1974, Part 3

DISCLAIMER: This story is entirely fictional. No resemblance to any person,
living or dead, is intended. All persons, companies, brand names and
situations are used solely for fictional purposes.

1974
part 3 of 3
by anonauthor02@yahoo.com

"Hey mom, look at this," Debbie said, showing Carol the copy of Woman's Day
she was reading.

"Isn't that sort of a neat dress?"

Carol glanced at the ad. "What is it? Winston Super Kings? Oh, I see, they're
giving it away if you send in some empty packs."

"I think it looks kinda cool," Debbie said. "Maybe you could smoke them for a
while and get it."

Carol let loose with a throaty laugh. "I don't think so, dear," she said.
"It's not bad, but there's no way I could never get it. With your dad working
for Philip Morris, it's like treason to have anything associated with the
competition around this place. And besides, I like my B&H Menthols too much to
move over to Winstons, even if your father would let me." That served as a
cue, and Carol reached for her green B&H pack and lit up.

"Are they really that good?," Debbie asked as she watched her mother take a
long drag.

"Oh, they're good all right," Carol said, before exhaling a long stream. 

"What is it about them that makes it so good?," Debbie asked.

"I don't know... I guess I'd say it's the pleasure I get from it. It's just a
very pleasant thing to do," Carol answered. "Once you get used to smoking,
it's just so enjoyable you can't believe it."

"You make it sound like I'm missing out," Debbie said.

"Well, maybe you are," Carol said. "Be honest with me... have you never even
tried it? Not once?"

"No, mom. Never."

"Well, would you like to?"

"Mom! I told you before, I don't want to smoke," Debbie protested.

"Hey, don't bite my head off. You're the one who pointed out to me that your
idol, Dorothy Hamill, was smoking the other day at the rink. You seem awfully
curious about it for someone who doesn't want to smoke. That's the third or
fourth time lately you've mentioned it. Why don't you try one if you're that
curious? I'll show you how, if that's what you're worried about," Carol
offered.

"And you seem awfully interested in getting me to start," Debbie shot back. 

"It's not really that, honey," Carol replied. "Look, it's like this. Most kids
start experimenting with cigarettes around your age. Just look at Dorothy.
Your dad and I talked about it, and we just thought that if you were inclined
to try smoking, we'd just as soon be involved rather than have you sneaking
around behind our backs. We just want to be realistic about it. We accept that
you're probably going to smoke eventually, with the two of us around smoking
all the time. We just want to make it easier on you."

"Seriously?," Debbie asked, and her mom nodded affirmatively. She thought for
a moment. Having watched her parents smoking her whole life, she was naturally
curious about it. Up to now, though, something had held her back from trying
it. Maybe it was the types of kids she saw at school who had already started
smoking - generally the ones she didn't hang out with. Or maybe it was the
things they told her in school about what smoking could do to you, or the
effect it would have on her figure skating and track competitions. But lately
her feelings had begun to change, especially after seeing Dorothy Hamill
smoking, and now here was her own mother, who had smoked as long as Debbie
could remember, telling her it was something she would not only love to do but
opening the door for her to try it. Her mind raced until she finally heard
herself say, "OK," and she felt a tingle in her spine.

"All right then. Let me light one up for you to try," Carol said, placing her
own cigarette in the ashtray and sliding another from her pack. She lit it
expertly, took a puff, and offered it to Debbie. "Here you go," she said,
exhaling smoke. "Hold it like this," she instructed, demonstrating. Debbie
accepted the cigarette and looked at it resting between her fingertips
somewhat awkwardly. It was the first time she had ever held a lit cigarette.
"Try a puff," Carol suggested. "Just draw on the filter a little to take some
smoke into your mouth, then blow it right out."

Debbie tentatively brought the B&H to her lips and drew a short puff into her
mouth. She tasted a combination of bitterness and coolness, and after she
expelled a cloud from her mouth she felt it start to water. She swallowed and
tasted the unfamiliar menthol and tobacco flavors that lingered. It wasn't
exactly pleasant but not totally repulsive either. "That tastes funny," she
said.

"Yes, I suppose so," Carol replied. "Certainly it takes a little while to
adjust to the taste. But after a bit you get used to it and start to like it.
Try another," she said, before inhaling a drag from her own cigarette. Debbie
complied, and aside from a another bout of mouth-watering, she found it a
little more acceptable. But she also noticed something else as a cloud of
smoke hung in front of her face, while her mom shot an endless stream of smoke
across the room.

