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my job," or. "l've bad
a
medica!
sct~ck. "
Swprisio& 10 many,lhe crcdi10n
ate
bwnan;
tbey may
aslc,
'"Can
you ¡ay lbe interesa
only?" or, "When do you llúnk you'll be
able 10 sllln your paymcn1s aga.in?"
But people bíde. Tbey sldp paymcnts, and
tben lhey're "' 1r0uble. To oommunoa.te
wuh
1be creduors,
1
would say,
is
of pua–
mouru lmportance.
Aod ooe of tbc
fim
things
a
persoo should
do
is
scek professional oounscling,
And, let'• "'Y lhe problem
is
unemploy–
menL Pnople sbould flnd OUI wbal's avail–
able 10 lhem througb sovemmcnt propnu.
h's very. very imponant
to
know what is
available to you tbrougb thelaw.
PT: Do
fOU
jind
tltoJ
~pk
in jiMntiDI
strtdu
cut tlt<
-.>nf
thlnfs
~~
of
thdr
bud·
~ut
SB: Wbcn a person
s•IS
in
deb~
be begans 10
say to himself, ''Wbcre can
1
CUI bacl<?"
Oftenaimcs he makes tbe wrong choiccs. We
ftnd, for example, tbat lhe llrs1
lhíns
eul out
is
lite
inswuoe
or bca.llh insu:ruc:e.
PT:
Should
peopl<
a111sltkr
/xmluvptcyl
SB: Tbe federal banlcruptoy laws,
1
lhinlc,
are a
good
lhing for those people who
abso·
lutcly bave 10 use banlcrup<oy as
a
way ouL
Bul one of my oonccmJ
is
lhe
DWlY
alls
lh.at
we rcceiVc from peoplc
wbo
u k
u.s
to
help lhcm tlle bankruptoy. And wbeo we
question tbcm
a
titOe bit, we find out 1ha1
llley're ollly $1,50010$2,000 in debL lf they
bad oome 10 Consumer Credil Counsclors,
tbey oould bave set up
a
budgct &Dd proba·
bly beeo oua of debt witbín
two.
time, four
orS&.t months.
PT: Bur iln't bonkruptcy
an
<tJSY way out of
debtl
SB: For founeen yean
i~s
oo your credit
repon lllat
yo~¡
61ed banlcruptoy. Tbal makes
il very, very
dilliC~¡IIIO
tslllblisb ercdit
&galO
witb major departrncnl
•lOres.
banks,
fi·
nance oompanics and so fonb. Tbal doesn't
mean tbat you ean'l get credH. There are
soroe of what we call "less tban reputable''
firmJ
Iba<
will
aald.lly go 10 the banJcruptoy
oouns
and
will
seda
outlhetisuof
everybody
wbo
has 6.1ed bankruptcy 10 soticit for credit ac–
couniS. Tbereason theydo thi!isthat theycao
sclllhcir men::haodi.se rora much higber cost
to peopkwhoca.o't
use
bankruptoyas
a
mcaos
or
escape. Beeausc
you
can
only lile
banJc.
ruptoy onoe every
six
yean.
•
PT: Are
~opte,.,,.
ofthe seriousne:u ofour
tim~s?
SB: Well, 1 lhink lhere's a greal scriousnes:s.
We've noled. for example, tbat people are
now
bepnning
10 eut bael: oo lhcir credil
purchaSCJ. Tbey're púlting more money in10
tbcir savings and toan accounts or tbeir bank.
accounts.
However. we don't see that too
m~.tch
witb
lhe people
wbo
come
10
onr
agency for &elp.
Tbesc people
are
1be ooes who bave reached
a oenaio [ex.pense] leve\. Tbey don't wana10
give up anytbing.
PT: ArtfOU
saying In
•Jf«t
tlrat one of tJae
problems 11 a
i4<Jc
ofa .rpirit ofs«rijia?
SB: Absolutely.
