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Oscar Wilde, a man known for happily talking about his enjoyment of various mischiefs until he talked too much and found himself in prison, once said that, of all possible memories, there was none so unfortunate as the memory of a temptation that one had resisted. The truly good memories came from where one was tempted and enjoyed it instead.
Of course, taking such advice from a man who ended up in prison for it is like taking advice on how to drive from a man with a badly-dented car.
But in any case, I am no better at resisting temptation than anyone else. If there is something that I enjoy that I know has short-term benefits but not very good long-term consequences, the only way to make me enjoy it in moderation is not to put it right in front of me. I will eat a whole chocolate bar. I will eat a whole bag of Cheetos. It's not that I set out to do so ... but you know, once started, why not just one more square of the chocolate, one more solitary Cheeto? It's wafer thin! Oh, and look, there's not much left in the bag or the wrapper now ... that last little bit isn't worth keeping, might as well finish it.
*burp*
The fellow in the cubicle next to me loves to chew gum. Fortunately he's not a lip-smacker or a bubble-blower, or I'd be forced to kill him. Since he's not, we live together in harmony. He occasionally offers me a stick of gum, which sometimes I accept and sometimes I decline. He's said, "You know, any time you want a stick, just take one."
Very kind of him.
He's not in the office this afternoon: he won tickets to a Los Angeles Dodgers game in a raffle we had at work earlier in the month, so naturally he also got complimentary time off to go see the game. He won't be back today. I can see into his cubicle, and there on his desk is a pack of cinnamon gum.
I was tempted. So I reached over and picked it up ... and discovered that there was one solitary stick of gum left in the pack.
Now I know he said, "Take a stick any time", but I can't bring myself to take his very last stick of gum, not when he's not here and would come back tomorrow to find, "Hey, where did my pack of gum go?". I mean, I'm not going to take the last stick and then leave the empty pack on his desk so that he can validate the source of his gumlessness.
So I put it back down again and didn't take it. But I can see it from where I'm sitting. And I'm tempted. Oh, am I tempted. I can taste that gum, sweet and hot on my cinnamon-parched tongue.
*throws the gum in a desk drawer out of sight* There, much better.
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I think my wings are to the point were I might be able to get away with them. They look papery, but not too bad. 