Get a Hobby, Mr. Expert

I could not more strongly disagree with anyone who proposes to unreasonably tax lifestyle choices. Of course, I do happen to be someone who happens to enjoy drinking, and I also smoke far more tobacco than anyone should, but this land wasn't built into the marvel we see before us today by a bunch of non-smoking teetotalers. Despite our sometimes drinking a bit more than we should - our society as a whole - from time to time, we continue to be functioning members of communities and folks who are loved by significant others. We sometimes contribute generously to the advancement of noble causes or help our friends through challenging times. We should not be treated as some endless source of revenue for a bunch of nitpickers! 

Everybody groans when prices go up, and we know that getting clobbered on spirits isn't always the wisest thing we choose to do, but seeing your wallet always being clobbered can be far more detrimental to one's well being than one's liver. Canadians continue to make whatever concessions in order to purchase all kinds of tasty alcoholic beverages and packs of smokes. It’s a tradition for many good people to go out and party with friends or meet new people with a little help from liquor. They go out on the weekends to fraternize with co-workers, and somehow manage to drink responsibly enough to have a grand old, uninhibited time under warm influence of good old-fashioned booze: a glass of wine with dinner and one following... before going to an outdoor patio for as many beer as one can handle while listening to good tunes. What. A. Great. Time. Something to look forward to after the monotony of a dreary week of working, and an enjoyable way to discuss current affairs, gossip, and sports or other interests and personal tastes.

One should simply drink as much as one sees fit. That’s my motto. So long as you’re relatively safe and don’t step on anyone’s toes. I see no good reason to penalize everyone who just wants to have a good time, and for some people coffee with cigarettes is a fun and relaxing thing to do. S 

"Would you care to have a cigarette to go with your crossword, M'am?"

"Why yes please! How kind of you to offer, young man! Let me buy YOU a drink!"

Of course I would never recommend that someone take up drinking or smoking necessarily, but let's face it - certain personalities seem to have a stronger inclination to become addicted to nicotine or booze for whatever reason. Cigarettes are very portable, and can be incredibly comforting for someone who smokes. A liter of Vodka can provide about six people with a great time, and in Alberta, a well-stocked boozemart is never too far away.

For me, nothing compares as a means to melt away life's nagging stresses than a smoke break, and basically, you're not hurting anybody other than yourself by inhaling a few puffs of smoldering tobacco. Nobody wants to see a loved perish from unhealthy lifestyle choices, but tell me, oh scholar, what would be worse: someone who suffers a complete emotional breakdown and uncontrollably lashes out at the world because tobacco and alcohol is so ridiculously taxed it becomes out of reach without cutting into their staple necessities, or a strong personality in demanding circumstances who manages to keep from going off the rails thanks to something as simple and mostly unobtrusive as having a smoke once in a while? I say, let us smokers smoke! I don't admonish others for their choices even if whatever they do doesn't suit me and I hate to see nice people be made out as pariahs. 

As overwhelmingly harmful as excessive tobacco and alcohol can be to one’s health, many smokers do indeed live to be a ripe old age. Drinkers too. Granted that it is highly unlikely that you won't develop a litany of health problems from decades of nicotine or booze addiction, one can always quit smoking or drinking. A terribly high percentage of the cost of packages of cigarettes and cigars, or bottles of liquor and beer, is already quite prohibitive anyhow, and yet people pay it. Why? They like it. Partying with booze is most often a joyous occasion. It’s tradition and it’s fun. It gets people dancing and singing; celebrating a wonderful life.

Not everybody is cut-out to drink and / or smoke, and booze especially can lead to peril and precarious situations. It is well known that alcohol often precedes violence and can spurn incredibly destructive behaviours to be exhibited by certain individuals. It has always been a negative societal reality, and it will always be a symptom of any free and just society. Fortunately everyone is typically well aware of booze-abuse realities, which is why in our benevolent western society we fund so many outreach services and therapeutic initiatives. I have no quarrel with any organization that relies upon attraction through good example. Interventions are sometime warranted to prevent hard cases from going over a cliff.

I like that people care about each other and some want to help people avoid a crash course. What I don’t like, are so-called experts who think they know what is best for everyone else – so much so that they see fit to coerce the government to penalize everyone with ever heightening sin taxes. It goes against the spirit of the free market, and it cheeses me off to no end!

With inflation what it is, and the stagnancy of wages, low-income earners can scarcely afford the simple pleasure of having reflective smoke-breaks throughout the day in the True North Strong and Free. They have to resort to inferior products if they drink routinely, and I think that’s almost criminal. One fringe benefit of being a smoker, from my own perspective, is that it provides a rock-solid excuse to remove oneself from any situation for a spell and to change the scenery momentarily. Most decent people can empathize with the gravity of a powerful craving. For this writer, smoking is like granting oneself little stimulating rewards throughout the day for a job well done. After work, there’s no better way I can think of to unwind than to have a few beer. I’m no expert, but I think that someone who routinely drinks beer might be far less concerned about health issues than someone who relies on, shall we say, strange concoctions of OTC drugs to get them through the night? Since we're being frank and honest here, let's admit that many people are habitually or occupationally exposed toxins far worse than those of a burning a dried, shredded-up plant leaf.

I like to write and to play guitar. I love having conversations with friends over a few drinks in a pub or a backyard. Getting blotto on a camping trip. Wine, beer and spirits taste good to me, and it’s an amazingly relaxing, beautiful thing to feel the glow of an alcohol buzz settling in. I like smoking a few cigarettes or cigars with my drinks. I like to get moderate amounts of exercise from walking the dog. I like my job. I seriously do not like these so-called experts who always seem to be sniveling to higher authorities in hopes of convincing them that I deserve to keep even less of the money I earn because they deem fit to see my little pleasures in life get mad-soaked in unnecessary, and unfair fees. Campaigning against fun. I have a good mind to give any pickpocket a good cuff upside the head! Stay away from my lifestyle choices, Mr. Dr. Expert Punk M.D.! Go and snort a crushed Advil you sack of unfun, cantankerous worms! Enough of the madness and the bleating. Get a hobby.