by GhostWriter

Created on: April 19, 2008   Last Updated: May 06, 2008

Holding my Credit Card in my hand, I was at the checkout counter in Walgreen's. While the sales clerk was scanning the items, I was checking the Cigarettes and the Tobacco Products wall behind him. So many different types of cigarettes and other tobacco products were sitting there with their regular and sale prices on. I was browsing and murmuring...Marlboro lights...Benson & Hedges, Pall Mall, Camel, More, Kool, Salem Lights ... and I started walking down the memory lane (a Sci-fi music in the background) ... when I was in my high school and my neighborhood friends decided to go for a puff just to explore the world of tobacco. We were busy puffing off a single cigarette, which was stolen, by one of our friends from his dad's cigarette pack.

Everybody was puffing and coughing then handing it over to the next guy-when I got my turn, the cigarette was almost finished, however, the passion to smoke was still full and high, so I grabbed the cig-stick between my fingers closed my eyes to protect it from the smoke and exhaled the fumes like some Private Eye. While I was enjoying the taste of paper, tobacco and the nicotine, I noticed the noises in my surrounding were abated actually everybody was on mute - at first, I thought they like my style and they don't want to disturb me but when I felt someone is trying to measure my neck or holding my collar, I tried to hold the hand tight and struggled to push it away from me but the hand was not some ordinary hand... very powerful and now it was trying to grab my right ear - something flashed and my Sixth Sense kicked got up - this is not one of my friends- then who is this... I opened my eyes and could not believe it was my father who saw me smoking with style- I was caught red-handed and expecting the ground to slide open and swallow me quickly but it never happened ...the ground actually stayed there to watch me getting humiliated in front of ...well, luckily, all of my buddies ran away when they saw my dad coming to catch me smoking and twist my ear. I got a good chiding at home- my pocket-money was cut-down to over 70%-entire family was so angry and disappointed. From that moment on, I decided not to touch any tobacco products for the rest of my life.

"Please swipe the card - You need the Cash Back- Sir?" - the clerk asked.

"No - thanks" I came out of my thoughts, nodded my head and swiped the card.
I grabbed the shopping bag, tossed it into my car trunk and drove away.

Though I have never been an smoker, tobacco products always fascinated me - Cigar Boxes, Cigarette Packs, boxes different types of color and the shapes of cigarettes, its smell - everything - technically it could make me a chain smoker but it didn't. I do not know if one my readers have also been to this situation where you know that it is a bad thing but you always found yourself a fan of that thing.

In my opinion as long as a cigarette is not lit, we should not have any issues with that but a lit one is definitely a ticket to the graveyard and a passport to Hell because in some cultures it is considered a sin.

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