![CLOSE ENCOUNTERS Some teens believe they can quit smoking whenever they want to. Others admit that they're addicted. pretty cool. Young dropouts make cigarettes part of their lives By Bill Steigerwald Post-Gazette Staff Writer They are under 18 and they inhale. A lot. Smoking is an important part of their young lives. One, two packs a day. Whatever they can afford, whatever they can mooch. Alley, Bill and Keith are part of a growing demographic subset in Pennsylvania - kids between 10 and 18 who, despite the warnings and lamentations of all the authorities, are apparently increasing their intake of cigarettes. But they are not your ordinary mildly rebellious teens. Closer in lifestyle to homeless people than to the usual mall rat, they are worldly and street wise beyond their vears. They each dropped out of high school, left their parents' homes or both years ago. Today, they live on their own in and around Oakland, where they were loafing yesterday afternoon on the sidewalk outside the Beehive coffee house, where nicotine and caffeine are the legal drugs of choice. Alley (Allison) Freed, 17, of Oakland, smokes a pack or two a day of Camel Filters or Marlboros. An Allderdice dropout three years ago, she plans to be in the Marine Corps two months from now. She's wearing a red, white and blue T-shirt that says, "These Colors Don't Run - Support U.S. Troops." And her reddish hair is cut short enough to please a Marine drill sergeant. But her seven rings and her pair of hemp necklaces will have to go when she heads for three months of boot camp at Parris Island. So will her two-year smoking habit. Bill Ueltschy, 17, a native of Wheeling, W.Va., is in the Job Corps. A smoker for five years, he consumes two packs a day of Camel nonfilters - when he can afford to buy his own. Otherwise, he smokes what he can gerall, thin, with dyed-black hair and a single twistedhair-and-hemp dreadlock hanging over one ear, Bill is wearing camouflaged Army issue utility pants and Army boots. He'll proudly show you the fist-sized tattoo of Satan on one of his shoulder blades, but he says he's no satanist. In fact, he loves God. Keith Chatelain, 17, from Philadelphia, has been smoking Newports at the rate of half a pack a day for almost five years. For a kid who says he was kicked out of his house at age 13, he was dressed pretty conservatively: green Boss jeans, a striped T-shirt and Vans shoes. Alley, Bill and Keith had never met until yesterday, when they were rounded up at random by a reporter and asked to talk about the bad habit they had in common. You know you're not supposed to smoke. You've seen all ads. Do you think that any kids are prevented from smoking by them? No. Maybe. I think it, like, makes them want to smoke and stuff. You have people who are going to smoke and people who aren't going to smoke. Bill, what do you think about Joe Camel? Joe Camel's my hero. I don't smoke Camels, but he's Keith? He's the coolest guy in the world. Why? Because everybody puts him down and he still stands up and says [flashing the longest finger of each hand], "Right there!" Bill, how did you get started smoking? Well, it was kind of my dad's fault. He thought I was smoking and he made me sit down and smoke a pack of cigarettes. I got sick from it and after that he said it was all right. I thought, 'Yeah, I'm cool now. I can smoke.' So I just, like, picked up the habit. I've been smoking ever since. Have you tried to quit? I always think about it. I wake up every morning and say, 'Gee. I want to quit' - then I go outside and light up a cigarette. How did you start, Alley? Basically, I had moved out of my parents' house and I was going to college and I was pretty much in control of my entire life. I was taking care of my responsibilities. This power and authority over myself began to frighten me, and I looked for something I would have a fixation to, an addiction to, if you will, and I chose smoking. And I like it mostly, because (stealing a puff of Bethany X's cigarette and exhaling so the smoke flowed slowly from her mouth) the smoke is just so cool. Would you recommend smoking to your friends? Some of my friends, yes. Some of my friends, no. Most of my friends smoke. I wouldn't recommend it to someone unless they had a reason to want to smoke. It's not like hang gliding - 'Yeah, it's a rush, go do it.' Keith, when did you start smoking? When I was about 12. Why? Like, everyone in my family smoked and my sister started smoking and so I just started smoking with her. You guys know all about the health problems? Alley? Oh, it's very bad for you. Bill? I don't really think there's anything wrong with smoking. You don't? No. It doesn't really do anything now, but in the long run I'm gonna be dying and saying, "Damn, I wish I didn't smoke.", Do you think you'll smoke forever? No, I hope to quit sometime soon. Keith? I'm addicted now. You think you're addicted, Alley? At this point I am working on getting off addiction. I tried to quit a couple of months ago. I was down to three cigarettes a day and I was sick. My nose was running. I was hacking away. And it just didn't work. So now I'm just cutting out slowly. I've got two months before boot camp, when I won't be able to smoke a cigarette for three months. Bill, if you had kids, what would you say to them about smoking? If they're over 18, there's not much I can say to them. But if they're not, I'm going to make sure they don't while I'm around them. If I can't see something, then I can't prevent it. But if I, like, happen to drive by and see them, I'm definitely gonna stop and give them some problems. Keith? I think I'll do like my mom did, like not worry about it. Like, if you want to smoke, that's your own decision, you understand? Alley, if the rest of society didn't care if you smoked or not, would you still be smoking? I don't do it on account of society. I do it for myself.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!87dN!