Do bad habits define a person?
I have to confess. I am and always be prejudice of smokers. My father before I was born smoked unfiltered Lucky Strikes. He was a pool hustler as a young teen and like many other men of his generation they didn't know. I lost him at when I was 17 and that resulted into a standard that anyone I dated didn't smoke. I could have dated some beautiful women but because they liked to smoke I didn't pursue what many friends told me were open door opportunities.
About a month ago I got a bag at work from a company called Lulu Lemon. The bag was covered in Inspirational quotes. One of them said that in 20 years we will look at Coke and Pepsi as we do cigarette companies today. As the obesity and diabetic numbers increase we see the amount of chemicals we digest has a grave effect on our bodies. I wonder as I age and deal with the effects of type 2 diabetes will my daughter look at people who drink sugary drinks the way I looked at girls who smoked.
Well to my point of my story and lesson. Last week my daughter celebrated her 4th Birthday. We had a family dinner at T.G.I.Fridays and as we walked out 3 women were smoking. My natural instinct was to get my daughter away from the smoke. The women looked at my daughter and smiled. They asked her how old she was, and then out of the blue they put out their cigarettes and each of them took out $5.00 cash and games it to my daughter.
I teared up, felt guilty and was choking up. These women who I judged by their choice of being smokers showed me they were generous, kind and giving. I took the time to shake their hands and say thank you. My daughter was too shy to do anything then but give a small smile.
TA4MC Do not judge someone by their personal habits. Judge them by how they treat others. Do you best to support them when they realize a change in their habits is needed.
