Keeping Up With Jonesy

Billy was looking for Veronika. He found her reading a book on the windowsill. She looked up when he came into the room.

"Veronika," Billy said, "I need your advice.

Veronika put her book down and was ready to listen. Billy could tell that Veronika was paying attention, so he explained his problem.

"I have this friend at the playground," Billy began. "His name is Jonesy. He's fun and very popular."

"It's good to have friends," Veronika said, nodding.

"The problem is," Billy went on, "today Jonesy reached into his pocket and brought out a package of little stick-like things. He said they were called cigarettes (SIG-ah-rets)."

Veronika's tried to make her eyes widen even more than usual, which is a lot, because her eyes don't close, but they also don't move, so she gave up. "Does Jonesy smoke?" she asked.

"I guess," Billy said. "I think that's what he said he does with them. He said it was really cool to use them. He offered me one, but I wasn't sure, so I said no thanks. I wanted to talk to you about it first."

"That was wise of you, Billy," Veronika said.

"I'm not sure it was wise, exactly," Billy said. "I just had sort of a bad feeling about how careful he was not to let anyone see what he had. If he didn't want any of the grownup dolls at the playground to see what he had, maybe it wasn't really a good thing."

"It's good you noticed that, and that it made you wary," Veronika insisted. "I'll tell you why Jonesy was so careful to hide the cigarettes from the grownups."

Billy listened intently, because he really wanted to know.

"Grownup dolls know that cigarettes are made from something called tobacco (tuh-BAK-oh). Smoking them, or using tobacco in any form, can make a human person addicted (ah-DIK-ted). That means they can't stop doing it, even if it makes them sick, which it often does, but maybe not right away. Then they want to stop, but they can't."

"But I'm a doll," Billy said. "Jonesy said it couldn't hurt me."

"Maybe it can't make YOU sick," Veronika agreed, "but the smoke can get into your vinyl, inside and out, and you will smell like old tobacco smoke. You will smell like that forever unless someone cleans you inside and out, and that isn't easy. It can take a long time; days or even months. That's why people who sell their dolls online say if they come from what they call a 'smoke-free home.'"

"You can't play during the time you're having the stink removed," Veronika continued, "because they have to take you apart to get to your insides. Your parts have to sit in one place in a box for the whole time filled with and covered with cat litter."

"Ewww!" Billy said, turning up his nose in disgust.

"Not USED cat litter, Billy," Veronika laughed. "New cat litter, or something else to get the smell out." Then she looked serious again. "The point is," she went on, "no one will come to play with you. After all that, your vinyl may still smell so bad no one wants to be around you. Some dolls that smell like old tobacco smoke end up in the trash can, because it's so much trouble to get rid of the smell."
"I don't think I would like that," Billy said, "but I want to be cool, like Jonesy."

"You ARE cool, Billy," Veronika assured him. "You don't need to do dangerous or silly things just to seem cool to others."

"I'm cool?" Billy asked.

"Yes," Veronika said, "and you're too cool to do what someone else does, just because that person wants you to think it's cool."

"What if," Veronika went on thoughtfully, "what if Jonesy said it makes you cool to go to school wearing a sock over your head?"

Billy thought about that. "Maybe not cool," he said.

"What if Jonesy eats his lunch standing on his head?" Veronika asked. "Would you do that, too?"
Billy pictured that in his mind. "That would take a lot of pretending," he said.

Veronika thought for a moment. Then she came up with another example. "If Jonesy said it was cool to throw rocks at a building," she asked, "would you do that?"

Billy didn't have to think about that one. "No!" he exclaimed. "We might break something! Breaking something that doesn't belong to you is wrong!"

"Or suppose," Veronika went on, "Jonesy wore his long-sleeved shirt under his short-sleeved shirt and his shorts over his jeans. Would you do that just because he did?"

Billy shook his head. "That would look silly! So why," he asked then, "would Jonesy want me to smoke, if it isn't really cool?"

"I don't know for sure," Veronika admitted, "but some children like to see if they can get others to do things they wouldn't normally do. Maybe they secretly want to get that child or doll in trouble, or it makes them feel powerful to control others. Maybe they just want you to think THEY are cool."

"That doesn't sound cool," Billy said.

"No, Billy," Veronika agreed. "Not cool at all!"

"Maybe Jonesy isn't all that cool after all," Billy said.

"You can still be his friend, Billy," Veronika said. "You can set a good example for him, the way you do for real children. Now let's have lunch."

"But let's not stand on our heads," Billy said, and they both laughed.


Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

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