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb7c2e32-4963-4f25-b7d8-457cf31396ed_860x1529.jpeg "CLOSE ENCOUNTERS Some teens believe they can quit smoking whenever they want to. Others admit that they're addicted. pretty cool. Young dropouts make cigarettes part of their lives By Bill Steigerwald Post-Gazette Staff Writer They are under 18 and they inhale. A lot. Smoking is an important part of their young lives. One, two packs a day. Whatever they can afford, whatever they can mooch. Alley, Bill and Keith are part of a growing demographic subset in Pennsylvania - kids between 10 and 18 who, despite the warnings and lamentations of all the authorities, are apparently increasing their intake of cigarettes. But they are not your ordinary mildly rebellious teens. Closer in lifestyle to homeless people than to the usual mall rat, they are worldly and street wise beyond their vears. They each dropped out of high school, left their parents' homes or both years ago. Today, they live on their own in and around Oakland, where they were loafing yesterday afternoon on the sidewalk outside the Beehive coffee house, where nicotine and caffeine are the legal drugs of choice. Alley (Allison) Freed, 17, of Oakland, smokes a pack or two a day of Camel Filters or Marlboros. An Allderdice dropout three years ago, she plans to be in the Marine Corps two months from now. She's wearing a red, white and blue T-shirt that says, \"These Colors Don't Run - Support U.S. Troops.\" And her reddish hair is cut short enough to please a Marine drill sergeant. But her seven rings and her pair of hemp necklaces will have to go when she heads for three months of boot camp at Parris Island. So will her two-year smoking habit. Bill Ueltschy, 17, a native of Wheeling, W.Va., is in the Job Corps. A smoker for five years, he consumes two packs a day of Camel nonfilters - when he can afford to buy his own. Otherwise, he smokes what he can gerall, thin, with dyed-black hair and a single twistedhair-and-hemp dreadlock hanging over one ear, Bill is wearing camouflaged Army issue utility pants and Army boots. He'll proudly show you the fist-sized tattoo of Satan on one of his shoulder blades, but he says he's no satanist. In fact, he loves God. Keith Chatelain, 17, from Philadelphia, has been smoking Newports at the rate of half a pack a day for almost five years. For a kid who says he was kicked out of his house at age 13, he was dressed pretty conservatively: green Boss jeans, a striped T-shirt and Vans shoes. Alley, Bill and Keith had never met until yesterday, when they were rounded up at random by a reporter and asked to talk about the bad habit they had in common. You know you're not supposed to smoke. You've seen all ads. Do you think that any kids are prevented from smoking by them? No. Maybe. I think it, like, makes them want to smoke and stuff. You have people who are going to smoke and people who aren't going to smoke. Bill, what do you think about Joe Camel? Joe Camel's my hero. I don't smoke Camels, but he's Keith? He's the coolest guy in the world. Why? Because everybody puts him down and he still stands up and says [flashing the longest finger of each hand], \"Right there!\" Bill, how did you get started smoking? Well, it was kind of my dad's fault. He thought I was smoking and he made me sit down and smoke a pack of cigarettes. I got sick from it and after that he said it was all right. I thought, 'Yeah, I'm cool now. I can smoke.' So I just, like, picked up the habit. I've been smoking ever since. Have you tried to quit? I always think about it. I wake up every morning and say, 'Gee. I want to quit' - then I go outside and light up a cigarette. How did you start, Alley? Basically, I had moved out of my parents' house and I was going to college and I was pretty much in control of my entire life. I was taking care of my responsibilities. This power and authority over myself began to frighten me, and I looked for something I would have a fixation to, an addiction to, if you will, and I chose smoking. And I like it mostly, because (stealing a puff of Bethany X's cigarette and exhaling so the smoke flowed slowly from her mouth) the smoke is just so cool. Would you recommend smoking to your friends? Some of my friends, yes. Some of my friends, no. Most of my friends smoke. I wouldn't recommend it to someone unless they had a reason to want to smoke. It's not like hang gliding - 'Yeah, it's a rush, go do it.' Keith, when did you start smoking? When I was about 12. Why? Like, everyone in my family smoked and my sister started smoking and so I just started smoking with her. You guys know all about the health problems? Alley? Oh, it's very bad for you. Bill? I don't really think there's anything wrong with smoking. You don't? No. It doesn't really do anything now, but in the long run I'm gonna be dying and saying, \"Damn, I wish I didn't smoke.\", Do you think you'll smoke forever? No, I hope to quit sometime soon. Keith? I'm addicted now. You think you're addicted, Alley? At this point I am working on getting off addiction. I tried to quit a couple of months ago. I was down to three cigarettes a day and I was sick. My nose was running. I was hacking away. And it just didn't work. So now I'm just cutting out slowly. I've got two months before boot camp, when I won't be able to smoke a cigarette for three months. Bill, if you had kids, what would you say to them about smoking? If they're over 18, there's not much I can say to them. But if they're not, I'm going to make sure they don't while I'm around them. If I can't see something, then I can't prevent it. But if I, like, happen to drive by and see them, I'm definitely gonna stop and give them some problems. Keith? I think I'll do like my mom did, like not worry about it. Like, if you want to smoke, that's your own decision, you understand? Alley, if the rest of society didn't care if you smoked or not, would you still be smoking? I don't do it on account of society. I do it for myself.")
Interrogating three young smokers
The PG' feature, 'Close Encounters,' which was designed to put reporters in places they'd ordinarily never go, was a good way to create stories that otherwise would never be written.
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