On Quitting Smoking
When He visited me back in late August, He told me to quit smoking on day 2. I remained rebellious and did not obey His wishes.
After returning to Hong Kong from my half-assed three day preaching in mainland China Jonah style, I went over to Macau and took a break to observe Sabbath. I played some poker at the venetian casino and tripled my stack within half an hour, but the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. I decided to leave after about an hour since I mistakenly thought the casino climate control department would have mercy on ignorant tourists who made the strategic mistake of walking in with a T-shirt - I caught a cold basically. I thanked the Lord for the small winnings that covered the cost of travel, hotel and food, and called it a night.
I went for a breakfast the next morning, bought a new pack of cigarettes at a nearby shop, and noticed the cost was nearly 1/3 compared to Hong Kong. I bought two cartons at the duty free store after exiting the border in Macau, since that’s the amount we would always bring for my heavy-smoking biological father every time we travel home from Hong Kong.
The officers at the Hong Kong border warmly welcomed my arrival and directed me towards the scanner shortly before realising they have catch of the day. Evidently the limit of cigarette imports on the other direction is 19 cigarettes and I was over the limit by 404 cigarettes. Two officers escorted me over to the search area and one of them started chatting to me whilst the other officer went through my luggage. I alerted them in advance that I may have approximately 7 or 8 bibles in my luggage, which evidently was a rather intriguing area of discussion the officers would like to explore. I gave my detailed account of recent events including my mission in mainland China in native cantonese as the officers ran a thorough background check on my Caribbean passport. The officer who kept me entertained for nearly two hours informed me that he went to a catholic school and I explained to him why I consider catholicism to be misguided. My choice of adjective did not upgrade to “wrong” until later on in the trip.
There was also a strip search and I hesitated for approximately 3 seconds before taking off my underwear, mainly for the benefit of the officers since I sensed discomfort from their body language, unlike me who spent three months running ethernet cables on a gay/bi naturist campsite.
Their colleagues stood up from their cubicles to look at me once I made a generous donation to the Hong Kong customs department for violating the cigarette import limits. I thank the Lord for them deciding not to prosecute. I’m pretty sure they have a story to share with their friends and family later.
The fine is a tiny bit steep considering my current financial circumstances, but could we really put a price on the salvation of a soul?
