Judas Reminiscing

Sometime in the near future...

I was a top level executive at a well known tobacco company, and I loved my job. You might think it's because I made a lot of money. Well, the money certainly wasn't bad; I didn't complain. Three houses. A few boats. A few cars that might have made you think I was having one hell of a mid-life crisis. But it wasn't about the money. I never really cared about the money.

Many people think I am a hypocrite; they call me Judas. That guy from college who always fought for causes. I picketed manufactured wars. I marched for environmental awareness. I even squatted outside a few major tobacco companies in my time. And then those same tobacco companies wooed me and offered me such power.

I entered at mid-level management and worked my way up the corporate ladder. I showed my loyalty and my work ethic. Intertwined myself with the good ole boys. Tenured myself, as it were. Married the daughter of a powerful tobacco executive. Had two kids. I'm divorced now. I cheated on my wife sometime during our fourteenth year of marriage. She's remarried. I see the kids every now and then. For holidays, mostly.

The rest of my family has nothing to do with me. The ones that are left. Dad died from heart failure. A three pack a day guy. Mom died from some kind of pulmonary disease. Never smoked in her life. I had three siblings. My oldest brother died from lung cancer at the age of 45. That was the last time I saw my two sisters. At that funeral. They didn't talk to me there. In fact they haven't spoken to me in 30 years. About when I started working at the tobacco company.

I have only a few friends remaining. All former executives of tobacco companies. Guys and girls I used to pal around with during my younger days. We're all out of the job now. Retired in our mid-50s. But not for the reason you might think. It's because tobacco companies went out of business a few years back. All of them, kaput. Tobacco is now as illegal as marijuana. And almost no one uses it.

How?

I was a chemistry major in college. Quite a talented one at that. And I devised a way to increase the carcinogenic levels in cigarettes. They got worse and worse for people. Leading to cancers and multiple pulmonary and heart diseases. As I reflect now, I probably did kill my brother. But he was a martyr for the cause. I eventually became the CEO of the tobacco company. In fact, I was the first of us.

Soon after being elevated to the position I ordered every 100th cigarette to have traces of a deadly poison that killed the smoker soon after inhaling the cigarette, at least within a day. It caused immediate heart failure, a not uncommon effect of smoking. My friends, those who also became senior executives in 'competing' tobacco companies, followed suit. People started dropping dead worldwide. No, not people. Smokers. Like my father and brother. No one ever figured it out. Well, some did. But too many agreed with us. They sat back and let it happen. Passive collusion at its best. A silent commentary on truth.

And if you have any doubts, just think of the benefits of our actions. Health care costs are now at an all time low. Insurance agencies, though still powerful, have declined from their once godly stature. And think about how many people we've saved. The right people. People like my mother.

I made a sacrifice. The best kind of sacrifice. And the world is better for it.