The Cigarettes Incident
- special to The Chronicles -
Smoking cigarettes is a really bad
habit. I can say that because I smoke. Not only is it a bad habit,
it’s an expensive one, too, and I wish I’d never started. It was
also an indicator to my boys of Mama’s mood. If I walked out the
back door, cigarette in hand (I never smoked in the house) they knew
they’d better settle down or the paddle was coming out.
I always had a rule with my boys (yes,
you could say this was a double-standard, I do and you can’t, but I
meant it). If you want to smoke, I’ll teach you. I kept a couple
5 gallon buckets behind the house and a pack of unfiltered Camels in
the freezer. If you want to smoke, fine. We’ll go down to the
creek, buckets in hand for seats, and the pack of Camels.
My other promise was that we’d walk
back up the path to the house together. I’d have a sore throat,
and they’d be green faced and puking.
Didn’t –I- get busted!
My oldest started sneaking my
cigarettes (ultra lights) and smoking them at the bus stop at the end
of the driveway. The driveway was half a mile long, so he really
thought he was safe. Ummm… Our Tax Commissioner lives right
around the corner (I’ll save my praises and accolades for her in
another column). She called a mutual friend, busted my kid out, and
I got to scare him. Scared him silly.
My child came home and I had the pack
of Camels in my hand. I simply looked at him and said “We’re
going to the creek.”
I got tears. Not alligator tears, but
–real- ones. “No, Mama. NO!” Yes, he was scared silly. The
Camels were left in the freezer. I can’t say he never smoked
again, but he did think twice about it.
I’ll save that
story for another day.
Bess
 |
| Your Source for the REAL Story |