"How come I can only blow out all my smoke at once, but you can make it go on
forever?," Debbie quizzed. "The way you do it looks a lot better."

Carol laughed. "Oh... well, that's because I inhale, honey. I breathe the
smoke in, and when I exhale, it takes a while for it all to come out." 

"Can I try that?"

"I don't know if you're ready yet. It takes a while to get used to it."

"That's what I'm supposed to be doing though, isn't it?," Debbie answered.

"Well, yes, I suppose so. If you want to look like you know what you're doing
with a cigarette, you really do need to learn to inhale. OK, but first, let me
show you how. You take a puff, but instead of blowing it out right away like
before, you open your mouth and breathe it in instead. Like this," Carol said,
as she demonstrated for her daughter. "See?," she said after she inhaled,
before she expelled another long stream from her lungs. "Just start by
inhaling a little puff the first time," she advised.

Debbie was growing more fascinated with her smoking experiment and did as
Carol instructed.  Drawing a small puff into her mouth, she withdrew the
cigarette, parted her lips, and breathed in. She felt the smoke shoot down her
throat followed by a full feeling in her chest, with just a little irritation.
She then blew it out and was rewarded with the sight of a small but continuous
stream of smoke exiting from between her lips. All too soon it was over.

"How did that feel?," Carol asked.

"Kinda weird.... but not too bad," Debbie answered. "It felt strange inside
when I inhaled, but it was neat. But when I blew it out, it still wasn't
exactly like yours."

"No, because you only took a little puff. You have to inhale more smoke to be
able to exhale like I do," Carol replied. "All in good time."

"Can I try it again?"

"Be my guest."

Debbie trimmed ash and then brought the cigarette to her lips again. She drew
longer this time and when she inhaled, the sensation in her chest was much
more intense. It sent tingles all through her body, and she was able to exhale
a decent amount of smoke. "That felt really cool," she said, grinning.

"It's fun, isn't it?," Carol said. "How do you feel?"

"A little lightheaded, almost dizzy," Debbie answered. "It's like my heart is
beating faster or something."

"That's the nicotine in the smoke. Since you're inhaling now, it's going
straight into your system. You get used to that too. It goes away after you've
smoked for a while and build up a tolerance. For now, stop if it gets to be
too much for you."   

Debbie waited for a few seconds, then took another moderate puff. When she
inhaled this time, it felt really good, and she was able to control her exhale
better than before, managing to blow a respectable stream from her lips. She
felt the lift from the nicotine once more, and although she still felt some
lightheadedness, she actually enjoyed it. She again trimmed her cigarette and
couldn't suppress a giggle. "This is kind of neat," she said with a grin
towards her mom. 
 
"Yeah, it is, isn't it? I remember when I learned to smoke how much fun it was
too," Carol said. "Just be careful though... it takes a while before you can
really handle smoking. I don't want you to get sick your first time."

"OK. But let me try it again though," Debbie said with newfound enthusiasm.
She took a longer puff this time, too long, and when she inhaled, it felt like
someone had pounded her in the chest. The concentrated dose of nicotine was
transferred efficiently into her bloodstream, and she felt her stomach turn
over. She gagged, and smoke shot inelegantly from her mouth and nose as her
body tried to repel the new invader.

Carol saw her daughter's reaction and observed Debbie's complexion suddenly
become very pale.  "Whoa," she said, taking the cigarette from her hand. "You
all right?"

"I think I took too much," Debbie gasped.

"I'd say so. That's what I was talking about. I told you to take it slow," she
scolded. "That's enough for now. Take a few deep breaths and just relax.
You'll be OK in a minute. Rome wasn't built in a day."
 
Debbie' complexion was changing from white to green as she fought off the urge
to be sick. After a couple of minutes she felt like she was regaining a sense
of control, and said, "That was awful. I don't think I ever want to try that
again. The menthol really made me want to puke."

"Well, it's up to you," Carol replied. "I wouldnt just blame the menthol. You
had a reaction because you took in too much smoke, too soon. You need to build
up to it gradually. Once you get used to it, you'd be fine. But I can
understand how you feel. I almost got sick my first time too."

"Really?," Debbie asked. "But you ended up smoking anyway?"

"Oh yeah," Carol said with a laugh. "There was just something about it that
made me come back for more. After the first time, I never had a problem."
Debbie filed that away. Right now she felt like she would never want to try
smoking again. But her mom's information stayed with her. 

That evening Carol confided in Don about the day's events. "Are you serious?
You really got Debbie to smoke?," he asked.

