Inhaling the night air and something else.

This past Friday night I was at the rehearsal dinner for a young couple to be married the next day. The party was in the groom’s parents’ lovely home. It was all pretty snazzy. The 45 or 50 guests were gussied up, tan, fit, multi-generational and probably mostly WASP. The menu was authentic Italian cuisine. There was staff. The over-the-top flowers were plentiful and stunningly arranged. A rented bartender served cocktails and champagne for the father’s welcoming toast to the guests and the young couple. Most of the party stayed indoors because the temperatures and humidity were tropical. Rain threatened and then showed up.  So who went outdoors in the wilting heat and then the storm? Smokers. Who smokes any more? Not my friends and contemporaries.  (I am old.) It was the kids. The twenty-something young professionals and of them, the young women, were the smokers. Hoping to look smart? Hoping to stay slim? Hoping to become addicted to the most dangerous chemicals you can ingest that are proven to be the most destructive to health and well-being? Probably not that one.

I said to one young woman—the hostess’ daughter, “Does your mother know you’re doing this? You shouldn’t smoke, you know.” She said, “No one should!” Laughed. Inhaled. Twirled her cocktail skirt. I felt bad. For the past 25 years, I’ve written and been involved in social marketing against smoking and secondhand smoke. Our agency, working with the Michigan Department of Community Health primarily, has targeted all ages, races, demographics with measureable successes. It’s discouraging to see any one smoking. Did you miss the messages? Apparently. We know the anti-smoking work is never finished. We know it’s tough to counter the glamorous smokers served up in movies and elsewhere. We won’t quit.

You’ll find our award winning and very effective anti-smoking tv commercials on psastation.com

When I see young women sucking on cigarettes in an electrical storm, risking the ruination of costly cocktail dresses, I don’t think smoking looks chic. I think it looks like addiction.  And I feel sad. What do you think?