The Smoker

It's already banned in restaurants in TN. Bars can have smoking only if you have to be 21 to get in (i.e. an establish which functions solely as a bar).

I don't miss the sting of smoke in the eyes or the stink of it clinging to my clothes and hair after I leave.

tattoo

When I was younger, I thought that I might get a tattoo, but when I look back on what interests I've had over the years--or what sayings have been important to me--I see that I've grown away from all of them.

Karen Kingston, a Feng Shui practitioner, said that at one point in her life, she wore almost nothing but purple. She linked it to the spiritual transformation she was working on at the time. But when she was done, she got rid of the purple and doesn't wear it much anymore. She has "internalized" the power of it.

I feel that's true of the symbols and phrases which represent me at any given time. While I may really be into X at the moment, I will eventually internalize the message that I'm sending myself, and I won't need an exterior reminder of it.

And I certainly don't want to end up like the Jewish convert I know who has a cross tattooed on his leg. He can't afford to remove it, and yet inking over it is a violation of Jewish law (you are not allowed to get tattoos, or scar yourself, or otherwise mutilate the body on purpose).

But what if a tattoo was short-term? What if I only kept one for as long as I kept an interest in X?

I still don't think I would get one--not even a painless temporary tattoo. I just don't think they're attractive on the body. And even if they're growing in popularity, people still make judgments about people who have tattoos.

A dug-out in the trench. They are usually about 25 feet deep and have two rooms beneath

A rabbi once described people's personal battles between their good and evil inclinations as WWI trench warfare. If people move their trenches, it's usually only a few feet one way or the other.

But some people do make a breakthrough and completely change. (http://news.yahoo.com/reformed-skinhead-endures-agony-remove-tattoos-162205881.html)

So yes, it's possible for every person to change--whether that's a small amount or a complete 180.

The only thing you can't do is change someone else.