Most mornings when I walk to the Tube to make my ridiculously long commute in to school, I pass a horde of school children hanging out on the street outside the Tube station. I regularly get asked by 15-year-old girls if I will buy them a fag (not a gay man, but a cigarette). I always tell them no and keep walking, thinking to myself as I go "why would you want one anyway?"
I find it very astounding how many kids here in London smoke (or want to), seeing how London has so many laws prohibiting smoking, just like we have at home in Washington State. And I certainly knew of kids sneaking cigarettes when I was a teenager at home, but it just never seemed to be as big of an issue as it appears to be here. For example, I have never been asked to buy cigarettes by kids at home. I'm far more likely to be asked to buy kids alcohol.
Today, I was particularly shocked when two boys who looked to be about ten years old asked me to buy them fags. I wanted to inform those kids how stupid it is to be worrying about smoking; it does not make them look cool to anyone. I also wonder how frequently all these kids actually get somebody to buy them cigarettes. But instead, I simply told them no, and continued to walk.
In completely unrelated news, here's something ridiculously awesome from back home:
Slash appeared on The Tonight Show with Big Chin The Late Night Loser himself, wearing an "I'm With Coco" button. NBC tried so desperately not to give the pin airtime, that the segment is rather painful to watch. We never get a full shot of Slash, the only close-ups are of his guitar, and on more than one occasion the television shot becomes black, as it is obscurred by another camera man. That's old-fashioned bad television editing. All this work, and not only did the Conan pin still make it's way on the screen, but NBC has now drawn a lot of negative attention to itself, while the internet is buzzing today with love for Slash and Conan.
Here's the article about the event, if you're interested.
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