"Jim Kollens" wrote in message
...
0junk4me: I'm a smoker.

I smoked for about 35 years, climaxing in four packs a day. When I quit,
it
was cold turkey and painless. If people smoke around me, I like it. I
never
really believed the second-hand smoke thing, unless you work in a crowded
bar.

It bothers some people immediately as it's happening though. I start to
choke and get a headache. And I used to be a smoker. You develop more
problems the older you get though.

But the thing that really sticks out in my mind is how many, many things
seem
to bother everybody in the last decade or so. It happened somewhat
gradually
and I don't think many people really realize how much more relaxed and
tolerant
things used to be.

I don't think it has anything to do with tolerance. It physically makes us
ill. We live in a much more stressed society (in every way that word can be
taken) and with so much pollutants around us we are becoming more and more
sensitive to the effects. It's your body's way of saying "Wake up and make a
change before you die".

You also mentioned political correctness. It's ironic that
political correctness was designed to produce tolerance, but it actually
seems
to have the opposite effect, a very stifling effect.

That I totally agree with.

I don't know where you
live, but out here (Dupage county, Illinois) people are unbelievably
paranoid.
No-one will even have one single drink or a beer for fear they will get a
DUI
on their way home. In the 80's even, it wasn't like this. I have noticed
that
people don't bond together like they used to in the past, they seem to
just be
in a hurry to get home. I find it a strange strange world, one that I
can't
really get used to. I wouldn't want to.


I believe that too. I believe natural selection will weed out the people
that can't take the stress. Sadly, people seem to be more rushed and have
less enjoyment than ever.