Michael: Smoking in Panama

It’s the little things
That so often make a day
Worth remembering.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Thursday, at American Flowers Friendship celebration, we noticed that there weren’t any smokers in a pretty large and eclectic crowd of over 30 people. In fact, in our two years here we haven’t noticed very many regular smokers.

We asked the husband of our Spanish teacher if there was a reason for this and he said that Panama has really made a big push to get the word out about the harmful effects of smoking. One way they do this is by requiring tobacco companies to put very blunt images of the harmful effects of smoking on their packages; like a picture of a diseased lung.

The following night, since Colbert wasn’t on, Kimme and I thumbed through John Oliver’s Youtube offerings and found one on smoking. This segment was about how tobacco companies have often successfully spent a lot of money on lawsuits preventing many countries from enacting laws similar to Panama’s.

To complete the trifecta, this morning while we were running to the Quetzal Lodge for lunch, we saw an empty tobacco package on the side of the road. It took both of us to a little while to figure it out, but if my picture is clear enough, you’ll see that it’s a limp penis/cigarette. I presume to warn men away from smoking because of it’s link to erectile dysfunction.

Not only that, but most penises are never going win any beauty prizes and if this picture comes even close to what my best friend would look like after years of smoking, I’m glad we never took it up.