"Well, sort of. She had, I think, 3 puffs that went OK. But on the 4th, she
almost lost it."

"So, she was inhaling and everything?," he asked.

"Yeah. She seemed almost eager to try it. In fact, that's probably why she
almost got sick. She was inhaling too much," Carol said.

"Do you think she might want to try it again? I'd really like her to start
smoking," he urged.

"Look, I know," Carol answered. "I think the experiment your boss wanted you
to try could be really good for us. I want Deb to smoke just as much as you
do, so she can become your... what did he call it?"

"A youth ambassador," Don answered. "Personally, I think it's a silly term.
But the idea makes sense.  Plant a few smokers in the school, supply them with
cigarettes they can give their friends, and see how many take it up
permanently. He told me the other day that if it works, PM says they'll spread
the concept all over the country, and not only would I get that raise he
talked about before, but that they'd move me into management and I'd be one of
the people in charge. That's why I reminded you about Debbie again the other
day."

"Well, hopefully, she'll come back to it. She said that she didn't think she'd
want to, though, after she almost got sick. She blamed the menthol, but I know
she just O.D.'ed on nicotine."

"Maybe this will help," he said, retrieving his briefcase and opening it.
"Yeah, I thought these were in here. Next time, get her to try these instead,"
he said, handing Carol a pack of Marlboro Light 100s.  "It'll be a perfect
sales pitch for her - no menthol, less nicotine, and easier to inhale."

"Good idea," Carol said. "All right, I'll try to get her to try these. I'm
sure it won't take much for her to forget what happened the first time. Until
she had the reaction, she seemed to really like it."

Carol set aside the pack of Marlboro Lights for the next time Debbie was ready
to try smoking. It didn't take very long. Two days later Carol noticed her
looking intently at her every time she would take a puff on her B&H. Carol
decided to raise the subject herself.

"Honey, I notice you look really interested in me when I'm puffing on my
cigarette," she said. "Would you like to try it again?"

"Uhhh... I dunno, mom. I think I'd like to, but after that last time..."

"Well, I think we might have a solution to that," Carol said. "Just wait a
sec." She got up and went into the bedroom to retrieve the pack of Marlboro
Light 100s. "Your father thought you might like these," Carol explained,
handing Debbie the pack. "They're Lights, so they're a little easier to get
used to. Open them up and try one."

Debbie looked at the pack for a second and admired the design. She stripped
off the cellophane, opening her first pack, and carefully extracted a
cigarette. Carol offered her a light and she was able to get the cigarette
started. After a short time, she took a moderate puff and carefully inhaled.
The smoke wasn't mentholated like her mom's, and wasn't nearly as strong, so
the experience of inhaling this time was much more manageable. Not being
mentholated made one less thing for her to cope with, and while she certainly
knew that she was inhaling something other than air, it wasn't overwhelming
like before. Debbie was able to exhale a respectable stream of smoke into the
air.

"Hey, these are nice," she said, grinning. 

"Like them? Well, go ahead and try a few puffs," Carol said. "Just be careful
not to make yourself sick." 

Debbie tried another puff, and was rewarded with a very enjoyable sensation in
her chest when she inhaled. The effect of the nicotine was much less intense
this time, and she was actually able to smoke most of the Marlboro Light 100
before starting to feel a little woozy. But the experience was very pleasant,
and she knew she would smoke again. 

She carried on with the Marlboro Lights and would have at least one, sometimes
more, on a daily basis. After the first pack was gone, she was given another,
and began to smoke 3 or 4 times a day.  But after a couple of months as her
comfort level and tolerance for nicotine increased, her intake had grown to
about 10 a day and levelled off at that for a while. Don made sure to bring
home a fresh carton of ML 100s for his daughter every couple of weeks.One
night, as he presented a carton of Debbie's cigarettes to Carol for storage
with their own supply in the cupboard, he revealed a piece of news that Carol
found troubling.

"One thing I just found out about those," Don said. "I had lunch with Artie
Arneson today, you know, the lab guy. He was saying there's something in them
- I dunno what it's called - that causes something interesting in a lot of
people. Once you smoke a few, it's really hard to quit. Even harder than
usual. It's not just the nicotine, but something else that you can only get
from these. Some sort of additive that goes into them. Good way to get a lot
of repeat customers."

"Really? Don, I don't know if I like that. Seems almost... I don't know,
immoral or something." 

"Why? The product is addictive anyway. All they are doing is trying to cement
brand loyalty. Look, once someone decides they want to smoke, chances are
they're going to smoke for decades. I'd rather have all that business come my
way than go to just anyone. I don't see how this is so bad."

