Vice Versa

No, that wasn't lighted. It must've amused my dad to see his son sort of following in his footsteps in the picture. But he kicked the habit years later. When I graduated from high school, I felt like trying it out. I must've smoked, what, about four cigarettes in my life? Students were allowed to smoke outdoors in our college then, and I felt that it was cool during the time. But my friend John prevented me from picking up and forming the habit.

My memory of it is hazy, but I think we were in one of those gazebos outside the school gymnasium just after our P.E. class. I think he wanted to borrow a pen from me, so I proceeded to clasp the contents of one of my bag pockets. Among the things that I took out were some technical pens and other art tools, a box of matches and two cigarettes, if I'm not mistaken.

John scowled at me and, concerned meddler that he is, took the cigarettes and tore them in half. He scolded me and told me about a relative with a respiratory ailment brought about by smoking. He lighted the matchsticks inside the box, threw it to the ground, and it quickly imploded. I just quietly whimpered, because I knew that he was right. Thank you for that timely intervention, John.

In recent years, a friend and a few relatives, some of whom were never active smokers, were diagnosed with lung cancer and related illnesses. Most of them didn't survive.

With many people getting stricken with painful and costly maladies lately, I've been thinking more about my mortality. I do have my vices... nah, nothing illegal, but I need to watch my diet. I need to eat healthier food. I need to exercise more. I wanna avoid the aggravation of reeling in pain and getting broke from some slow terminal disease.