california habits die hard

Back on the West Coast a long time ago (it feels like), I preferred Malboro Reds.  I used to sneak out on my balcony like the little bad-ass I thought I was and suck one down as fast as I could before my parents caught on.  I liked them for a variety of reasons... the goosebumps that first inhale raised on my arms, the rich, satisfying trumpet of chemical smoke I'd exhale, and also the elegant label I never really knew how to pronounce.

Eventually I came off that 5 minute buzz of feeling like a forties Femme Fatale and realized how disgusting they actually tasted.  Alas, my smoking habit disappeared just like so many of my other short-lived hobbies.  

Funny though, I never liked American Spirits.  Obviously a walking sign for unfettered ADD, I hated how they burned far longer than my 3 minute attention span.  How ironic that here, in the city where cigarette breaks last about as long as a New York minute and the cigs are expected to burn just as fast, I found myself asking for that  familiar turquoise box last week.  

They taste softer, a little less grating on my throat--and they burn deliciously slow.  There aren't many excuses to stop completely in New York, but an American Spirit works just fine.  

-c