"I don't care. I don't want our daughter smoking them. I know I agreed with
getting her to start smoking, and I know that means she'll get addicted
eventually, but I don't want her inhaling god-knows-what into her lungs to get
her even more addicted. Let's get her on to something different."

"Well, I have a few cartons of Marlboro 100s in the car, the ones in the gold
pack. They're stronger than these, but the taste is similar. According to
Artie, they don't have the additive. Want those?"

"Yeah, OK," Carol said. "Hopefully she'll get used to them. God, I don't know
about that company of yours. Sometimes they seem worse than the CIA."    

==

Maybe they weren't the CIA, but Don liked some of the underground things the
company had him do in their efforts to promote smoking. Like any job, there
were duties that weren't very much fun that added up to daily drudgery. But
for someone like him, who had always loved the idea of females smoking, there
were days that made up for all of the rest. 

One of his favorite duties were the sampling sessions that they conducted
periodically. Usually they set up a booth in a shopping mall, although
sometimes they also held sessions on the beach in the summertime, at sporting
events, or at concerts and festivals. On some occasions there would be
research questionnaires that were supposed to provide information about what
smokers thought about the product being sampled or their smoking behavior,
while at other times the sessions were simply to introduce the company's
products to smokers in an attempt to get them to switch.

Whatever the motivation for the company, Don loved working these sessions. He
enjoyed sitting down with a lady who agreed to be interviewed about her
smoking, getting her to smoke whatever cigarette was the purpose of the day,
and solciting her comments on the product, how it felt, how it tasted, how
long she had been smoking, how much she smoked, you name it. Sometimes he
would even add a few of his own questions just to get information that was
purely for his own pleasure. He particularly liked to ask them how they
started smoking and how long it took for them to begin smoking regularly, even
though those questions were almost never included on the interview sheet. It
made wonderful food for thought to while away the time spent on the road or in
hotel rooms. Some of the women were surprisingly revealing about their
feelings about smoking, to the point where he would wonder occasionally if
they knew exactly what he was doing and enjoying the charade as much as he
did.

The interview sessions provided one type of enjoyment to Don, but the sampling
sessions offered a different reward. Usually, especially in the mall sessions,
he would encounter several family groups that would take part, the best for
him being those consisting of a mom who had either intentionally or
inadvertently passed along her smoking habit to her daughters. He would enjoy
offering cigarettes to them, helping them light up, and watching them happily
puff away. Sometimes her would even hit what he called the trifecta when a mom
would allow two of her daughters to join her, and that usually meant the
youngest would be in her early teens. While nobody under 18 was supposed to
participate in the sampling, in truth the company did not mind if those under
that age took part, especially if one of their parents was there to approve.
But even if they were unaccompanied by an adult, he would usually find a way
to supply the girls of any age who expressed an interest in smoking with a
supply of cigarettes, which the younger ones who were still smoking secretly
really appreciated. Sometimes when he encountered a girl who was obviously
just getting started, he would engage her in conversation about the product
and persuade her to try the product. He would light up the novice smoker,
encourage her to inhale a few puffs, and quietly provide her with a whole
carton instead of the sample packs he was supposed to be giving out, knowing
that if she ended up consuming that many she would likely become a regular
customer. It was great fun.   

It was from discussing what went on at these sessions with his boss that the
idea of the youth ambassador program was secretly hatched. If they could plant
a few smokers at junior high and high schools in the area, supply them with
cigarettes to distribute to their friends, and eventually get them started on
the habit, the theory was that they would grow the market overall and not just
have to rely on stealing customers from their competitors. Obviously it would
not be acceptable if it ever became public, so the plan they agreed on was to
start with someone they knew. Don offered to try and see if Debbie would do
it. But first, he had to get her started. It was sort of an unwritten rule in
the company that not only did employees have to use the product, but so did
their families. It was not uncommon to find employees who had children of 11
or 12 years of age who were already smoking at home. In fact, among the sales
crew there was a secret award that was held by the rep who had the youngest
child who was a regular smoker. Don had successfully conquered Carol long ago
and she was now a devoted smoker, but their daughter had not yet fallen. He
resolved to change that, and Carol had finally agreed that it was now time for
Deb to smoke too, especially once Don explained the potential rewards to his
wife. They decided to conspire to convert their daughter into a not only a
regular smoker herself, but also into an agent to do the same to others.

