I don’t smoke cigarettes.  I have a pretty addictive personality, and I know that the moment I started smoking regularly, that would be it, for life.  So, I try to avoid them.

And I was SHOCKED today as I stopped by my local deli to pick up some flowers (my new motto for the fall: fresh flowers are a MUST) to see that a pack of cigarettes (I didn’t note which brand, but I think it was Virginia Slims) costs $9.75/pack in New York City.  What?!?!

It’s interesting, because the tobacco industry is one of the few arenas where the brands are marketed to women and men in an equally aggressive (and equally predatory) manner!  Women smoking is sexy, men smoking is sexy, and we’re all going to die of cancer.

Anyway, when did cigarettes become that expensive?  Is it the tax?  The bad economy?  Even though, to the grave, I will associate cigarettes with my godmother and summers on Long Island and Dave Matthews concerts and my beloved Carrie Bradshaw and a lot of other things I love, thank God I don’t smoke cigarettes.  It’s not that I’m one of those condescending non-smokers–it’s that I’d be too good of a smoker, too dedicated, to be able to stop smoking if I ever started.