You Have To Take Up Smoking

Father gave his son the talk before he attended prom. He gave him a severe lecture actually, many warnings. About how people get carried away, and they get pregnant. The boy was horrified, he had not even kissed his girl. This was 1967, of course, when morals were alive and well. Father said “and one last thing, son….you have to take up smoking.” The son was curious as to why. The father had no reason, but was adamant. Mother questioned father after the son left for prom. “We want him to be a manly man, right?” the father stated. He pulled out the Marlboro cigarette ad and added “And a cowboy, if possible.” This was the way of the sixties too. Nobody wanted to be the Indians back then. Except me. I always rooted for them, to no avail.