it`s a waste

 “If you want a cigarette,” I said, pushing the pack toward her, “take one. When you drag mine down a quarter of an inch that way, I finish the cigarette unsatisfied because I didn’t have the exact ration of smoke I’m accustomed to. Then, because I feel gypped out of a quarter inch, I light another one, only to find that an entire cigarette, smoked too soon after the one I just finished, is too much. I butt it, replace it in the pack, and when I finally get around to lighting the butt the next time I want a smoke, it tastes too strong and it still isn’t a regular-length smoke. If I throw the butt away, with only a couple of drags gone, it’s a waste,

Fra The Burnt Orange Heresy av Charles Willeford.