After dropping the Little Man off to his Grandparents for the morning, the Other Half and I went to a café for breakfast.
Sunday mornings are designed for decadence - burgers that we want and lovely drinks while checking out our favorite articles from the Barefoot Investor (Scott Pape). There is no better way to start the day!!
Next to the café is a Minimart, and from there a lovely young girl came over to us:
"Could you help me please? I've left my ID at home and they're asking for ID to buy cigarettes. If I give you the money, would you buy the cigarettes for me?"
A true dilemma for me! She honestly looked over 18 (she actually looked like she was in her 20's). I like to think I would help out any human being who needed a helping hand in general, just not this kind...
"I'm sorry - I don't mean to be a Bitch, but cigarettes kill and I don't kill people."
The Other Half knows me too well and just tried to end it by saying "I'm sorry but it's No."
Her look said it all: last minute pleading mixed with resignation. I elaborated: "I'm a nurse and when you work with lung cancer patients it's just horrible - you really don't want that!"
That was enough! She turned around and started scanning the nearby people to see who else she could ask. I called after her: "Perhaps you could try a nicotine patch?"
She turned around and looked at me : "I've tried them - they don't work!"
I watched her as she went on to the next person - an older guy with tattoos. She obviously thought that he was a smoker who would have some empathy. It was no from him and she moved on.
The other half looked at me as I wasn't listening to the latest on financial advice from the Guru! "You're still thinking about her, aren't you?"
"I just wish there is something I could have said that would have inspired her to quit!"
"You know that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. If she quits, it will be her decision, not because of anything you or anyone else said. It will come from inside her."
Of course, he is right. I could tell about how gross it is - suctioning out a tracheostomy that is filled with the thick yellow sputum that is endemic to lung cancer patients. How horrible the chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments are. What it is like to constantly gasp for breath and never get enough. She was thinking she's invincible - it will never happen to her. If she wanted to quit, it was probably because of the cost of cigarettes or because she's been told it can ruin your complexion. I never had the chance to tell her there is a much, much darker side.
After reading this, I wonder if I should leave it all on as my descriptions are disgusting; but I will leave them there. I will live with a miniscule hope that she will get onto the internet and maybe recognize herself. Or someone else will. That a young beautiful person has so much to lose if he or she doesn't quit...