People Who Smoke Just For The Image

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[Denmark Pilongo]

Denmark Pilongo
Customer Service Specialist

"I am glad I found The American Institute because they helped me in improving my conversation fluency and developing my confidence. At first, I was very intimidated when speaking in English, but I became more and more comfortable. I am currently working as customer service specialist in the BPO/Call Center industry, and I have The American Institute to thank for. I am still a part of the institute through their English Club called Universal Pro-English Club. We've done many activities including trips to Baguio, Lucena, interview strategies, and many more so that we can use English in a natural setting."

Alice Anod
Accountant and Auditor

"The English language Specialists are very different from all the teachers I've had in high school or college. Most teachers I've had in the past were very strict and distanced themselves from the students, but these guys will make you feel like you're one of them. In fact, we call them by their first names, not "sir" or ma'am." They respect us as students with individuality, and at the same time, we respect them for their knowledge and expertise. I used to work for a relatively small local bank, but now I work for a major international firm after developing my speech and communication skills through them."

Elaine Villafuerte
Hotel Operations Specialist

"Before I came to The American Institute, I was already somewhat confident with my English; I simply wanted to polish my speech and communication skills. What I found was that I had so much more to learn. They really taught me how not to just speak English, but how to speak WELL. I was able to improve my critical thinking skills and became a more organized speaker. Now, I work for a five-star hotel, and I am so much more confident when dealing with local executives as well as foreign business professionals. I would highly recommend their services."

To view more testimonials, click on the blue "Testimonials" button above.

[ANC, the News Channel of ABS-CBN, partners with The American Institute.]

ANC, the News Channel of ABS-CBN, partners with The American Institute.  On October 3, 2007, The American Institute became the official consultant for the Philippine Debate Championship which is co-sponsored by ABS-CBN/ANC and Philippine Graphics.  The debate tournament uses the parliamentary debate format, in which two university students compete against two others.  General Manager and English Language Specialist Christopher Delacruz, an Impromptu Speaking Champion in the US and Canada and Finalist in several  parliamentary debate events in the Northwest Public Debate Association has and will be helping the teams to prepare for the nationally televised debates and help lead them to the world championships which will be held in Thailand.  The debates air live on ANC every Wednesday at 8 pm.

[Christopher]

I have not smoked since July 1, 2009.  Woo hoo!!!

There are times when I'm so angry, depressed, or frustrated that I just want to take a puff.

Fortunately, I have been able to suppress the urge.  I guess it's still there.

Like St. Savin said to Ahab in The Devil and Miss Prym when presented with temptation, "...but I would be able to control it."  The thought would be there, but it becomes a matter of choice and a matter of control.

[joey]

i've tried once in highschool, out of curiosity, but thanks GOD after the hard cough I did not even dare doing it again..

people who smoke just for the image are those who felt the need to be needed..to be needed by the society, he/she who wants to belong, to be accepted, to be part of..they smoke to be recognized and to be liked..

kudos! to all those who chose to quit smoking...it's never been easy letting go of something you've become addicted to..it's even harder when you're tempted to do it again..it's really a matter of self conviction, strong will, and faith ",)

[alucard]

"My story is, whatever works as long as you don't hurt anybody. Any way you can filtch a little joy in this life, cruel and pointless life, that's my story."
- Boris Yelnikoff (still ranting to his friends), Whatever Works

sometimes a puff of smoke is just that, a puff. to me, it's a breath of fresh air. i don't think i can live without cigarettes these days. and as boris yelnicoff states, any which way i can filtch a little joy in this cruel and pointless life, or whatever works for me, i think is good. so, smoking for me is good. who cares if it's just for the image. i couldn't care less what other people think about my smoking. so who cares if i'm just doing it for the image, at least i'm getting my little joy out of an expensive commercially rolled tobacco strips that the government wants to put more tax on.

"Sigmund Freud was once asked about the psychoanalytic significance of his smoking a cigar, to which he replied that a good cigar was merely a smoke." -http://flowstate.homestead.com/freud.html

sigmund freud coined the terms fixation and libido and psychoanalysis, etc. and when as about his smoking, that, above is his reply. and who cares if i'm orally fixated, who cares if they think i'm a faggot, as long as i enjoy my smoke, i'd have no problem with what other people think about it.

"When Sigmund Freud's nephew Harry declined a cigar at age 17, his illustrious uncle started as if thunderstruck. He paused and then, weighing his words carefully, admonished Harry: "My  boy, smoking is one of the greatest and cheapest enjoyments in life, and if you decide in advance not to smoke, I can only feel sorry for you." (Freud: A Life for Our Time. Peter Gay, 1989, Anchor Books/Doubleday.)" -http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,52,00.html

well, to each his own, i'm not urging anyone to smoke nor wallow in the mires of cancer. don't smoke if you don't want to, but at least understand the smokers have their own choice as their human rights allow them to. and smoking for the image, ha, only kiddies and pussies do that. ha ha ha

[ribozyme]

We are now in the 21st century so that our psychology do not consider just the psyche alone but also as the mind and body as one system. The 20th century psychology alone will be a limited map of today's realities. Smoking can be learned and we cannot deny that it has some association to social context as one learns to smoke. Pavlov's behavioral conditioning partly applies to such learning. First the link was to the social context, and then the social context to enjoyment. This gets repeated until smoking is totally linked to enjoyment. The dog learned to salivate just by hearing the tuning fork - it had learned to associate food to the tuning fork just as social context to smoking so that even without the social context, smoking triggers the enjoyment.

I agree that smokers smoke not for the image but for enjoyment but only after they have learned to unconsciously associate smoking to enjoyment where in, at the time of learning, the social context serves as the bridge either in conscious or unconscious way.

As along as you do not hurt anybody? Would you not be hurt seeing your friend filling his lungs with potentially cancerous material?

