I was sitting on my front porch the other night, right after supper. I was watching the traffic pass by in the neighborhood, vehicle and pedestrian. It's an interesting mixture and it's nice just to relax after a day of hustle and bustle with a glass of ice tea. I have noticed that since the economy has went through all these changes alot more people are out bottle collecting. This particular night is garbage & recyclable night, thus the amount of people walking about on our street. A few months ago you use to see one maybe two people, well in the last half an hour I have seen four people carrying black bags scouring the orange bins street side. In New York prices(like everywhere else)have risen enormously, everything from milk to cigarettes to..of course gas. New York state has tacked another $2.00 worth of taxes to a pack of cigarettes, which makes the cost of a pack nearly $7.00. As for me it makes no difference because almost 20 years ago I stopped smoking, a decision I have never regretted. I smoked 2 1/2-3 packs a day at one point, and a few months before I quit I started to develop really bad headaches. So one day I decided it was time to quit, and so one day I went cold
turkey and that was it. I have never had another cigarette since that day, and I have no desire to have one either. I will say in all fairness that before the headaches I really enjoyed smoking, especially after breakfast with a 2nd..sometimes 3rd cup of coffee. But then again that was a different time for smokers, there wasn't the social stigma attached to smoking(and smokers)that there is now. Smokers are now treated like social outcasts, much like lepers were..relegated to their own little colonies. Before I get flooded with hate mail let me explain myself. I can understand those people who do not want to have smokers filling their work space with 2nd hand smoke, the health risks to the smell getting into your clothing..all legitimate reasons. I have noticed that smokers in workplaces have been relegated to their own little space, usually somewhere in the farthest corner of the workplace property. The effect of this treatment has frustrated some smokers into just quitting, while others the gauntlet has been tossed down and they have picked it up. You can tell the hard core smokers, they are the ones out there in their little section of the parking lot..usually with 1 or 2 co-workers lighting up. Talked is usually limited to how unfair the rising cost of cigarettes are, and the places where you can go to get the best price on a pack of cigarettes..usually at some Indian reservation which you are going to spend what money you saved on gas getting there. But thats okay because while you're there you can fill up on gas because the prices are cheaper for a gallon of gas. Well as I watch the fifth person pick through my orange recyclable bin, I don't have the heart to tell them that it's a effort in futility. As they look up smile and wave I know what they must be thinking.."I bet he's got some bottles sitting on that porch somewhere".