Still in my dreams after all these years
Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 10:13AM
On entering a small roadside cafe in rural Missouri last month, I noticed a familiar odor which I could not immediately identify. After eating a modest lunch served by a friendly waitress in a booth near the front door, I headed back to the restroom. It was only on returning to my booth that I noticed something on the tables at the rear of the cafe - ash trays. This small diner actually had a smoking section, something not permitted in Minnesota since 2007. (Smoking in restaurants seating fewer than 50 people is legal in Missouri.)
Like many people I knew, including my parents, I smoked cigarettes when I was younger. I started in high school, stealing my dad’s unfiltered Camels, and not quitting until my son was born in 1986. While I’ve had a few minor lapses, I’ve not smoked since - for 38 years. Thankfully. That I ever started is one of the true regrets I have.
Yet every now and then I find myself smoking in my dreams. The cigarette is usually very weak and I am trying to hide it from others around me, obviously ashamed of the act. One wonders how the human mind works.
One sign of an improving society, I believe, is the dramatic decrease in smoking:
Cigarette smoking in the U.S. is at a low point, according to eight decades of Gallup trends. Currently, 11% of U.S. adults say they have smoked cigarettes in the past week, matching the historical low measured in 2022 (and nearly matched at 12% in 2023). When Gallup first asked about cigarette smoking in 1944, 41% of U.S. adults said they smoked. The current smoking rate is about half as large as it was a decade ago and one-third as large as it was in the late 1980s. Gallup, August 13, 2024
Yeah, gas stations still house whole shelves full of cigarette packs (along with chewing tobacco) and one still sees the occasional cigarette butt on sidewalks and in parking lots. The smokers I see are mostly senior citizens sitting outside their senior living facilities - some ironically in wheelchairs and with oxygen tanks in inclement weather. But it is rare that in my day to day activity that I see or smell smoking and I have no relatives or close friends who indulge.
Vaping, of course, is the new smoking which the young and stupid have substituted for cigarettes when I was young and stupid. I suspect one day we will see a movement to reduce that habit as well for the benefit of both individuals and society. One can hope. At least I cannot smell the vapers.
Tomorrow I get on a jet for a long flight to Amsterdam and on to Casablanca, knowing smoking is banned on both the plane and in the airport. In the 80s, before smoking was banned on flights, I would request seating in the non-smoking section, a request that was usually granted. Of course my non-smoking row was directly behind the last smoking section row. At least in the 80s we had more legroom!
Less smoking gives me some hope for mankind. What might give you hope?
Reader Comments (2)
I always learn something from your posts. I had no idea that anyone could smoke in a Missouri restaurant any longer. Guess I haven't been in a 50 person or less establishments recently. You should be back more in the lands of smokers when you get to Europe and Morocco.
What gives me hope? Not much as of late. A lot depends on Tuesday's election outcomes.
Hi Floyd,
Good to hear from you. Missouri is a bit (a lot) more conservative than Minnesota. I had to Google it to see the diner was in compliance with state laws. It was and it was a surprise.
I am more than ready for this election to be done and happily out of the country on election day. I voted early by mail. I see if they are big smokers in Morocco!
Doug