It’s the Kielbasa Kid…

and today marks the 41st anniversary of the first Great American Smoke out which began in San Francisco’s Union Square in November in 1977. The idea of a smoke out began in 1970 but it wasn’t until the American Cancer Society got on board and took it national to promote the event to happened every 3rd Thursday of November. Since then there have been dramatic changes in the way the public views tobacco advertising and tobacco use. And while there are still 40 million people who still light up the numbers have dropped considerably. They say if you avoid cigarettes today the chances are good you won’t pick them up tomorrow and it kind of worked for me that way the 2nd time I quit. The 1st time I was in 1975 for at least a couple months but I lost my job, I lost my girl and while sitting at a bar there was the Cigarette machine calling me back in. I was never the kind of smoker who had to have one as soon as I woke up so one day in October of 1980 I went the whole day without lighting up. I think it was around 11:00 that night when I was going to reach for one before I realized I hadn’t had one and figured well, this is as good a time as any to give it another shot. And while I admit I fell off the wagon from time to time, it usually happened when I was in a bar and after a few beers there was that cigarette machine calling me back in. But what was different this time around was that the next day I threw what was left of that pack of cigarettes away. So yeah, give it a shot especially if you find yourself in the same situation, it might work for your too. Good Luck!