I had a guest the other night for dinner. We had not seen each other for quite a while that we had a lot of catching up to do. After dinner, as was customary for him, he went out to the patio to smoke a cigarette. He asked for my lighter and since I had none I got a large box of matches. He was quite amused with the matchbox and asked me where my designer lighters are.

"I quit smoking two years ago." I said.

"What?! You quit smoking?" he echoed.

"Yup! I had to. Smoking was giving me chest pains already and since I wasn't getting any younger, I had to make a healthy choice." I lectures. I continued by telling him that although I quit, I still had a transient ischemic attack (mild stroke).

My friend was surprised by my story. He said he has been wanting to quit too but just can't seem to succeed. I told him to browse online and look for a product called electronic cigarette. This "cigarette" will let him puff away without the harmful (and smelly) effect of real cigarettes. It does not require lighting up and has no second-hand smoke effect. I think my friend had already purchased a trial kit.