Before he died, my father spent a few years in and out of James's Hospital.He used to say that the worst thing was the boredom, the endless tedium punctuated only by the ticking of the clock in his ward that used to drive him mad.A voracious reader, he admitted that there are only so many books you can read in one day and while his body was failing, his mind was, on the whole, still active -- and that's where the ciggie break came in.He admitted to me on one occasion that going for a smoke was the highlight of his day -- not for the hit of the tobacco but because for him and all the other long-term patients, going for a smoke was a social occasion, a chance to get out of the bed, get out of the ward and have a chat and a fag with some of the others and, to be honest, I could completely see where he was coming from.Because when my Da and his fellow incumbents met up for a smoke, they were no longer just patients with a numbered bracelet on their wrist, they were men again, individuals in their own right.
Such a satisfying read.
My crappy blogging will never do it justice but it should be read.
The writer touches on such a striking note,this thing we all forget smoker's are people too.
No matter what the anti's say or how they try to spin it,we all of us are people still and deserve some compassion and we deserve to have our dignity intact when we are ill.
Being well isn't just what we or eat or drink or smoke or don't smoke do our mindset has a whole lot to do with it as well.
