Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Preggies gotta have their smokes
City Hall adds services to raise funds
That was the headline which ran with the following photo in my hometown newspaper, The Arcata Eye (reproduced here with permission).
ARCATA — With City Council goal-setting sessions underway and budget hearings to follow, the City is bolstering its General Fund by adding services at City Hall.
“I’d like to pay my water bill and get a carton of cigarettes,” said [mother's name redacted], a Westwood resident, as she stepped up to the Finance Department window last Friday morning. [...] “This is great,” she said, tucking a carton of American Spirits into her son’s stroller. “I’m expecting another baby soon, and this really saves me time.”
Oh, cool off. It’s from the April Fools edition of the newspaper which comes complete with two sections, fake news and real news. My other favorite from the fake edition was the headline, “Earth flag dumped as culturally insensitive.” Yes, Earth flags really do fly in the city, soon to be replaced with universe flags.
On a more serious note, here’s a photo from the Roanoke Times that has been floating around the Internet’s pneumatic tubes for years. SNOPES reports it is genuine.
And for mind-blowing context, read the follow-up article by a Roanoake columnist who interviewed the woman after the photo caused a stir: Criticism doesn’t bother smoker.
Comments
4 Responses to “Preggies gotta have their smokes”
No fair, you can’t April Fool’s us in the middle of April.
I was all geared to write how shocked and mad I was… but now I find out it was joke…. what to do with my anger now?!
It’s a good thing I’m pregnant otherwise I’d take up smoking to unwind.
April 15th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
OH you made me laugh!!!! hahahaa.
thanks for the funnyness this morning!
April 16th, 2009 at 6:50 am
I was just going to say that just because she’s buying them, doesn’t mean she’s the one smoking them! I bought a case of beer for my husband once when i was 6 months pregnant (luckily it was winter and I had a thick coat on), but I was still so embarrassed!!!!!!
April 26th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I love watching people’s reactions as I walk into a bar, almost 7 months pregnant. My hubby’s a sports fanatic, and the bar’s flat screens are bigger than our own. This one woman actually shook her head, like she was disappointed in me! :::snicker:::
May 3rd, 2009 at 5:03 pm