My Personal Essay

Die or not Die

   By Anushka Nayak

Yellow fingers, smelly hair, cancer, blood clots, coughing, illness, flu, tired, yearning, DEATH. Die or not Die. Is that even a question? Apparently, it is. One big reason: SMOKING. Smoking causes so many problems, so I think it should stop. Smoking kills time and kills you. People just don’t seem to get how ridiculous it is. You light a piece of paper with hydrogen cyanide (cyanide is a fast working poison, you can check that on the internet), tar and other harmful ingredients. You suck smoke in and blow it out, are you aware that other people are present? Maybe they dislike smoking? Do you notice how bad it is for us humans? What about poor defenceless animals, what happens to them? I am not alone in this. Many people hate smoking. Don’t take part, be smart.

Okay then, are you an animal lover? A volunteer, safari lover, zoo keeper or a second Bindi Irwin? Then you’ll get a lot of the frustration among others. Here’s something, smoking related cancer researchers are having more and more problems. So, torturous tests are being conducted on animals! Imagine this in your head, for at least three years, cigarette smoke is being forced into their lungs (because they naturally avoid it) for 6 hours, or they are rubbing a condensate of tobacco smoke on the animals’ delicate skin. The animal gets sick, with breathing problem, skin problems or other diseases. Then the researchers use the animals to find cures. The sick creature might get something poisonous shoved down its throat. Maybe it will be some kind of a routine. Either way, the animal’s life is either scarred and ruined or fades away. Annually, 20 million animals die, 8 million of which have gone through years of painful tests. 10% of these animals aren’t even attempted to be cared for. They are just shoved in cages and no type of small and weak painkillers. Claire Andre and Manuel Velasquez point out that “This right to be treated with respect does not depend on an ability to reason. An insane person has a right to be treated with respect, yet he or she may not be able to act rationally.” It’s sad, I know. And smoking is the cause of it.

Here is a story from a girl while she was on a vacation in Japan. There she was, walking out of the elevator at the airport happily. It was finally summer! The smell of smoke hits her full blast. A wave of nausea takes her over. In the room, dozens of people are smoking, and few people that are blowing smoke in her face. She coughs again and again. She can barely breathe and she feels dizzier and dizzier. I can’t breathe! She felt she was being taken to the elevator. She and her parents sat down, gulping fresh air. Her parents left to find somewhere else to stay, but she stayed in the elevator, smelling something sweet and calming herself down. Story is over. Unfortunately, smoking also affects those who don’t smoke. To smoke, you suck smoke and dust in, and blow it out. Do you notice that you could be blowing it out into someone’s face? Lots of people on this planet really dislike the smell of tobacco, like me and the girl in the story. Massive amounts of smoke in everyday life can perhaps, I don’t know, harm people who don’t smoke. I always hold my breath when passing a smoker, and I can still smell it when I have already passed. Smoking in your house can affect your family. Smoking at work can affect your colleagues. It can make people around you feel uncomfortable. Second hand smoke is annoying and bad. It wouldn’t be a problem, though, if smoking stopped.

Picture this. A lady who had been smoking for a long time in her younger years is sitting at home. She is having trouble breathing. She’ll live, for now at least though. The doctors could have said that she had smoked too long in her life. They could have said that she was damaged beyond anyone’s repair. They didn’t though. She chokes. Can’tbreathecan’tbreathcan’tbreathe. She is engulfed in panic. She gives a heave and a funny little cough and feels better. Can     Breathe         Can       Breathe    for    now.

The worst thing that you can get from smoking. Yourself. You could end with a painful and slow death with lung disease. Or receive a heart attack. Smokers are 13 times more likely to get COHD than an average person. In America, 1 in 5 deaths is smoking related. You don’t get to look that great; your teeth will become yellow, your skin definitely won’t be glowing, your skin will get wrinkled fast, you will have yellow fingers, your hair will be thin and smelly and your eyes will be all red. And inside, oh my goodness, there are so many things! Cancer, blood clots, pregnancy problems and lots of flus and colds. I’m not even going to list all of them. Even your attitude will change. You will have a lot more of a chance to catch a sicknesses. Don’t get me wrong, I understand its addictive. Pamela Worth, a lady who quit smoking, has a few things to say about it. I started smoking because it was cool at age 17. I was a nerd and wanted to be a rebel. I smoked for 5 years, getting through half to a whole pack a day. Sometimes even at 6 a.m., and nothing is grosser than that. I started to stink, I got winded and sick easily and my friends were grossed out. I had to start going outside to smoke whenever we went to a restaurants and soon was I left alone after all of my friends quit. It got expensive too, I went through more packs than I intended. I soon got tired of the health effects and decided to quit. It took me at least 5 to 10 attempts to do it. Ironically, I had been a peer anti-smoke educator for the younger classes, so I had an especially informed perspective about it. When I felt like smoking, I posted it on a website, and people from all over the world gave me tips and encouraged me not to. Now, I have saved $10,000 of cash from quitting. Nonsmokers, don’t join and smokers, I advise you to quit. Lean on a community to help you out. Give into food and reward yourself. Don’t go out too much either. I tell you, it really helps. Yes, I totally agree with you. Smoking is addictive, but that just adds on to the things that are bad for you. Smoking even hurts you, you should stop.

To sum everything up, I think that smoking should be stopped, not only because I dislike it, but also to protect animals, not affect others and help humanity. It will be a better life for many if they can't smoke. It should be fair for everything on earth. I understand how hard it is to quit, but count on others. Stay away from smokers for a while. Try something new. Think about benefits. If smoking became illegal and cigarettes didn’t exist, life would be best for all. Never start smoking or quit if you are a smoker. What do you say?