Oh No! They’re Choking to Death

Mrs. Bouck, my fifth-grade teacher, had a profound and positive impact on me, even though many of her teaching techniques would no doubt be unacceptable today. In fact, if she were one of my grandkids’ teachers, I am certain I would be leery if she were still using some of the same approaches she used when I was her student. However, my grandkids are much savvier than I, so I’m sure they would not believe some of the crazy things she taught us.


For example, I remember one beautiful spring afternoon when she came into the classroom flustered and upset from the afternoon recess. With her unique style of expressing herself and using her liberal imagination, she stood in front of the class and gave us a stern and scary warning. She told us that she caught a couple of boys smoking on the playground and then she proceeded with a lecture about the dangers of smoking.


Sixty-five years later I can still picture this day and hear her warning, which I am embarrassed to admit that I believed. In all likelihood, I was probably the only student in the class that believed her crazy story. It was so ridiculous that today I find myself shaking my head in utter dismay to think that I was gullible enough to fall for it. On the other hand, if I hadn’t believed her, I might have a very different story to tell.


That afternoon she waxed so eloquently, and her delivery was so convincing as she expressed her concern for the health of those boys she caught smoking and her desire to prevent the rest of us from ever using a cigarette. She went on to explain the dangers of smoking, “Half of all people who start smoking will die on their first puff,” I went, “Wow!” She had my attention. She went on to explain, “because the cigarette smoke would go down the wrong side of your throat and you would choke to death.”


I was duly impressed with this authoritative declaration (after all Mrs. Bouck would not teach anything that was not true). I finished the school year, then I spent that summer in Afton, Wyoming, with my grandparents, my Uncle Quinn and Aunt Elaine, and my cousins. 


One evening after our chores were done and we had eaten supper, our friend Danny came over. He brought a pack of cigarettes and invited my cousin Roger and me to smoke them with him.


The three of us walked out to an old log cabin that Uncle Quinn used as a granary and sat down and passed around the pack of cigarettes. We each took one, and just as I was about to put it in my mouth, I heard Mrs. Bouck’s impressive warning, “Half of you who start smoking will die on the first puff!” That thought got my attention. 


I watched as Danny lit up. He began to cough and hack and choke and I thought, “He’s going to die” and, because I had never seen anyone die, I watched with rapt attention. He didn’t die.


Then it was Roger’s turn to light up, and the same thing happened to him! I thought to myself as he was coughing and hacking and choking, “50% of two is one” so I was convinced that he was the one who was going to die. I didn’t really want to see Roger choke to death and was relieved that he didn’t.


But I was next. I felt four eyes watching me as I slowly brought that cigarette up to my mouth. Then, Mrs. Bouck’s warning again came into my mind, but this time it came louder and louder, and my hands literally began to shake. 


Deep down, I knew that Danny and Roger were always lucky, and I was the one that was always unlucky and this time the risk was too great for me to take, but I also knew that I could not put that cigarette back and tell them the real reason for not smoking it. In an effort to save face I made up some crazy lame excuse. I don’t remember what it was, but it was a good enough one to allow me to put the cigarette back in the pack, and the three of us continued to enjoy the evening (although I remember having to endure some good-natured teasing).


While Mrs. Bouck’s information was not true, at the time it gave me the strength to avoid smoking that cigarette when I really wanted to try it so I could be part of the crowd with my cousin and friend. As the years went on, I had other opportunities to smoke, but I was able to turn down the proffered cigarettes with confidence knowing that the real reason I didn’t want to smoke was because it wasn’t healthy for me.


This is a crazy fun story that I have used often to help others realize the importance of teaching our children and grandchildren the truth about risky and potentially harmful choices that they will have to make some time during their lifetime. 


Truth is powerful enough in itself, and we don’t need to be dishonest or use deceitful scare tactics to get the lesson taught and understood. Some day our kids will know and understand the truth,  and we want them to trust us, knowing that we are concerned about their health and life and would never deceive them.


A love for truth is one of the greatest resiliency skills we can teach and model for our children. Let’s help them learn and implement this concept. 


Happy Failing Forward,


Calvert Cazier



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