Steinbeck for a Ciggy

I met this dude, after 10 years. We studied chemical engineering in the same college.

Catching up with friends is a great thing, all of a sudden 30 year old men start talking like teenagers, old nicknames surface and embarrassing moments are relived. That's what you do, when you meet an old college friend after 10 years.

During the course of the evening, he looked at me and asked 'Do you remember, East of Eden?'. I said, "The Steinbeck book? Yeah, I found it too boring". He replied "No, do you remember the time when you sold that book to me for a cigarette back in college?'. I had no recollection. I must have done it being the impulsive guy that I am. He still has that book, carefully bound sitting in a shelf at his home in Norway, a constant reminder of how someone sold him a work of art for a song.

This left me thinking, 'Why did I do it? Was I that desperate?' I was a bit angry with myself..

10 year old reminders in the form of cult fiction is worth atleast 3 or 4 cigarettes and I settled for 1. Short changed!