All the rage these days is the
ability for “scientific” sorts to look down their noses, and point and sneer at
the peons. They make lofty statements in
the line of, “Use science to get the facts,” or “Deniers have no place in America
These pithy statements are meant
to shame non-believers of the ‘cause du jour.’ Particularly these days, the
cause is “global warming,” or “climate change,” whichever fits your agenda.
If the weather is too cold, the
correct term is climate change; if the weather is too warm, it is global
warming. Pretty simple, actually.
Day after day we hear this same
droll drumbeat about using science to quell the naysayers. And often it works.
I, and countless others, smoked
cigarettes and cigars, starting before the Surgeon General pointed out that
smoking was bad for us. Little did we
know that the cigarettes issued in c-ration packages were going to kill us
faster than a speeding bullet. Or, that my
smoking was worse for my sainted wife in the vein of ‘second-hand smoke,’ than me
actually puffing my own coffin nail with my personal lips. Go figure.
Nonetheless I tried to quit. And, like Mark Twain said, “Quitting is easy;
I’ve done it a thousand times.”
That quote infers how difficult
it is to stop using those addictive sticks loaded with chemicals and tars and
nicotine.
Along the way, people invented
patches and chewing gum containing nicotine.
Even nicotine-laden pills were available to stop the smoker from
lighting up. All have their strong points
and weak points.
The self-righteous bullies
insisted smokers stand in another room or outside to get their fixes, or not
even live in the same building as non-smokers like lepers. The smoking Gestapo made it clear that
science dictated smokers needed to die to make way for healthy Americans and
keep health care costs down.
And then, someone invented the
electronic cigarette, or e-cig. The
e-cig is a device that resembles a paper and tobacco cigarette, instead with a
battery and a filter filled with water vapor and maybe some nicotine.
The user charges the battery and
inhales – much like they would with a paper cig – and the resulting concoction
is a water vapor/nicotine blend that is odorless. The vapor tastes like a real cigarette but,
with no ill effects or smell for the user or bystanders.
E-cigs helped me, and thousands
of other smokers, quit this habit in short order with no withdrawal of Mark
Twain do-overs.
Thank goodness for the smoking
Gestapos, though. It seems as though
they have a new cause to take up. They
now fear that somehow, that water vapor is dangerous to them and others and
wish to ban the use if e-cigs from anywhere outdoors.
That scientific stuff they
worried about with the global warming and climate change crap doesn’t mean
anything now because their “science” is flawed.
If those whiners want people to
quit smoking, let them use e-cigs as a tried and true method, and keep their
noses in their own business for a change.
