Isn't It Wierd?

I am an ex-smoker (for a very long time now).  When I quit, my first resolution was NOT to become an obnoxious ex-smoker.  (There are some, you know, who can be so irritating to a smoker that you just gotta light up once they get started!!)

But, seriously, it is important to quit, however long you've smoked.  It is essential to health to stop.  You would think that someone along the way, running for office,  would have decided to weigh in on this.  But the "weighing in" is far too light-weight, and rarely happens.

In the last 25 years, in addition to subsidies and protections, tobacco companies have discovered, developed, and included additional addictive components.  Ammonia has been added in strategic quantities to increase and accelerate absorption.  Filter passages have been enlarged to allow free passage of particulates.  Sweeteners have been added.

If I'd known the experience was going to be so enhanced......................... no, I would NOT have continued.  Honestly.

To answer my own question, YES, it is weird!  And YES, it is encouraging, with all the non-help available all around, that the total number of smokers steadily declines.  Except in the youngest and newest on the scene.

Will regulation EVER turn the corner?  Probably not.  But ask the question the OTHER way:  will governmental SUPPORT ever stop?  Might be a very fine way to "amend" the budget and cut some expenses, don't you think?  Not likely, but possible.  Now, will personal example and interaction make a difference?  Oh, yes.  Don't be obnoxious - - - counter-productive - - - but then don't be silent, either.

When stakes are high, in this as in every other worthy thing, personal interaction carries the day.

A long time ago, car makers and other advertisers targeted the true winning strategy.  One company's main pitch was "Ask the one who owns one."  Advertising has a fundamental task of encouraging the person to person testimony;  THAT is what sells, over and over again.

But, then, disciples of Jesus have known that all along.  Personal testimony trumps billboards and million-dollar ads every time.  Always works that way.  The big-ticket items are only as successful as the personal comments they trigger.

Today, take a big idea like that along.  The subject might turn out to be a "problem", or Jesus, or smoking, or grief, who knows.  But whatever path comes with your day - - the day will be lots happier, and you'll  feel so much more valuable by evening time!