The Smoking Truth

The Smoking Truth

There are three major stereotypes when it comes to people who smoke. The three stereotypes are; all smokers are unhealthy, all smokers can't stop smoking because they are so addicted, and they all started smoking to fit in with the group. Growing up I can remember everybody telling not to smoke because it was bad for you, but I never understood why until I took notice to my dad. My dad smokes maybe a half a pack a day and his teeth and clothes show it. He is always out of breath and coughing up Phlegm but you just can't judge all smokers by just one smoker. So I chose a specific group of smokers to observe them because they were the perfect group to prove or disprove the stereotype since they resembled many of the groups of smokers around the campus.

On the balcony right beside my window is the perfect place for a group of smokers to socialize because there is a nice view of Morgantown and it's not really in the open so they have some kind of privacy to talk about what ever they want. I watched a specific group of smokers who got together about five times a day to share stories and make plans for the night to come. This group consisted to two girls and three guys. The first guy always wear's a white West Virginia University hat turned around backwards, looks as if he works out, about five foot eleven and usually has on a T-shirt and shorts. The second guy is what you would call chubby. He's not really sloppy fat but he's not skinny either. He has a couple of chins and a pretty hefty gut. Like the first guy he always a white West Virginia hat with a slightly different logo and he tip's the hat up slightly so it looks as if a strong breeze could blow it off. The third guy is huge. I think he may play football because I see him wake up early every morning with his gym gear on walking down the street with the other football players. He usually wears a tight t-shirt to show off his bulging muscles and a pair of Kaki shorts. The first girl has blond hair and deep blue eyes. She likes to wear tight t-shirts and pants even though she isn't the fittest girl. The second girl and last member of the group has a nice curvy body, beautiful green eyes, and dark hair. She usually wears a tank top to show off her firm stomach and belly ring. She may have been a runner or a cheerleader because she has very muscular legs. There were other groups that also met but they only met twice a day and they didn't stand out as much as this group. This was the perfect group to prove or disprove the stereotypes because the resembled many of the groups of smokers around the campus.

From looking at the portly guy and the pudgy girl I can see why smokers have the stereotype that they are all out of shape. But society tends to only look at the bad rather than the good. The portly guy in the group was smoking and all of a sudden he turned away from the group and coughed up a mouth full of yellow phlegm, but even though he turned his head he still ended up getting some on the physically fit girl that was standing next to him, which was disgusting. Even though he was coughing his lungs up, he still wouldn't put his cigarette down. This is what society thinks of when they picture a smoker but if you look you look at the rest of the group other than the pudgy girl, they resemble the ideal human body. So it looks as if the smokers who work out and are physically active don't fit the stereotype of they are out of shape.

This group smoked about five times a day and maybe more if they smoked somewhere besides the balcony outside my room, so you would think that they are really addicted. I would always hear them talk about (especially the portly guy and the pudgy girl) how they were going to quit because they could barely walk up the mountains in Morgantown. My roommate that smokes says that he's going to quit smoking everyday because he coughs up about a cup of phlegm every morning, but everyday he succumbs to his urges and has a cigarette. I think he really wants to quit smoking but someone will always ask him to have a smoke with them and he just can't say no. When the portly guy