Sat on the table next to me on this windy wet day outside Coffee Bean are two girls, probably between fifteen and eighteen. The one with braces is showing the one without how to smoke a cigarette.
And so it begins.
The soundbites alone are pure cliche. I have heard these words uttered by my peers when I was the same age. And watching it at this age is fucking hillarious.
"Suck it in."
"You're not doing it properly!"
"Cough... cough... cough...! Ewww...!"
"Awesome, isn't it?"
"Don't tell anyone I took a puff."
"You light another one and I'll try another one."
"I don't want to get addicted."
"You won't. I've gone a week without it. It's easy."
"I feel like there's something in my throat that's stuck."
"Isn't it cool?"
"Ok, take a deep breath... now release...! Feels good, no?"
"COUGH! My breath stinks now!"
"It's ok, you're still young..."
The one with braces speaks with pure teenage confidence. You know the type I'm talking about - the fake confidence of youth, bordering on pomposity and arrogance.
The type of confidence you can get away with at that age.
God, this makes me feel old.
Another question has popped up in my head: why am I not stopping this? Am I bad for not stopping this? Am I not doing my duty as someone who's gone through the same thing and am now stuck on fifty sticks a day?
No. I'm watching kids growing up. And it's their choice. I know this confidence/arrogance. I know this scene. I've lived it, and I know that if some tubby fuck came up to me and started giving me the whole "when I was a lad" crap I'd give him a dose of that confidence. And if they're as stupid as me, well, tough titty.
But if catch my brother with a pack I'm kicking his ass.
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