Yesterday, I watched an episode of "Friends" that reminded me of "Gimme a Break!" on two different levels. Before getting into the content of the episode, I think that I should explain the thumbtack in the title of this thread. Once upon a time, I posted a thread regarding an episode of "Ellen" that reminded me of "Samantha's Protest" on three different levels. I explained to the reader the three things that went on in this particular episode that reminded me of that "Gimme a Break!" episode. A fellow poster whom I had corresponded with in the past replied to this post with "a thumbtack could remind you of 'Samantha's Protest'"! This was a joking response in regards to all of the other posts that I had made in regards to that particular episode. I thought that this reply was kind of cute in an Alice Kramdon sort of way! In any event, this "Friends" episode is one more thumbtack that we can add to the batch! It seems that the character of Rachel (played by Jennifer Aniston) got a job with a top designer. She liked her new job a lot except for one thing. Her boss and a fellow worker who had been there longer than she had were both heavy smokers. When the two women would go on their cigarette break, they would discuss work-related issues and decide things related to the company. This made the non-smoking Rachel feel left out. Desperation to fit in caused her to attempt to take up smoking! She would attempt to puff away, but she was constantly coughing and feel miserable. In a later scene she was telling the members of her regular gang how frustrating the situation was. She said that it was like she was being punished for not having a disgusting habit! Hearing the word disgusting brought my mind right back to Julie's words of wisdom about the way that Katie had positioned her little arms at the protest in "Samantha's Protest"! On top of this, a year before "Samantha's Protest" we have the episode "Julie Smokes". Just like the "Friends" episode that I watched, this "Gimme a Break!" episode also had a very anti-smoking tone to it. They were both very influenced by political correctness. If you go to the second page of this section, you would come to a thread started by me called "Julie's Blouse". This thread is about a blouse that the chief found in Julie's room when he was looking for evidence that she had been smoking. This blouse had hand prints on the cloth that would fit over Julie's bosoms! Just thinking about it makes me feel giddy! I think that now is a good time to put the point that I am trying to make in a nutshell. Rachel was willing to resort to smoking in an attempt to get ahead in the world of work. Julie was willing to resort to smoking in an attempt to deal with middle sister syndrome as well as all of the other pain that goes with being a sixteen-year-old girl. The two episodes were made over a decade-and-a-half apart. The more the media changes the more it stays the same!