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An unsubtle metaphor
āI just hope I can teach her how to be a sensible user.ā Carolyn says, taking a long drag off an unfiltered Pall Mall. āThey put so many bad chemicals in cigarettes these days. I want to teach my daughter to navigate the many brands and flavors and learn to smoke intelligently.ā She ashes into an empty can on the table. āSee- sheās turning eleven soon and all her friends will be smoking. Thatās all the kids do these days, you know. Hang out and smoke. Iām not saying I was a puritan in my teenage years, but you know we didnāt have cigarettes then.ā She takes another drag. āAt least not like they do today. Itās important for girls that age to have a social life.ā She glances out he window, the sun highlights the tobacco particulates as Carolyn exhales. āAnd the people who run these companies are just awful, you know. They donāt care about how it affects us users, they just care about their profit.ā
She leans over and without standing up, opens the door to the fridge. Inside is a bottle of cola (caffeinated) and one of seltzer. She briefly considers the options before her and grabs the soda. āActually, I donāt blame them totally,ā She says, closing the refrigerator door. āI donāt think anyone expected cigarettes to become as popular as they did. And so fast! Itās unreasonable to expect them to know EVERY chemical thatās being put into these things. And even if they did thereās no way they could inspect every single cigarette. Itās just way to big to be monitored. The costs associated in doing so would obviously be huge. Yeah yeah, āthey are some of the most profitable companies of all timeā. Thatās capitalism for you, though.ā She takes another drag, and thumbs open the cigarette pack to see how many remain. āNothing will change until the whole system does.ā
āStill-ā She says, cracking open the cola with a pop, āI wish there was some more obvious solution. I mean- these things give some people cancer! And even if you donāt get cancer, the stuff they put in them can cause anxiety, stress, depression⦠you name it.ā
āNow some people say the government should regulate, but what I say is- what would that even look like? Can you tell a company āyou can sell this flavor, but not this oneā? Are they going to put a warning label on the packs? Or prevent kids from using? Say a guy smokes cigarettes and they give him cancer. Should the tobacco companies be held responsible? Itās not like they forced him to smoke. Besides- if he didnāt, he could have got cancer some other way. Cigarettes arenāt the only thing that does it. People will find a way. If you donāt want cancer, shop somewhere else, right?ā
āAnd whoās to say which of these chemicals are worth having? Yāknow- what if I wanted to consume an addictive carcinogen? I donāt, obviously. And for that matter I donāt know anybody who does. But I also donāt like the idea of a multinational conglomerate telling people whatās good and bad for them. Itās not their job to decide that. I mean, cāmon, half the reason these things are so popular is because they appeal to everyoneās need to smoke. If they decided they didnāt want to sell something cancerous they would probably lose twenty percent of their users.ā
A pause, followed by another drag, another exhale.
āFilters, of course.ā Carolyn says, pivoting back to the topic of her daughter. āShe should definitely use filters. Itās a start for sure. But I do wish there was a more obvious solution.ā
The cola quietly but audibly fizzes. Carolyn coughs.