Smoking and non-smoking by David Sedaris
Reflections: Letting Go: Smoking and non-smoking by David Sedaris
When I was in fourth grade, my class took a field trip to the American Tobacco plant in nearby Durham, North Carolina. There we witnessed the making of cigarettes and were given free packs to take home to our parents. I tell people this and they ask me how old I am, thinking, I guess, that I went to the world’s first elementary school, one where we wrote on cave walls and hunted our lunch with clubs. Then I mention the smoking lounge at my high school. It was outdoors, but, still, you’d never find anything like that now, not even if the school was in a prison.moreI recall seeing ashtrays in movie theatres and grocery stores, but they didn’t make me want to smoke. In fact, it was just the opposite. Once, I drove an embroidery needle into my mother’s carton of Winstons, over and over, as if it were a voodoo doll. She then beat me for twenty seconds, at which point she ran out of breath and stood there panting, “That’s . . . not . . . funny.”
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Comments
I like the title of this piece - reminds me of Julia Sweeney's Letting Go of God. One can think of both as something you do for your own good.
Posted by: Tim
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April 29, 2008 7:49 PM
excellent. and good for him. sedaris is so funny and brilliant, i hope he sticks around a good while to crack us up some more.
Posted by: amorphousblob
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April 29, 2008 10:14 PM
i don't smoke. Never did—tried it, but i hated it. One day, i mentioned to an American friend who was asking me if i was a smoker that i was not, but that i would be if i had liked smoking: she was shocked. Later, in the States, i saw for the first time a bumper sticker that read "Friends don't let friends smoke", and i remember reacting "Friends f**king don't tell their friends what to do" (save the "Friends don't leave friends drink and drive" line: we would not let a drunk friend drive, but nor would we a stranger, or an enemy). Many years have passed, and i still hate the smell of smoke on my clothes, or having somebody light up at the next table, as it is so common here in Japan—and i can't imagine dating a smoker. But i would prefer her every time to a born-again recovered ex-smoker self-righteous preaching prick, and i'll take second-hand smoke over any first-hand fascist do-gooder. Smoke that!
Posted by: jpaul | April 29, 2008 10:44 PM
Brilliant article. Maybe because I am a former pious non-smoker who has become a filthy smoker the over the past decade that I could relate to it.
I've often been asked if I plan on quitting and I'll usually make some quip about "Why would I get rid of the one consistency in my life?'" or "killing myself off early is the only retirement plan I've got" but in all honestly it does cross my mind almost every time I light up.
Glad Mr. Sedaris has finally kicked the habit and I sure hope it doesn't take me as long to finish mine.
Posted by: Stupid Git
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April 29, 2008 11:21 PM
I'm really surprised he quit - I had him pegged as a lifer.
If smoking didn't smell bad, leave a filmy residue on everything in its vicinity, and produce annoying coughs, I'd still be doing it. There's something about holding a slow-burning stick in your hand that is so satisfying.
Posted by: Little Mickey
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April 30, 2008 7:20 AM
Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.
From the good old days ;)
Posted by: Syngas
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April 30, 2008 6:30 PM
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