Jump to full article: Gainesville (GA) Times, 2010-02-05
Author: Teressa Glazer
Intro: I grew up among smokers. . . ..
Uh-oh. No way was I going to set my baby up for failure before she was even born.
So on Sept. 14, 1984, at 10:15 a.m., I smoked my last cigarette. I know that because I still have the page from my calendar. . . .
Let me reiterate: One way or another, we all pay to play. I spent 20 years as a nonsmoker, thinking I'd dodged the COPD bullet and then it happened. I was suddenly hit with asthma. . . .
. . .
Last week, a woman brought some items to trade in my resale clothing store. As soon as I smelled the smoke, I closed the bag and told her as politely as I could that I couldn't buy her things because they were a "little smoky." She went ballistic, insisting that her clothes didn't smell and how dare I, yada, yada, yada. I wasn't listening. I was too busy digging in my pocket for an inhaler.
It saddens me to see young people puffing away. It infuriates me to see adults driving down the road, cigarettes hanging out of their mouths as two or three kids hop around in the back seat. And, most of all, it breaks my heart to see a pregnant woman open up her purse to reveal a pack of cigarettes next to her wallet.
Some things in life just can't be justified. Smoking during pregnancy is at the top of the list. It's a nasty game to play and it's unconscionable to make an unborn baby pay.
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