A Single Traveller and Three Packs of Cigarettes

Well, this entry has to be (re)written in Chinese, but I don't have the writing pad here with me and I want to write it up now. So, that's it.

I've been thinking about smoking and travelling these days. It seems to me that their relationship is pretty intrinsic. What makes a person travel? Everybody travels for a different reason, for work, for leisure, to see something new, to forget something old. Or some people just travel for the sake of travelling. Going away in this case is already inside the travellers' blood.

Some may even say they travel for no particular reasons. It's also true though.

Now, let's go back to the reality: you could only bring in 60 cigarettes when you return to Hong Kong. I, of course as a habitual smoker, will buy 10 packs upon depature. And when I return, I could only (by law) bring back 3 (though every often I disobey the law, and honestly, laws are made to violate than to obey).

This means that I have to finish 7 packs in my trip. What if a traveller only goes out of town for 1 day. How is he supposed to smoke 7 packs in 1 day? Of course, you may say well, he has the choice not to buy any at the duty-free. True. But considering the reasonably low price of tabacco at the airport and the ridiculously over-priced ones out there in the market, a loyal and wise smoker will definitely buy some when they're at the borders.

Or maybe he has to discard some of the unsmoked cigarettes at his destination before he returns, in order not to get caught and penalized. Discarding things at the site of travelling always happens. How often we always bring stuff we don't really want at the home town and then discard them over there after use? And we always think there's not enough space in the suitcase and we don't really need them anymore. So, say goodbye to those disposable stuff. They're only disaposable when you travel, which means when you don't need to travel, they will always lurk in the shelf somewhere, waiting not to be used.

So, do I discard things this time? Well, I hope I have got rid of something in a metaphysical sense. But I'm not sure if I succeeded though. You won't know until you get back to your hometown and when your routine life resumes, you will know.

Though, I hope I did.

But, no matter what, those unsmoked cigarettes are by no means thrown away. For a smoker who risks bringing in more than 60 cigarettes upon immigration, the government should somehow reward them with a medal for the bravery. Do you think a person who plans to leave one day and still buys a full pack will still care about the law? It proves one thing though - he is a loyal smoking and regards smoking much more highly than obeying the law.

Even if someone is so stupid only to bring back 3 whole packs upon return, they will surely buy the taxed ones in the market after consumption. So, what's the point of enacting such a law? Addiction has been in all cultures for thousands of years - this cannot be changed.

What about a law that only allows returning travellers to bring back 30% of unhappy memories after travelling? This would definitely make HK a better place. But, you may ask, how could emotions be quantified? Cigarettes could, but the act joy of smoking couldn't. We buy cigarettes not because of the tabacco sticks themselves, but we buy also the moments of smoking. Cigarettes are not cigarettes if they're not smoked properly.

So, smokers returning from trips could be categorised as follows:

1. bring only 3 packs and 30% of unhappy memories
2. bring more than 3 packs and 30% of unhappy memories
3. bring only 3 packs and more than 30% of unhappy memories
4. bring more than 3 packs and more than 30% of unhappy memories

Which type are you?