"My  boy, smoking is one of the greatest and cheapest enjoyments in life, and if you decide in advance not to smoke, I can only feel sorry for you."

I think Freud was missing something either he was deleting this information from his point of view or this is not yet available to him: that cigarette smoking is potentially dangerous to your health. He should have added:

"My  boy, smoking is one of the greatest and cheapest enjoyments in life, and if you decide in advance not to smoke, I can only feel sorry for you. And by the way, cigarette smoking is potentially dangerous to your health."

[alucard]

we are now in the 21st century and and people are still unsure who decides who is cool and who decides who is crazy. for me, sigmund freud is cool. i like his views and his opinions. but what has ivan pavlov got to do with smoking. well, i'd rather think about steve'o and party boy if i'm messing up some writings and not mess with decent quotes from sigmund freud. messing with sigmund freud is like pretending you have larger testicles than an elephant. what does that have to do with anything? beats me, why should i even care if it's related to anything. how does smoking relate to a self image anyway? i've seen lesbians and homosexuals smoke and it doesn't bother them if they're smoking for an image or not. i've seen my dad smoking before his dying day and we didn't care if it's for the image, we just wanted to have a good smoke. i couldn't stop my sick dad from smoking, so i just joined him and it lifted some tension between us.

now, other people would argue again about the virtues of being christian and all. so? well, i'd rather smoke than delve into another pointless argument like that. and i'd rather be minding my own business than obtrude upon and alienate other people's belief and opinion not akin to their own. so what if smoking is dangerous to your health? if you think that is the issue, then by all means keep away from the nasty stuff. but please don't encroach upon the thoughts of sigmund freud like you own his thoughts and his opinions. i don't think it's polite to put words into the mouth of a respected figure as that of sigmund freud as arrogantly as some person does. so i rant on, for what? i enjoy it. maybe it's stupidity but that's just an excuse. i'm so tired of arguing, why oh why do i even bother myself with thinking outloud. maybe it's because i'm insane, and just trying to impress public enema number two. i think she's gonna have a field day when she reads this 

[ribozyme]

Minding one's own business doesn't mean staying in one's shell and expecting the world to ignore everything. Minding one's own business means being focused to a purpose. Being focused to a purpose means being situated in a network, and connections will emerge necessarily whether you like it or not. You cannot NOT live in the world. Saying or suggesting to a fellow: mind your own business becomes a manifestation of arrogance if it means 'do your own thing and leave me alone' for no man is an island - and yet one pretends to be one.

If one has noticed an opinion and think about it critically, he cannot be said to be alienating the other beliefs and opinions - but he can be thought of as considering the other expressions mindfully. If the other sees this as a treat then he may be reacting upon the suggestion of his emotion and pride which would be difficult for him to admit.

Have words been put into Freud's mouth? A big difference can be sensed in saying: 'Freud should have said' and 'Freud have said' and then incorporate the new phrase, words or statements. The first has validity, the second will be false to facts (because this wasn't what was said by Freud) - the first becomes a suggestion and the second - an outright falsification (one has put in one's mouth what wasn't said). I think it would be largely more arrogant to read Freud and do not consider his thoughts critically - one doesn't give the critical thought it deserves. It will be as if one saying - ah ok, I read your work and it deserves no critical evaluation.

[alucard]

whoohooo!!! wow, writing around the forums nowadays is like going around through a busy market, there's always noise around and people haggling and arguing and the waves of noises can lull you to sleep while walking. oh look, some flowers, well, i promised someone i love i'd talk about flowers and be nice. i am nice, nice to my ipod, i've been taking care of it a lot because i love my pirated mp3 music, but what the friggin #u(k, it broke down on me.well s#it happens. and the sky is blood red on my world and that's the way i like it, but i digress...

being on the market brings up a lot of ambient stimulus, there's the stink of decay there's just pure stink, there's a lot of creepy crawlies on the wet pavement, and maggots are crawling around in broad daylight, and there's some empty cans that's rattling the most for all it's worth, ha ha ha. oh look some more flowers  it's really a big deal for me to talk about flowers. now who said i needed some lesson in philosophy, if i needed it, i'd rather go back to college and learn from the masters and not to some one who professes their views from taking a whole lot from an amateur philosophy book and still manage to forget to paraphrase. oh, look some, daffodils  well, i've been thinking about burial wreaths, those are still flowers right. well, if it were me, i'd take it from experience and not be droning about somethings i really feel and sound shallow about. it's such a bothersome read to browse through some unintelligible boorish droll opinions, OMG some daisies. hey lady, how much for some daisies? what? a hundred bucks for some wilted garbage like this one? i'll give you 25 for the lot, and you better be taking it, well i didn't know you have such huge bodyguards, well i'm not interested with your really spiffy daisies anyway, can you even afford feeding your gorillas errr body guards? oh, so that explains the pricey tags, well anyway, i hear my mom is calling me home, gotta run. i just wish your gorillas run fast as ugly as they come... la da da di da da well anyway if you cannot NOT not do anything like cannot NOT stop doing cannot NOT writing about it, well it's your life, i don't even think critically otherwise i'd have really committed myself to the asylum, but the doctor advised me against it, he told me to just do what ever it is that would help me be sane again, and that's bugging a hell lot of people and being the hello and loser that i really am for them.  so ribo, dude, it's not personal, i'm just trying to have fun ok, oh look, some poppies on the pharmacists stand, hey how much for some cheap heroin derivatives man? say, do you by any chance have some body guards roaming around? seriously dude... do i look like a cop to you? well fat chance buddy, i have some prescriptions here and it says i have your number  well, go screw some motherless goat yourself you filthy peddler... well, you win some, you lose some...

well anyway, i guess i better get back to sesame street before things get out of hand...