Cigarettes and baby oil and iodine, oh my!

[bundabergdevil]

Ugggh! Many Respiratory Therapists smoked back in the day as well and it drove me crazy.

I was just reading an article about non-contribution rates to 401ks among investment bankers...

[bundabergdevil]

I don’t go that far back but certainly in the late 1970s when I was a kid smoking rates were still high and people smoked everywhere.
Of course if it wasn’t for smoking they probably wouldn’t be a duke university.

To me, it’s one of those “I can’t believe how recent that was” phenomenons. It’s sort of like how fifty years ago the national parks used to put bleachers around dumpsters so people could get close to the bears feeding...and then they realized why so many people were getting mauled by bears.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I was just reading an article about non-contribution rates to 401ks among investment bankers...

I had a colleague who I was close friends with who was a brilliant man with an Ivy League MBA and had been quite successful in finance - not making millions, but living comfortably, and based on our discussions, had always put money away and didn't live extravagantly. He got laid off in his 50s and we ended up working together at a lower paying job. The company had a 5% match, and he contributed zero to his 401k, saying he needed his full salary for living expenses. I tried to convince him to dip into savings for living expenses so as to get the 5% match (plus the tax benefit) and he refused to do so. He unfortunately died a few years later in his early 60s - not sure if he changed his savings habits in the interim.

[dudog84]

I don’t go that far back but certainly in the late 1970s when I was a kid smoking rates were still high and people smoked everywhere.
Of course if it wasn’t for smoking they probably wouldn’t be a duke university.

Yep, it'd still be Trinity College, soon to be Bezos University. (I was going to say Gates U., but now with the whole Melinda thing...)

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

To me, it’s one of those “I can’t believe how recent that was” phenomenons. It’s sort of like how fifty years ago the national parks used to put bleachers around dumpsters so people could get close to the bears feeding...and then they realized why so many people were getting mauled by bears.

Wasn't great for the bears, either.

[Section 15]

I remember when Duke Hospital first prohibited smoking inside. It seemed like a surprisingly radical move at the time.

I was working in Cambridge, MA, when the town declared itself both a smoke free and a nuclear free zone at the same time. Not sure which made me feel better.

Section 15

[bundabergdevil]

Wasn't great for the bears, either.

No. It definitely was not.

[jimsumner]

I was working in Cambridge, MA, when the town declared itself both a smoke free and a nuclear free zone at the same time. Not sure which made me feel better.

Section 15

I still remember going to restaurants with smoking and non-smoking sections, asking to be seated in the non-smoking section and being seated five feet away from a table with a smoker(s).

This may not be everybody's experience but in good parts of North Carolina, the presumption was that smoking was a right and the non-smoking section was an unwelcome government mandate.

And for the record, we walked out of a few of these. And I'm talking about the 1990s, when the health risks of second-hand smoke had been conclusively demonstrated.

[Section 15]

I was working in Cambridge, MA, when the town declared itself both a smoke free and a nuclear free zone at the same time. Not sure which made me feel better.

Bad form to quote myself, but one of the jobs I had in Cambridge was on a team that wrote the software to automate the world's largest cigarette factory located, appropriately enough, in Tobaccoville, NC.

Pop quiz: who connected with Duke hailed from there?

Section 15

[ClemmonsDevil]

Bad form to quote myself, but one of the jobs I had in Cambridge was on a team that wrote the software to automate the world's largest cigarette factory located, appropriately enough, in Tobaccoville, NC.

Pop quiz: who connected with Duke hailed from there?

Section 15

I know Kenny Dennard grew up in Stokes County and went to South Stokes. 2nd best player in Northwest 3A conference history.

[OldPhiKap]

Yep, it'd still be Trinity College, soon to be Bezos University. (I was going to say Gates U., but now with the whole Melinda thing...)

Plus Melinda Gates, neé French, is a Duke grad (‘86 IIRC).

[Section 15]

I know Kenny Dennard grew up in Stokes County and went to South Stokes. 2nd best player in Northwest 3A conference history.

Bingo! I have also seen his home town listed as King/Tobaccoville. The twin cities, sort of like Winston and Salem.

[ClemmonsDevil]

Bingo! I have also seen his home town listed as King/Tobaccoville. The twin cities, sort of like Winston and Salem.

Excellent player but I can barely remember him in high school. He was POY in that conference, but it should have been Terry Strickland. Brother of our own Kevin Strickland.

[-jk]

Bingo! I have also seen his home town listed as King/Tobaccoville. The twin cities, sort of like Winston and Salem.

Yeah, but Winston-Salem was named after two cigarettes. Surely that’s some sort of claim to fame! Or infamy…

-jk

[YmoBeThere]

And I'm talking about the 1990s, when the health risks of second-hand smoke had been conclusively demonstrated.

To steal from The Dude via OPK, “That’s just, like, your opinion, man.”

[OldPhiKap]

To steal from The Dude via OPK, “That’s just, like, your opinion, man.”

[Section 15]

Yeah, but Winston-Salem was named after two cigarettes. Surely that’s some sort of claim to fame! Or infamy…

-jk

Well, there would never have been Winstons OR Salems without Tobacco(ville)...

Section 15

[rasputin]

I still remember going to restaurants with smoking and non-smoking sections, asking to be seated in the non-smoking section and being seated five feet away from a table with a smoker(s).

This may not be everybody's experience but in good parts of North Carolina, the presumption was that smoking was a right and the non-smoking section was an unwelcome government mandate.

And for the record, we walked out of a few of these. And I'm talking about the 1990s, when the health risks of second-hand smoke had been conclusively demonstrated.

Do you prefer the urinating or non-urinating section of the pool?

[bundabergdevil]

Do you prefer the urinating or non-urinating section of the pool?

I only urinate in the urinating section, thank you.

[Stray Gator]

I still remember going to restaurants with smoking and non-smoking sections, asking to be seated in the non-smoking section and being seated five feet away from a table with a smoker(s).

This may not be everybody's experience but in good parts of North Carolina, the presumption was that smoking was a right and the non-smoking section was an unwelcome government mandate.

And for the record, we walked out of a few of these. And I'm talking about the 1990s, when the health risks of second-hand smoke had been conclusively demonstrated.

At least you had the option to walk out. I was on many flights, including some from coast-to-coast, when the airlines tried to segregate smoking passengers in the back section of the cabin and reserved the front section for non-smoking passengers. Even if you were seated in the first few rows, you couldn't escape the smell. And there were always a few miscreants who liked to sit in the front section but would frequently walk to the rear and have a smoke, bringing the stench back with them. (I suspect that those who survive today are among the most obstinate mask "refuseniks.")