==

Debbie finished telling Laura how she had started smoking thanks to her
parents, and her friend was amazed at Debbie's good fortune. "That is just the
most unbelieveable story," Laura declared. "I can't even imagine my folks
doing that. I would really love to be able to smoke like you do, but I figure
there's not a chance."

"Hey, like I said, you might be surprised," Debbie said. "What makes you so
sure they'll give you a hard time? They both smoke all the time themselves.
Sure, they'll probably try to convince you not to, or say they're really
disappointed and all that sort of thing, but really... what can they say?
Especially if you tell them you've been smoking for a while already, and don't
want to... no, say that you can't quit. They'll understand, I bet. You should
try that."

"You really think so?," Laura asked.

"Hey, it's got to be better than sneaking around like you're doing, right? Evn
if it goes bad, you're no worse off. You just keep sneaking them," Debbie
reasoned. "But I figure you'll be smoking in the open real soon. And just
think of how much fun we can have doing that together!"

After several weeks, a number of new developments had quickly take place.
Debbie had told her parents she wanted to switch to B&H regular full-flavors,
and her dad was happy to assist her in doing that. He made sure she had a
fresh carton each week, and Debbie did her best to consume all of them.  With
her parents' subtle encouragement of her smoking and an unlimited supply at
hand, she had allowed her daily habit to expand and for now she had stabilized
at just over 20 a day. But with all of the cigarettes she offered to
acquaintances at school the carton was usually exhausted at the end of the
week. It was a behavior her parents had encouraged, and Debbie was happy to do
so since she liked being so popular. It made Carol happy as well to see her
daughter smoking a more ladylike cigarette, and both her and Don were secretly
pleased to see that Debbie's habit had become so firmly rooted.  She was now
just as addicted as they were themselves.

Debbie wasn't the only one who had embraced a smoking habit of late. Her
friend Laura had taken Debbie's advice and revealed her secret to her parents.
Although they expressed some initial disappointment, they were quick to accept
the reality of the situation and gave her their permission to start smoking.
Laura was happy to accept a free supply from Debbie and her parents, and
decided to adopt her mom's Marlboro 100s as her brand also to make sure the
supply pipeline was always filled.  Very quickly she was smoking a dozen times
a day with no sign of her habit's growth slowing down.  Laura found that what
Debbie told her was very true. She did enjoy smoking much more now that she
could do it openly, and especially enjoyed smoking with her friend and also
with her mom. It seemed to create a closer bond between them, and the two
Hammond women were soon best smoking buddies.

Both Laura and Debbie were eager to relate how much they enjoyed smoking to
their friends at school, and freely supplied a few packs - thanks to Debbie's
dad - to those expressing an interest in taking up the habit. Don and Carol
made it clear that they had no problem with supplying some sample packs for
distribution to their friends, and they encouraged the girls to spread the
message. School officials were puzzled by the sudden increase in the number of
students who were smoking, but were quick to attribute it to the times and the
growing number of girls who were smoking nationwide, rationalizing that at
least it was better for their students to use tobacco than other drugs. They
even agreed to set up a smoking lounge in an unused room in the school.  

After another year, the number of smokers at Greenwich High was reported as
the highest in the state.  Don had been named a sales vice-president for the
northeast region, and was enjoying no longer being on the road all the time.
With it came a substantial jump in pay, and Carol was happy to help him spend
it. And Debbie was now smoking 30 a day, just like her mom, outdistancing her
friend Laura who had settled in as a pack a day girl herself. The youth
ambassador program was eventually dismantled after being deemed too risky, but
Don was lauded as being a brilliant strategist. Enlisting his daughter to not
only become devoted to the product herself but to convince dozens of others to
do the same was seen within the company as a tremendously loyal move. 

Debbie never knew of her involvement in her dad's corporate loyalty, but the
smoking habit she acquired as a teenager as a result of the program would
cause her loyalty to cigarettes to exceed that of any employee. She proved to
be a most faithful servant, never taking a vacation or even a day off from
Benson & Hedges, checking in every day as soon as she awakened and doing what
she had trained her body to do as a teen. Even when she was sick with colds or
the flu, she still did her best to work her way through her daily allotment.
The only difference was that she wasn't allowed to retire from service after
30 years of devoted duty like her dad did, and there was no pension
forthcoming for her either.  She happily worked away on 30 B&H 100s a day for
years and years, but eventually began to question her devotion. She tried to
resign from her position several times after she entered her mid-30s, but her
attachment to Benson & Hedges would always prove too strong, and she would
always eventually re-enlist. Debbie was forced to stay enslaved to Benson &
Hedges for not only 30 years, but for the rest of her life. 

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