The evolution of cigarettes

Cigarettes. Over break I was reminded of a story a faculty member told me. Around the holidays, Herman B Wells used to deliver apples and nuts to some IU departments. For a few years, he delivered cigars. \nCigars! Whoa, have the times changed. From what I understood, he quit handing out cigars because of health reasons. Think how cigarettes' place in society has changed. At a restaurant recently I noticed an old tin sign which stated "Safety First Think Philip Morris." I read this with a chuckle. \nIronically, a few of my friends had the pleasure of interviewing with Philip Morris for a sales position. They told me one of the interview questions was about how they felt about working for a tobacco company because of the legal and social issues tobacco companies encounter. They told the interviewer it wouldn't bother them, but they confided to me it would be tough for them to work for a company that sells a product known to cause cancer. Aware of the morale dilemma that its new employees face, Philip Morris offers a benefit package that is hard to refuse -- it has been ranked by Money magazine as the number one benefit package of all the Fortune 500 companies. \nIf you ever wondered how a tobacco company could manage to hire employees, they "show them the money." When you are coming out of college broke and in debt, one of the only things you have on your mind is those dollar signs. \nBut I'm not saying choosing to work for a tobacco company is bad. That is a decision that only you can make. \nThink about how cigarettes' place in our society has shifted in the past 20 years or so. There was a time when you could smoke on an airplane; now it is a crime even if you do it in the lavatory. \nThat is, unless you're on a transcontinental flight. I have heard of a few flights to Mexico where you can still smoke; the passenger cabins tend to be so smoke-infested that there is a haze by the time you land. \nRestaurants and bars fall prey to smoke-free guidelines. Many restaurants are now completely smoke-free, without a smoking section at all. I guess people have finally figured out that separating the smokers and non-smokers really doesn't prevent smoke from entering the smoke-free zone. \nI understand where non-smokers are coming from, but are the smokers' rights being violated? Couldn't a restaurant offer a smoking section outside or in a separate room, as long as smoke didn't enter the non-smoking section? In California, even some bars are smoke-free; that's how far we've come. Can you imagine entering a smoke-free bar? Besides the stamps on your hands, what is going to remind you in the morning of where you were the night before?\nDid you know there was a time when you could smoke in class? During Thanksgiving break, my brother told me a story about one of his professors. Apparently, this professor started smoking when he was in college, to avoid getting called on in class. I guess professors wouldn't call on someone who was smoking. Apparently he eluded his professors by lighting another cigarette as soon as he finished one. Tobacco companies on campus even handed out free samples. I guess you didn't have to look far to bum a cigarette.\nIt is amazing how cigarettes have evolved in our society. Yet even through its many transitions, smoking is far from being extinct. We have limited its advertisements and where you can smoke, but those regulations don't seem to affect the number of smokers. \nI wonder if there is any other product used by so many Americans that will go through as many transformations in our lifetime. Probably not, but you never know.