“When I see an actress or an actor drag deeply in a movie, I imagine the pyrenes and phenols ravaging the tender epithelial cells and hardworking cilia of their bronchi, the monoxide and cyanide binding to their hemoglobin, the heaving and straining of their chemically panicked hearts. Cigarettes are a distillation of a more general paranoia that besets our culture, the awful knowledge of our bodies fragility in a world of molecular hazards. ” - Jonathan Franzen, How to Be Alone.
Anyone who has been to Manhattan knows that almost everyone smokes, or at least it feels that way. When I go out for walking in the city, I constantly struggle to meander away from the clouds of smoke encircling almost every crowd.
For most behaviors I am tolerant, I guess everyone has their exception.
Also if you have a family member (like I have my maternal granddad) who smoked & drunk away their time in front of your very own eyes, if affects you profoundly & solidifies your aversion to both. The very smell makes my heart sink, hah.
