Posted on 01/26/2005 3:06:33 PM PST by Rennes Templar
There are two kinds of conversations about Johnny Carson. One kind is the one most of you are having. It is light and interesting, about showbiz, TV, popular culture. Then there is the other conversation many of us have been avoiding.
-snip-
A part of it (the conversation)landed on my desk with a little thump. It was a package, about the size of your palm, with a brown camel on it, two pyramids and three palm trees.
"You can have them," said a friend who tossed them, casual in voice, though there was no missing the symbolism of it, his casting away of the Camels.
"I'm done with them," he said. "I quit."
-snip-
Carson's death could have been due to pneumonia, to infection, or it could have been respiratory failure. Either way it was private, and ugly.
I thought of him suffering amidst tubes.
"You can quit," Dr. Gross said. "You can have a life. You can quit."
I've failed before. And I'm afraid of failing. But Johnny Carson convinced me.
If you're interested in doing the same, you can call the American Lung Association at 312-243-2000.
jskass@tribune.com
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
See #183.
It doesn't "create radioactivity" in the sense of making new atoms. Radioactive stuff is volatilized though. This is among the reasons why coal-fired power plants are more dangerous than nuclear ones. Of course, if you really want some radiation, just eat some bananas.
Are two cigars a day bad?
I quit at age 21, after being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps. Interesting, most of my cigarettes were given to me by the US Government!
Depends on the brand.
Have sinus surgury, you won't feel like smoking for at least a week because you'll be feeling so horrible. After a week the stuff might be out of you (physically at least).
Unfortunately I resumed after that, because I still enjoy it very much. Life is full of risks, we have the freedom to make our own informed choices. Living and driving here in LA probably has a higher morbitity rate than smoking anyway!
Swisher Sweet Giants.
I never smoked much -a cig or two a day. One day hurricane Hugo pushed through South Carolina, and there were so many trees on the streets that travel was dicey for weeks. If you could brave it, you would get "lost" in familiar subdivisions because of the debris set along the roadways. I figured that if nature hadn't killed me on one sweep, I wasn't going to let tobacco kill me in steps. I missed it for about two weeks. Fifteen years later I saw my Mother die of emphysema, and she never smoked at all. I would call my decision wise, but we must remember that fate is cold and may play us viciously. All one can do is try to lessen the odds....
Good for you! Oddly enough, EXACTLY one year ago this week,my wife and I were watching Oprah, while lying in bed at about 1 AM. She had a NY doctor named Oz on, and he led her over to several tables which had "items" covered with small sterile looking white cloths. One by one, the items were uncovered, and described and explained by the doctor : a healthy heart next to diseased heart, a healthy liver next to the liver of an alcoholic, a healthy pair of lungs next to a lifelong smoker's lungs. The audience was aghast yet transfixed at such a direct and blunt exhibition: the doctor touched, prodded, and squeezed both sets of organs, tearing apart the blackened smoker's lungs like wet cardboard. That did it for me, and I quit for the second and final time, and this time an entire year. I will forever love Oprah for doing this show. And my daughter, who has been on my back every time she smelled smoke coming up from the basement, and who I know I've caused to cry in frustration more times than I can count.
I think that even though Johnny did not die young, he probably had some very painful years at the end, and the identification and familiarity so many people had with him will also put many over the top and on their way to quitting.
BTTT
My father, who smoked practically every day of his life, dead at 95.
I think I'll follow his example.
Unless of course, my anecdotal evidence isn't as valid as yours is.
Do it and shut up.
I quit at the March for Freedom in '98.
If Carson's death encourages anyone to quit, that's good.
That said, Carson lived 4 years longer than the average for men in his group.
My mother died of emphysema and heart disease in 85'. She was 55 years old. My father quit smoking and lasted until he was 76 before he died of lung cancer. They both smoked three packs a day for years. I used to beg them to stop but they just laughed it off.
As I said to others, parents such as yours are not high on the bell curve.
>>Actually, "second-hand smoke" is pretty nasty stuff. If it comes from a non-puff it burns at a lower temperature and contains more toxins. It is also not filtered by the smokers lungs.<<
Yes, except for one thing: PPM
You didn't know them, Mr. Mensa, but apparently mine were higher on the class curve than yours.
Nicotine is seen as the "addictive" agent in the syndrome.
You pal, are an asshole.
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