The Corner (anything goes)

Forever yours
​16/08/2022
​
"If you believe that when we pass there's much more left to see...
Then wherever it is you decide to go that's where I will be.

Tom Heron
​

Special People
​19/01/2021
​
There are people in the world that can influence change.
There are people in the world that can have a profound effect on you and how you live your life.
They guide you and encourage you and give you a feeling of belonging and self worth.
There are people in the world that are refractive and scintillating, bending light and sparkling wherever they go.
These people can come into your life at any time. They can change your direction or keep you straight.
There are people in the world that most of us wish we could be, not ever knowing that they wish they could be us.
Whilst in reality we are for the most part one and the same.
There are people in the world that make you feel invincible; capable of dealing with anything life can throw at you.
They make you feel like you can see rainbows in the dark.
There are people in the world that only radiate warmth and make you feel wanted and needed and cared for and
special and safe and happy and loved, Oh so so loved.
You may be reading this and wondering if I am perhaps just a little naive and overly optimistic.
This could be because you have never come across such a fulfilling and complete person.

If this is the case then perhaps, just perhaps, this person is you.

Tom Heron

RLMP:
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks.
On the 1st December 1955 Rosa Louise McCauley Parks
was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man.
She spent the rest of her life fighting for equality.
On the 25th May 2020
George Floyd was arrested for allegedly handing over a fake $20 bill in a store.
8 min 46 seconds later he's dead.
I can not believe that almost 65 years later the same four letters are needed
to reiterate what should now be set in stone worldwide and without exception.
RLMP:
Racial Liberty Must Prevail.

Tom Heron

My Life as a Smoker
(Keeping It Real)

​Intro:
I initially wrote this to try and discourage my grandchildren from following in my very mis-placed footsteps.
I was subsequently asked to present this to year seven pupils at a local school. It was written in 2016 and I haven't revisited it or updated it since. Although my personal story remains the same there my be a lot more information on vaping now.

Hi everyone, I'm here today to talk with you about smoking and although It’s not a lecture and I want you to ask questions and share your opinions, I will tell you I fully intend to leave you with only one thought; WHY START .
Ok I know what you’re thinking, "Oh no not again, do I really have to listen to this,
I'm losing the will to live here," to be honest I'd be thinking the same if I was sat where you are,
but if you can just humor me for a bit hopefully you'll get into it and maybe even enjoy it.

By the way, every one of you guy’s, If you haven’t already, will soon be expected to make an adult decision that could affect you for the rest of your life and you won’t be given time to think about it, "Go on ... have a drag ... just one ...
it won’t do you any harm... look, your mates having one ... go on." This will happen and more than once.
You should not be faced with this decision at your age. 95% of people in the world start Smoking between the ages of 11 and 18 and do you know what?, the reasons for starting are the same worldwide, Peer Pressure, Looking Cool, Feeling Grown Up or just Rebelling.
So every time you find yourself in this predicament or being pressured, ask this question out load, WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME. Because everything we cover today will lead you to the answer ... NOTHING ...

So firstly I’d like to share a bit of my life as a smoker with you whilst keeping it real.
Yep just a few things me and smoking got up to In the 40 yrs or so we were together.
I should probably say keeping it realistic, because although the facts and figures you hear from the government and the NHS are important and true, to you guy's It's just not real!!
As I said earlier, this isn't a lecture ok so feel free to ask questions at any time.

So what do I mean by not real,? well for instance, you've all seen the horrific photos on fag packets yeah.
The one where the teeth and gums have rotted away and the one with the huge growth hanging from the neck.
You know the ones I mean, so how many of you know someone like that? and how old are these people,? OLD!.
One in three smokers will die as a direct result of smoking, that's another one you've all heard,
and how old are these people,? OLD!. Some people lose limbs and others will have to give up their homes
because they can't get up the stairs, now how sad is that, and how old are these people OLD!.
The fact is It doesn't matter what age these people actually are, TO YOU THEY'RE OLD.
I may as well be saying "Oh Mason who've you got your pension with?” or "Have you done your will yet Cailey" or even
"Abbie there's some good deals on funeral plans at the moment"!!! No No No, WHY because you're young,
you don't wanna hear it, you wanna live life to the full, you don't care what's going to happen in forty years’ time, neither did I at your age. So because you're young and you don't want to hear it, I'm gonna keep It real.

For two years, five days a week, I drove passed a sign that said seven people have died on this road in the last five years.
The first time I saw that sign I was changing the radio station, I never noticed it again.
My sub-conscious mind did the math's and decided that, one, I'm a good driver and two, an awful lot of cars use this road.
Nothing to worry about here. If the sign had read seven people have died on this road in the last five days,
Schreeeeech on go the brakes, U-turn and I'm gone. Again my sub-conscious mind has done the math's and because it's my
sub-conscious mind's job to protect me It steers me clear of danger. So what’s the common denominator between the smoking examples and the driving one? Anyone?, TIME. Now If those disgusting photos on the fag packets were of eighteen year olds and you could definitely lose a limb through smoking before you were twenty, your sub-conscious mind definitely would have something to say then for sure, so it's all about TIME.

