanging down.