Health Risk Mitigation / Lifestyle Choices

[12pups]

Sitting here outside my motel, smile with a pipe sticking out of it, contemplating the passionate lecture I received on the health risks of smoking delivered to me by a female night shift clerk at a convenience store in downtown Baltimore.
Feeling ... amused.

 

[deathmetal]

Hope she is bulletproof.

 

[brewshooter]

Give her the moment...it's all she has.

 

[oldreddog]

You'd better get out of town

Before your nickname expires

It's the kingdom of the spiders

It's the empire of the ants

You need a permit to walk around downtown

You need a license to dance
Life'll kill ya

That's what I said
12pups you may be wise to follow Mr Zevon's advice.

 

[tbradsim1]

Did she have a nose ring, that causes Boogers to back up and push your brain in your ears. :nana:

 

[fitzy]

Next time ask if she does meditation and if she says yes you tell her this is your form of meditation. Then tell her meditation has been shown to increase lifespan. Or you just do what I do and tell them to stuff it.

 

[mso489]

She meant well, and she gave you a smile. No harm done, I'd say. If that's the worst that happened that day, you're doing great.

 

[jackswilling]

"She meant well, and she gave you a smile. No harm done, I'd say. If that's the worst that happened that day, you're doing great."
^^^ MSO489, The voice of reason. I agree. No one wants to be told, don't smoke, exercise daily, lose weight, eat right, wear seat belts, etc. If you drink alcohol and smoke a pipe, you are asking for it, statistically speaking. Moderate pipe smoking by itself, no alcohol use, is fairly risk free. Seems like she had good intentions.

 

[12pups]

Naw. She wasn't smiling. I was smiling. Irony does that to me.

(Still smiling).
You know, there was more she said. She had "worked in oncology," she said. So while she was talking, I tried to figure out... Receptionist? After-hours maid service? Couldn't figure how an oncologist would make the career move to night clerk in a city with Baltimore's rep. "Worked in oncology"? Hmmm.... Lots of non-oncologist ways to be associated with an oncologist's office. But yeah, I'm sure an oncologist would agree with her position. So, geez. I'm not serious.
But I like to poke a little. It's fun.
I had interrupted to ask here and there, things like, "So, yes, smoking causes cancer. Oh, yes. No argument there. But what's the incidence?" ... and ... "You've read about the differences between pipe smoking and cigarette smoking?" (just tossing those out there, and did see that the questions shook her confidence a little, made her wonder if she really *did* have all the facts).
But then she quickly looked away from me, said "You have a nice day," dismissing me. *Me* smiling broadly, because I hadn't said anything about her choice of occupation. But it *was* on my mind to. (Not quarrelsome. Just... pokey).
Not really having a debate. Just... playin'.
(Old guys get that way, I think. Old guys who smoke pipes, maybe even more so?).

 

[12pups]

*nods to Brewshooter & Deathmetal* (Yep).
But nope, MSO, huh uh. Not offended at all.
Just struck my funny bone. Didn't that seem funny to you?

 

[mayfair70]

Sounds like she was a CNA or LPN in the cancer ward (oncology) and still coming down from the trauma. Certified Nursing Assistants and LPN's (like myself) do the bulk of the shitty work, literally. She was venting. I never worked oncology but I still burned out and that is a rabbit hole I never want to see again. Believe me, her current job is orders of magnitude less stressful. You were lectured because she still wants to help people. Not to be mean, but she stopped lecturing you because she decided she didn't care whether you lived or died. Or, she realized you weren't taking her seriously. Again, not to be mean, but for her sake I hope it was the former. I think cops and military are the only ones with higher suicide rates.

 

[warren]

Really! You are more tolerant than I am of the obnoxious, the ill-behaved, and socially stunted. I would have agreed that I was f**ked up and that I was indeed too stupid to live. Hopefully she would return her attention to her job. I wonder if she treated the patients she had contact with in the same manner.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Gotta love people. Some have good intentions, and others are clueless.

On a side note, I went to the doctor today for a physical and to talk to him about getting a sleep test done. As he went through the list of usual questions; Dr. - "still smoking cigars and pipes?" Me - "Yes, but I mainly smoke pipes now and rarely have a cigar. I probably have 2-3 pipes a week." Dr. - "ok" and he moved on to the next question. I've always been upfront with my doctor and he's never given me any type of lecture on smoking my cigars and pipes as I don't smoke that frequently.

 

[warren]

Yup! My doctor brought up my smoking once, early in our relationship. He patiently explained that I would be a tougher patient to treat in certain things, be more susceptible to certain ailments then let the subject drop and has never brought it up again.