Thumper
02-25-2014, 09:01 AM
I drove over to Daytona yesterday to meet up with an old buddy of mine who was down from Seattle for the races. I drove over early yesterday morning and we spent the whole day catching up on the past years. After about 2 minutes, it seemed we'd never missed a beat although it's been 30 years! I got back home around 8-9:00 last night. It was great seeing him. Man-o-man, do we go back a ways. We ran around together in our crazy car racin', hell raisin', pot-smokin, beer drinkin', wimmin chasin' days. He was actually an employee of mine and we only lived 2 blocks from each other. It was a recipe for "trouble"! We were both married at the time ... but those wives are ancient history for both of us. After some of the old stories we recalled yesterday, I have no clue how either of us stayed married as long as we did.
But there's a sad part ... although we spent the whole day together enjoying reliving the past craziness, he spent most of the day coughing his fool head off! I mean he'd practically cough up his toenails as we tried to carry on a conversation ... the veins would pop out on his neck and head and his face would turn beet red ... and he'd cough ... and cough ... and cough. Then he'd continue with the conversation like it was nothing ... until the next coughing bout (which would be about 3-4 minutes later).
He's always smoked like a chimney and smoked constantly while we were together yesterday. Before I left, we made a run over to Sam's Club as he wanted to load up on cigarettes. He bought five cartons for 375 FRIGGING DOLLARS!!! When I heard the clerk say his total I about hit the floor. I said, $375!!!??? ... are you NUTS? He said, "That's a DEAL ... they'd run me $700 in Washington." Then continued, "I'd buy some for ..... (his wife), but I don't have enough room in my carry-on."
I then asked how long those cartons would last him and he said, "Probably 5-6 weeks." I then asked how much his wife smokes (I know her well and she's always been a heavy smoker also) and he said they smoke about the same amount. I immediately added it up in my head and realized they smoke around $12,000.00 worth of frigging cigarettes a year! AND it's KILLING them!
The whole time I was having flashbacks of conversations I had with Tony (Hunter) when he was still married to Karen. They both chain smoked and I remember vividly how many times he'd light another cigarette while the previous one was still burning in the ash tray. His truck had recently blown an engine and the tranny was also on it's last legs. I remember he was upset because he didn't have the money to repair it. I quickly figured he could buy a NEW truck, make the payments, pay the insurance, buy gas and STILL have money left over if he and Karen would quit smoking. His reply was, "Oh no ... I ENJOY my cigarettes!" About a year later he was diagnosed with (smoking related) cancer which took his life.
All I could do yesterday was look at my old friend and be constantly reminded of those bad memories (of Tony's death) ... all the while, talking about fun and happy memories when he and I used to run together. He's got everything going for him ... nice cars, nice house ... even a $250,000 diesel pusher motorhome ... AND no debts. This smoking thing hits even closer with my own sister. She's been a heavy smoker since she was 15 years old. Like my buddy, she has SO much to live for. She and my BIL are self-made gazillioanaires, retired in their 50's and can do anything they want, but when I talk to her, all I hear is that "gravely" voice and the coughing.
Why is crack cocaine illegal while cigarettes aren't? It's almost to the point I'm not sure what the difference is.
I don't mean to unload and be a "Debbie-Downer" ... but it really hurts to see close friends' lives totally consumed by something as stupid (to me) as a frigging cigarette. I've never smoked, so maybe that's why I have such a hard time understanding it. Or maybe I'm just getting old and cranky. Heck, I suppose everyone has to die of something. :(
But there's a sad part ... although we spent the whole day together enjoying reliving the past craziness, he spent most of the day coughing his fool head off! I mean he'd practically cough up his toenails as we tried to carry on a conversation ... the veins would pop out on his neck and head and his face would turn beet red ... and he'd cough ... and cough ... and cough. Then he'd continue with the conversation like it was nothing ... until the next coughing bout (which would be about 3-4 minutes later).
He's always smoked like a chimney and smoked constantly while we were together yesterday. Before I left, we made a run over to Sam's Club as he wanted to load up on cigarettes. He bought five cartons for 375 FRIGGING DOLLARS!!! When I heard the clerk say his total I about hit the floor. I said, $375!!!??? ... are you NUTS? He said, "That's a DEAL ... they'd run me $700 in Washington." Then continued, "I'd buy some for ..... (his wife), but I don't have enough room in my carry-on."
I then asked how long those cartons would last him and he said, "Probably 5-6 weeks." I then asked how much his wife smokes (I know her well and she's always been a heavy smoker also) and he said they smoke about the same amount. I immediately added it up in my head and realized they smoke around $12,000.00 worth of frigging cigarettes a year! AND it's KILLING them!
The whole time I was having flashbacks of conversations I had with Tony (Hunter) when he was still married to Karen. They both chain smoked and I remember vividly how many times he'd light another cigarette while the previous one was still burning in the ash tray. His truck had recently blown an engine and the tranny was also on it's last legs. I remember he was upset because he didn't have the money to repair it. I quickly figured he could buy a NEW truck, make the payments, pay the insurance, buy gas and STILL have money left over if he and Karen would quit smoking. His reply was, "Oh no ... I ENJOY my cigarettes!" About a year later he was diagnosed with (smoking related) cancer which took his life.
All I could do yesterday was look at my old friend and be constantly reminded of those bad memories (of Tony's death) ... all the while, talking about fun and happy memories when he and I used to run together. He's got everything going for him ... nice cars, nice house ... even a $250,000 diesel pusher motorhome ... AND no debts. This smoking thing hits even closer with my own sister. She's been a heavy smoker since she was 15 years old. Like my buddy, she has SO much to live for. She and my BIL are self-made gazillioanaires, retired in their 50's and can do anything they want, but when I talk to her, all I hear is that "gravely" voice and the coughing.
Why is crack cocaine illegal while cigarettes aren't? It's almost to the point I'm not sure what the difference is.
I don't mean to unload and be a "Debbie-Downer" ... but it really hurts to see close friends' lives totally consumed by something as stupid (to me) as a frigging cigarette. I've never smoked, so maybe that's why I have such a hard time understanding it. Or maybe I'm just getting old and cranky. Heck, I suppose everyone has to die of something. :(