O
Confessions of a Nonsmoker '
by
Ron S.ideelt
<-•:f1Cyoo
la":;en•rrn~J'
H_.".4ón'Wcnoeíc it.''•-
Tran•fation:t
0
m
y
bnü~:;cOulp! Quid<~-·
Well.
l
)aav~
nevcr tmoked a cigarcue.
bullet? t>on'l drop a drop or nicotine on
N~ver!
1don't say that in
self·rigbteowness4
your
pet
rabbit and doo't srnoke cigarcues-
lt's jau< a fact.
the life you save may
be
yow
own.
When 1 wu about
six
yean
okl.
1
wu
Tbere
was
also tbe very pnaical oonoid·
paying
m
the
bacl<yard
witb
a
fricnd. Wc
eralion tba1 cigareues cos1 money: 1 tbinJc
at
bad cigareues. J,.l childi.!h mischie(, we
the time
1
wa.s sbll more interested in buying
were playing "grown·up." Maybe 1UtoU¡/111
bascball cards.
-
was Humphrey Bogan. 8u1 lhe wicked
And my pa1en1S didn't moke. which was
.,ceds were ooly in our moutbJ. Tbey
a
sood
example. Anyway. il all teemed kind
weren't bL
of Sllly - especially lhat
fire
dangting
so
lusa
tbeo my Mom come out. Saying
close to my tips. So
1
didn't omoke, and
1
something to tbc eff'cct orHCigarette.s. uh?"
wasn't really ostracited.
sbe rusbed back into <be bouse
and
$0C)o
Now tbat rm older, aod bopefully evcn
rcappeared willl a match - a match, of
all
wiJer, l've often wondered, "Wby do adul ts,
lhings. Sedun¡¡
1
guess
10
ttal¡ffializc
me
wbo
oagbtiO
be
older and wiJer. smoke?"
agairat smoking for lhe res1 of my life, Jbe
Haviog absolutcly no comprcbeosioo
kindly olfered
tO
tigbl
my
cigareue. Bul
aboul wbat makcs ciga.rcue smoke
so
keen,
somebow. al tbat
agc,
the' idea ofsmolr.e and
!'ve u ked rrien'ds: "Whydo you smoke?"
flre ,.der my nose didn't appeal 10 me.
Tbe aruwer. almos! univenal,
C&D
be surn-
Tb~
and tbe fear or lhc untnowu:
c.ouscd
matlzed in one word·
"ppeasure.~
me
10
cleade
1
sbould
gracefully deebne.
1
"But,"
1
would say. mtisti<:s from
RNI!er's
lllink lgotaiOng..o-lashinganyway.
Dtgw
dancing in my head, "don't you know
Some years later. as a teen-ager, it was
thot
smoking.
is
bud
ror
your heahh?.,
"in" amoog my peer uoup lo smokc. Aga.in.
And the answer. again,;., almoot universal
ia ..,.. "growo.up." And woall dcsperatcly
h
soco
SOD><Ihíns
líkelhis: "Wc've all got 10
wanted 10
be
8f"WO
up. But at lhe Nk of so sometime. l.ook. 1 oould
&et
blled walk·
beiQg
ealled
a
"jerk" aod a "flnlt" and ingacrosslhestreetiOmorrow.•
"chicl<en," l deeided lo go tbe noncoo(onn-
Tome, tbe aruwer seems 10 obfuscate tbc
ist routc. For one llli.ng
111ill
didn't Uke lhe
whole issue. Surc. you could gctlr.illed cross·
smeU, lhe Sl!\oke &Dd tbe tire. And 1 remem·
in¡ the streeL Maybe
by
the litde old lady
o(
bered a parody
1
bad read in
Mad
ma¡uioe Puadeoa. tbe terror of Colorado Boukvard.
aboua "Marlboro oounuy,•
!he
local
hospital
And ligbtning eould suik.e. Tbe
sky
oould
ea=r
ward.
Altbousb il was
a satire,
it
fall.
A
ntillion lhin¡s oould bappen.
seemed 10 ring lt\le.