Oh and by the way, I don't work for the government or the NHS, I started writing this for my six grandchildren
because if they want a YES ... a NO ... a DO or a DON'T ... Or a WHO ... WHAT ... WHEN ... Or WHERE ...
their parents are there ... but ... when it comes to the WHY'S ...Then your grandparents are the GO TO GUY’S.
So Here I am a 58yr old man, a bit over weight (but working on it) stood in front of you having smoked up to 40 fags a day
​for over 40yrs, showing NO signs of the any of the above. Not ONE thing I've mentioned do I represent, at least not yet touch wood.
And no I'm not going to roll up my trousers’ to reveal two prosthetic legs.
Now you’re thinking so what are you doing here then?, spouting off about stuff that might happen to US in 40 yrs time,
and then saying, but luckily it didn't happen to me. You’re right, but I didn't come here to scare you. I personally
don't believe that works, for me It's all about keeping It real and what you hear from now on DID happen.
And although there's nothing overly dramatic or scary It should leave you wondering, "Where's the good bits?".
Truth is there aren't any so hopefully by the end you'll be thinking ... WHY START?

Ok so let’s get to it, My Life As A Smoker. Well firstly let me tell you that on Friday the 13th July 2012,
with the help of a hypnotherapist I stopped smoking for good which I can honestly say is my greatest achievement to date,
why? because up to this date I have spent the equivalent of nearly £200,000 on Smoking.
My last five years of smoking I was on roll-ups purely because of the cost. They took me forever to make.
I'd spend 2-3hrs every night rolling them for the next day. 2-3hrs every single night., that's ridiculous.
Looking back now I can't for the life of me see where I got the time.
For a few years before that I was buying packs of 200 from anyone I could really as long as they were cheap, basically illegal.
That came to an abrupt end when I nearly choked to death after just 1 drag of a fag. My throat closed and my neck and face
came out in blotches. I'd actually bought FAKE cigarettes, fake Fags, I never even knew they existed.
There was a report on TV a while later, they reckoned if you smoked a whole one of those fakes It would probably kill you.
I couldn't believe it!

Then there's the smoking ban. You're too young to remember this but you used to be able to smoke in pubs, clubs, restaurants,
cafes, bowling alleys and arcades. You could even smoke in taxis or on buses, even at the cinema. Some old cinemas
still have the ashtrays on the back of the seats. At work you could smoke at your desk or on your machine.
You could even smoke in the canteen while people were eating until the ban. That's when smokers became social outcasts.
Funny thing is, when you could smoke in all these places It seemed like everybody smoked, In fact back in the early Seventies
51% of the adult population of Britain smoked. In the pub there was just a cloud of smoke that lingered from opening time until,
well forever really. How things change. Now in 2016 it's just 18% of the adult population smoking. That's a massive improvement.
And now that you've got to go outside you suddenly realize how few that is. And how come all the smoking shelters seem to be
built facing the elements even though they're covered on three sides they still manage to get the wind, rain and snow
right in your face every time, Hmmm!.

Right a quick run through My Life As A Smoker between the ages of 11 and 54. I had my first full fag when I was about eleven.
I remember being on the swing in the park at the back of our house, puffing and choking until it was gone, I felt really dizzy.
I got off the swing, staggered sideways and hit my head on the frame. I had a big jelly lump on my forehead for about a week.
In my young teens, because I was already addicted to smoking I just had to have fags. I had two paper rounds and worked at
the local car wash all day Saturday and Sunday. When I had no money I'd collect dog ends from the ashtrays,
empty all the dry already smoked baccy out, mix it together and make Rollies, they were disgusting.
I can't believe I'm telling you this...

When we were young we were always out in all weathers so quite often in the cold I've had a fag stick to my lip.
Now two things can happen here, when you try to remove the fag from your mouth you can rip a big lump of skin off your lip.
That really does sting forever, or the fag stays stuck to your lip and your two fingers slide down the fag and pull the lit end off
melting the flesh on both fingers. Ouch that really does hurt for weeks, oh and by the way you can't hold a pen but it won't
get out of doing your homework. Ok so you get burnt sometimes!. I dropped a fag between my legs once driving down a
dual carriageway. I ended up mounting the grass verge and got a nasty burn in a very nasty place. It could have been worse,
I could have been on the motorway.

