About 23 years ago I quit smoking cigarettes, and for the next two decades I was one of these "weenies" that was an outspoken anti-smoking advocate. When going out to eat I would always ask that I be seated "as far from smoke as I can possibly get". I hated it when someone would pull up next to me in a car and their smoke would drift into my car. I laughed at smokers' bumper stickers that said "At least I can smoke in my own car", I fumed at smokers' rights lawyers who defended smokers. In my opinion, I felt that they shouldn't have the right to pollute MY air.
As the years went by, I noticed a change in myself. When going to restaurants I found myself becoming annoyed at the yuppies and their noisy children that seemed to dominate the non-smoking sections. One day I was in a hurry and decided to just get the first available seat which was in the smoking section,(Remember, this is Missouri). Now I'm not saying that all parents are yuppies with annoying kids and all smokers are fantastic people, just that it seemed natural that there should be a choice when going out.
Then one night I watched an episode of "Bullshit" with Penn and Teller which addressed how anti-smoking legislation was...you guessed it...Bullshit! I have been a huge fan of their shows over the years and was amazed at their audacity for defending smokers' rights even though they are non-smokers themselves and hate cigarette smoke but that "freedom was more important." Something clicked in my brain at that time, just like many previous shows and I knew they were right.
Finally, on New Years Eve '07 a buddy of mine had a couple of cigars he'd been saving. I thought since '07 had been a pretty bad year for me that I'd start the year off by doing something completely ridiculous (In my mind) and smoke a cigar. Unknowingly, I opened a glorious Pandora's Box that will be with me always. I fell head over heels in love with cigars that night, and since then I've considered myself kind of a rarity in that I've been on both sides of the war on tobacco. I get to see the spectacularly absurd actions of the individuals in this story and, though I was never anywhere near that crazy, ponder my own past actions and how I in some small way contributed to the madness that we deal with on a daily basis today.
In the last 2 years I've been lucky enough to meet hundreds of cigar enthusiasts and found them to be some of the most genuine, giving and helpful people on the planet. Makes my past a real source of embarrassment now. Speaking of embarrassment, look at the size of this reply. Sorry for any boredom-induced comas. :blush: Your humble and life-long BOTL, Bryce
