The Childhood Mistake that Ruined My Modeling Career
21 May 2026 • by Bob • Health, History, Humor
It seems hard to believe in today's world, but there was a time when television commercials proudly proclaimed that "four out of five doctors recommend [some brand of cigarette] to their patients who smoke" or some other such nonsense.
The tobacco industry had a major hold on the popular American psyche, and for decades they did everything they could to preserve their deception. Part of the tobacco industry's stranglehold on American health was the fact that cigarette lighters in cars were ubiquitous in every vehicle that shipped from Detroit's massive automobile factories. In addition to causing innumerable cancer deaths (including my father's), these cigarette lighters were also responsible for untold numbers of injuries and myriad acts of vandalism.
This brief walk down memory lane reminds me of a story: I have a circular scar on the right side of my face where my older brother burned my face with the cigarette lighter from a car. He was around five years old at the time and I was three. Our parents left us alone in the car for a few minutes, and my brother started burning little holes in all the car seats when he thought, "Hey! I have a little brother! Burning little holes in him would be WAY more fun!"
And with that single act, my brother's momentary lapse of adolescent judgment ruined my modeling career before it had a chance to begin.
POSTSCRIPT:
Most people who see the scar on my face think it's a leftover from the smallpox vaccine. They're generally pretty horrified when I explain what it really is.