I hanged out with my friend Vito last night: we met and we had a quick sandwich for dinner.
We got out of the sub sandwich shop and first thing he did after eating was counting change out of his pocket to buy cigarettes, when a guy approached us. We were in front of the cigarettes vending machine when we heard him speaking with an eastern accent: "You got a cigarette?". "That is good timing, smart fellow", I thought.
Vito was particularly slow managing to get that pack of cigarettes, so this guy started talking to us:
Guy: "You know, when you run out of cigarettes at night..."
Me, reflecting: "Who knows better than me..."
Guy: "I started my day with a hundred euros and now look at me, desperately asking you for a cigarette. Slot-machines slowly kill you"
I was about to say something when Vito stepped in:
Vito: "Why you still gambling? You know that's bad for you!"
Guy: "I know but it's not my fault, I can't help doing it, it's a disease!"
Vito: "Oh come on, if you know you're losing money why you keep doing it!?"
Guy: "Do you gamble?"
Vito: "No"
Guy: "You'd know if you did"
He left, annoyed by that conversation.
Vito was buying cigarettes, yet judging someone who suffered the same way he did. The only difference was that one of them knew, the other didn't.