My son was always sick when we travelled any distance in the car. He vomited all down my suit once as we pulled up outside a church
in Salisbury where we were going to a wedding. Nothing to do with us smoking in the car of course!. How Selfish was that.
I came home from the pub one night, got in bed, lit a fag, woke up with the quilt on fire. I had a lucky escape.
I got screwed by the Bangkok police, they fined me £50 on the spot or I could go to jail for putting a fag out on the street (No I didn’t).
I once had a smoke in A&E in the middle of an ECG???. Nearly gave my partner a heart attack!!
I went to a golf presentation night where I was picking up a winner’s trophy. During the meal and unfortunately for me
before the presentation, I coughed and a lump of green and black phlegm landed on the middle of the table, oh my god,
how embarrassing.

Now this embarrassment can happen at any age. You know when you see the boy or girl of your dreams and your heads full of it.
You just can't think straight. You need to find out if they even know you exist, well good news, they do know you exist,
and they feel the same way, result. Time to step up to the plate. You arrange to meet after school, you get chatting,
everything’s cool, then you pull out the fags. "Oh my god I didn't know you smoked". "That’s disgusting". "Sorry I could never go out with someone who smokes". This actually happens. the truth is your breath stinks, your hair stinks, your clothes stink. You just stink.
A bit harsh you think, ok well smell this. (I present them with bags containing an ashtray ...clothes ...hair etc ...).
​
Now I consider myself to be pretty single minded and certainly not easily led so you can imagine how angry I was with myself
the day I realized that for over forty years I'd allowed this ... CLEVER ... DEVIOUS ... DISGUSTING LITTLE DRUG ... NICOTINE ...
The freedom to, embarrass and disgust me, cause me pain and shame, put myself and others in danger, break the law,
cost me lots of time and lots of money £200,000 but worst of all, It really did COST ME THE GIRL.

I haven't written this to attack or preach to grown adults who smoke, there's enough people doing that already. No.
This is a heads up for you young guys that this quite disgusting habit will take, take, take from you and give absolutely nothing back.
So if hearing any of this can stop just one of you guys from starting to Smoke then it was definitely worth writing.

Oh, hold on a minute, Just a quick message from my old mate Nicotine, apparently he's going clean, he's dumping all those
dirty poisons that gave him a bad name, so out goes ... BENZENE ... (Cancer causing) CARBON MONOXIDE ... (Car exhaust fumes)
HYDROGEN CYANIDE ... (Used in the gas chambers) FORMALDEHYDE ... (Embalming fluid) METHANOL ... (Fatal poison)
AMMONIA ... (Used in bleach) ACETONE ... (Paint stripper) DDT ... (A powerful pesticide with lethal side effects) and many many others,
your cards are marked, your days are numbered as they say, NICOTINE IS GOING IT ALONE ... Yep he's got a new vehicle ... The E-CIG or VAPOURIZOR as there known, and according to experts this is up to ... 95% less harmful than traditional cigarettes ...
That’s less harmful ... NOT better for you, so for people who are trying to give up It's a step in the right direction,
as is the gum or the patches. But I don't believe for one minute that the E-CIG or VAPING was created just to get people to quit smoking.
I think they're creating a whole new market and the targets is definitely you young guys. Think about it, why all the flavors.
I don't think there's a flavor you can't get Is there?. It just goes to show how disgusting Nicotine on its own actually tastes.
But flavors aren't a new idea, they've been used for disguise for years. The 1st menthol cigarettes were developed in
1924 by a guy named Lloyd Spud Hughes of Mingo Junction Ohio. Cool name and place, he should have been known for something
better really. So I've done a little study of a few of my mates who've been vaping for at least a year. I've asked them to compare
their intake of Nicotine now to when they Smoked fags, the results are shocking. Up to 4 x the amount of Nicotine since vaping.
If you think about it you can see why. You smoke a fag then put it out and go about your business. Maybe an hour or so later you
do the same again. Vaping is totally different, puff puff puff ...puff puff puff ... no time restriction, no stop start, no control.
These guys can't afford to go back to smoking now, they'd be on 80 a day!. Some of them have got the thing stuck to their hand,
and they go on about you young guys with your mobiles phones!. Anyway as for vaping itself, well it's early days
and the jury is still out, but just like smoking It's still NICOTINE. It’s certainly not trendy and it doesn't look cool.
There's already some rumblings amongst experts that it may contain harmful fibres that could affect the lungs,
and as soon as the government spot a loop hole they'll hammer it for TAX, Just like they did with Cider back in the seventies.
What we do know is that contrary to popular belief, this CLEVER ... DEVIOUS ... DISGUSTING LITTLE DRUG NICOTINE ...
Doesn't relax you. It's a powerful and very addictive stimulant and a highly TOXIC nerve POISON and is actually classed as an
INSECTICIDE.
AH ... YOU JUST CAN'T BEAT FRESH AIR CAN YOU?
So listen, that's it from me. You've got a fantastic journey ahead of you. Enjoy the ride and the possibilities are endless when you live life to the full ... So why spoil it ...
WHY START?

Tom Heron