1
guess, 100,
1
was
lhe
Biat wbat if you
don
't
gel hit crossing the
only lr.id on my bloclt who read
Rtader's
street? WiU lhe plcasure seem wonb i1 ifyou
Dlgest.
1didn1see
how
anyooe oould1molr.e
end up dying
o(
lun¡
canoer
in "Marlboro
aner readin¡
a
Reotkr's Ditest
article apmst country"? You
lmow,
ia
d«m~
always bap-
SO>Oicin¡.
Q\IOtcs tite: "In pure
(onn
lÚa>-
peo lO lhe other guy. Probably most of tbe
tine
is
a violen< poison. One drop on
a rab-
people in cancer
wards
didn't tbink
it
would
bit's slr.in throws lile rabbit into instan<
happen
10
tbem.
shock. Tbe niootine oontent ora lrifte more
Sure. smoking iJn't
abe
only
reason.
But if
tban
IWO
ci¡arettes, if injected
Ü\10
tbe
you're
a
smoker, you've
heard
the st&tisti<:s.
1
bloodstream, would
tiU
a
smoter swillly. lf won't bore you witb them.
1
won't even
you omoke
a
pacl<
a
day, you inhle
400
mention tbem. You lr.now nonsmokers live
miiJiarams of nieotine
a
weck. which in a
looser,
so
why k.nowingly
~honen
your lire?
single injcction would lr.ill you quid< as
a
Oon'1 get me wroog. l'm not oondcmrua¡.
buUet"
("llow
Rannful
ls
Smokin¡?"
Ovr
jaut aslcing qucstions.
lf
you wan1 10 smoke,
Humtm Body,
Tbe Reade(s
Digest
Aosocia·
i(s
all
ri&ht witb me. Tocada
bis
own.
!loo,
1962,
p. 147).
1
clon't wa.o1 10 get glandular or red-raccd
WEEK
END!NG
~RIL
19, 1975
WhyNOT
by
David Jon Holl
Care?
We live in a dog-eat-dog society. We caJJ our society "the rat race." -Wc are a
caJJoused generation. Apart from
the
real tragedies portrayed in ncwspaper
bcadlincs, news magazines, and
TV
coveragc, tbe average person by tbe lime be
reacbes adulthood bas
beeu
a person.al
eyewitness
10
the
lcillings
of moce
than
13,000
people in
bis
living room via the televisiort set.
We're told more than ten thousand peoplc die every day from suarvatiorL
We
are
told six miWon Jews died in concentrati.on
camps,
while teos of nilllioos
suffercd agonizing deaths under tbe heel of the communist boot. Eartbquakes,
tidal
waves. and
ftoods
in far aiYay places call$C de.ath toUs numbering more
than
half-a-millioo.
Small in comparison (but 001 for any individual involved)
is
tbc tale of
camage wrought by thc
Los
Angeles slasber, tbe Boston bomber, and tbe
homicida!
maniac
sniper from
a
Texas towet. Major
diseases
Lake the lives of
bundrcds of thousands of people eacb ydlt, and in tbe United States alone we
managc 10 destroy almost
50,000
lives
a
year on our bighways in the bideous
cruncb ofcrusbing metal.
Rampan! crime in the streets; burglaries, lcidnapping. a.nd rape; corruption
in govemment:
a
general mistrust of
aJJ
persons in autbority aod a sccmingly
total brealtdown of tbe fam.ily unit -
aJJ
these lead 10 a personal react.ion of
withdrawal into the self, a general di!illusion.ment,
a
bittcmess, a bopcfess feeling
tbat nothing
is
going 10 tumout aU right.
This
eotirc scene ;., overlaid with the most bideous aod unünaginable,
tbough seemingly tDevitable, tbrt3t
of
human extinction from overpoweiing
SOUfCCS
such.
~
worldwide nucldlt war, tbe, populalion cxplosion, the total
poUution ofall life-giving resources, germ warfare, n ervc gases,
etC:
ls
it any wondcr tbat wben be foresaw the generalion you
and 1
are living
through,
Jcsus
said. "Sin
will
be
rampan! everywbere aod
will
cool the
love
of
many." (Matthew24:12.
