Friday, December 30, 2005
SOMETHING SPECTACULAR
brendalove@gmail.com
PART TWO IN A TOBACCO SERIES
You've all seen the TV commercials for "Big Tobacco" where the cigarette companies stand accused of deliberately targeting young teens with marketing ploys to hook them into becoming smokers for life. Well, of all that I have no doubt. Here's what blows everyone's mind that didn't grow up around here:
When I was in high school, we had a smoking area. A place outside where you could go in between classes or lunch and light it up. No parental permission necessary. Plenty of other stuff got lit up too....but that's another story for another day.
I'll take it one step further......one of the JUNIOR HIGH schools I went to had a smoking area. Now granted, you had to have a signed permission form from your parents....but 12 and 13-year-olds smoking at school was a reality. It really happened, I saw it with my own eyes.
And I didn't think much about it at the time....that's just how big a part of life tobacco was in this state. Nowadays it boggles the mind, actually. When did this practice of high school smoking areas get started? WHY did it get started? Well, I was told that we could smoke at school because the tobacco companies donated nice fat checks to the school systems....in exchange for the schools opening smoking areas for the students.
Is this true? I have no idea.
Do I think its possible? Does a bear shit in the woods?
This IS the (once) all-powerful King Tobacco we're talking about here.
I can't find a peep about this phenomena anywhere on the internet. The high school smoking area is now a long-dead fragment of history, at least around here. Does anyone know if this is something that still goes on in any other states?
And can I bum a smoke after math class? LOL!
Posted by brendalove@gmail.com @ 8:30 AM
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