http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2014/09/21/leonard-cohen-smoking-again/16006311/
Leonard Cohen decided he’d start smoking again when he turned 80 and that seems to have stirred a bit of discussion. On one side are those that are babbling that It is not a good idea to smoke ever and the older you get the more you need to take care of yourself, while the other side are all about what the heck you should enjoy the pleasures while you can.
As a former smoker who has actually had internal debates on what age I would allow myself to start smoking again, it was great to learn that someone else, probably lots of someone elses, have this same plan of smoking again one day when we are old enough that it no longer matters. To me however, it is more a little fantasy to get me through those rough days when out of nowhere that little urge whispers man, I’d love to smoke right now. Those days are rare but it is a guilty pleasure to indulge my former smoker self and say, yeah, when I turn 90 I’m going to start smoking again.
The reality is that the thought of once again HAVING to smoke is so very not appealing. Unless the rules revert back to those days when I could smoke anywhere at anytime, and a pack of cigarettes is 50 cents in a vending machine, the addiction is just too much trouble.
So whether Mr. Cohen really started smoking again or if he was just appeasing that bothersome inner addict, I understand that memory of holding the cigarette, flicking the ashes, blowing out long streams of smoke, a drink in the other hand, talking long into the night. Yes, I’ll smoke again when I’m 90.
