saving ink

Ok, here is yet another example of how people who see the world as black and white, with no shades of grey or concept of balance, piss me off:

Brokaw: “Finally, Mr. President-elect, the White House is a no-smoking zone, and when you were asked about this recently by Barbara Walters, I read it very carefully, you ducked. Have you stopped smoking?”

“You know, I have, but what I said [to Walters] was that there were times where I have fallen off the wagon,” Obama told Brokaw.

“That means you haven’t stopped,” the steely NBC interrogator asserted.

Obama’s response: “Well, the—fair enough. What I would say is, is that I have done a terrific job, under the circumstances, of making myself much healthier, and I think that you will not see any violations of these rules in the White House.”

from this article: http://www.slate.com/id/2206445/

Now, why is everyone and their mother (other than the author of the above-mentioned article, who takes a refreshingly rational view) calling for Obama to quit smoking completely? They guy has obviously cut down - you don’t see him ducking behind the podium while making a speech for a puff, and he’s hardly a pack a day smoker. He hasn’t snapped at anyone because he didn’t have a smoke that day (though you know the media are salivating waiting for such a moment).

So, why does he have to quit completely? Why don’t non-smokers (or heavily addicted smokers) realize that there is a third choice, a middle way of smoking once in a while, when you want to, not need to?

Frankly, I’m quite proud that I’m the same type of smoker that Obama is. I never wake up yearning for a cigarette - in fact, I’ll usually go Monday-Thursday without a single one, then I’ll have a few on the weekend when I’m out at bars (yes, smoking is still allowed indoors in Poland). And for those who would say that this will lead to me becoming addicted to nicotine, chew on this: I’ve been doing this for three years now, and if anything, I probably buy fewer packs of cigarettes these days than three years ago because they’ve gotten much more expensive.

So kids, don’t believe the anti-smoking ads, they don’t work anyway. You can be a social smoker, just like you can be a social drinker. You don’t see every person out clubbing and getting drunk on the weekends hammered the entire week at work/school, do you? It depends on self-discipline and genetics - some people are just not easily addicted to anything. And if those people want to have the occasional cigarette, or whiskey, or joint, or even a line, let them, and kindly get the fuck off our case!