Had this dream last night where I met up with a few NAFA classmates. One whom I'm very fond of (now in NS) told me that he's become a smoker. I started imploring him to quit. I remember yelling at him:

"Do you know what is Napthalene? It's what they use to make mothballs! Mothballs!!! And Formaldehyde? They use that to preserve dead bodies! You're breathing in those when you smoke!!!"

Then I put my arms around him and hugged him so hysterically that he gave up and exclaimed "OK OK! I'LL QUIT!!!!".

I woke up laughing at myself. I think it's my occupational hazard. Very bad. That's why people say ignorance is bliss, cos knowing the harmful effects of smoking can be a real bane sometimes.

Like yesterday during lunch, when we walked past a bin with a burning cigarette on top. I immediately thought of the unnecessary 2nd-hand smoke being released, picked it up and squashed the flame. Only later did my colleague point out that now I've got the smoker's saliva all over my fingers. Gross!!!

It doesn't help that efforts to dissuade young people from smoking are mostly futile. It's 'in', it looks cool, everyone is doing it, so why should youths really care? They feel invincible; can anyone blame them? It's a human weakness to see only the near future.

A previous class gathering ended with us loitering in an open-air carpark near Maxwell. We had 2 cars amongst us. One guy opened his car boot and distributed a few rows of contraband cigarettes wrapped in newspaper. I kept my mouth shut cos I knew nothing I said would matter; it would only distance this old auntie from them. At that point I was thinking how 'hilarious' it would be if cops swooped down and rounded us up.

The next day Lianhe Wan Bao would be screaming "Health Promotion Board Staff Caught With Contraband Cigerattes".

Labels: Cynic In The House