The U>ing Blb/e.)
In this milieu it secms bopeless 10
tbink
that an,yone
cnn
help. IJ's cvery
trian
for hirnself, get mine wbile the getting
is
good. eat, drink. and be 10erry, for
tomorrow
we
may dic. The personal react.ion of the vast majority only adds to tbe
total trauma Ibis generatioo faces.
But wbo
can$?
What
can
1
do? What
can
you do? Wbat can anybody do?
Caring costs, caring huru, caring
frustra
tes.
But
as
with anything that
is
wortbwbile, oo matter wbat the cost, caring
builds cbaract.er tbat c:aonot be destroyed. Caring
tum.s
the miad and tbe bean
outside its self-interest cirde aod makes wbat life
wc
have ricber. lf
tbin~
are as
bad
as
tbey seem tbcy are - and in fact thcy
are
much worse - thcn there
is
noth ing
10
lose from otl'ering Jovc 10 the lovelcss, hope 10 the hopelcss, and care
fQr !hose wbo may oot even care for themsclves.
So
why not begin in a
StDaJI
way a.od e xen:ise a little
care
muscle - for your
wife, your husbaod. your ehildrcn, your neigbbors,
your
work 3S$0CÍates aod
lio.aUy, maybe, even the poor siclt world
as
a whole.
Wh
y
not cace?
abou< iL
1
don't enjoy going 10 a rest&uranl
or riding public transponation and bavioJ. lo
breatbe billowing clouds or smoke. But tf it
means so mucb
10
smokers, if il
gives
tbem
oo much
plea$Ute,
111
sladly
.,B'er
ror tbeir
salte.
But
1
lllink tbe
tbing
lhat galls me the
most ;., tbc hypoc:risy of it all - cigareue ads
sbowing a fresh-faeed, ruddy oouple lapping
and splaJb.iog in the water of
a
mountain
llream
ami~
a greco forcol
and
a clear,
blue, vibran!
sky
with fre>h, clean air. Wbat
do cigareues bave to do willl a fres.b·faccd,
ruddy eouple splasbin¡
in
tbe water of
a
mowtain stream sllmlunded
by
a greco for–
est. a clear, blue, vibrantsty
and
fresb, cle&D
air? lsn't cigarette smoke tbe IOta! anlitbesis
of fresb
air?
And dociOn wbo smoke? How
can
!hose
wbo have dedicated tbeir lives 10 tbe prcser–
valion of li(e knowin&ly mate
a
mocl<ery of
lheir own life 10 olhen by tbeir ClWilple?
And ads telling
UJ
abou! lhe
"ta$te"
of
tbis
or tbat cigarctte? lsn"t
it
truc thcre
is
no
ta.Stc, only smeU?
Oon'l get me wroog. l'm only asking ques–
tions.
lt
just seems tite oommon sen.se. Tbe
luap
~re
deoiped
10
purify tbe blood
by
excllanging wu1cs and carbon dioJtidc for
oxygen. la's lhc most basic and vital function
of tbc huroan body: pulmonary circulation.
Tbe body seelr.s
10
eliminate poisons, yet
smoken inhale dim:tly in<o tbcír tDOutbs,
throats,
and
lunp tobaooo smoke oontainin¡
a oumber of noxious ingredients and
poi·
sons. many or wbich
are
CAtcinogenic. Oe·
fen.!lve syste!DJ and cleansin¡¡ meebanisms
ano
(oreed
10 work overtime
m
an elfort 10
cope
wilh
t.be
invasion.
or
COUI'Se,
tbe human body
is
marvek>usly
adaplllble. You mighl be a smoker a nd Uve
10
be
~
or
90,
or even
100. Bul
you
probably
woo't. More li.kely h
wilJ
be
a nonsmoker.
Oon't ¡<:t me wron¡.
1
don'l eare
it
you
Jmoke.
l(s
yow
life. Fine. But
u
for"'e. rm
still scaredof 6re.
o
11