Naples, Italy —

This is not a story of “Luxury Walking, Wining and Dining.” It is a story of greed and addiction and, believe it or not, it’s pretty amusing. Too good not to pass along really.

A friend of ours was recently on his way home from Capri and had an hour or so layover at the Naples train station. There, amidst the noise and grit, he was approached by a young man with a duffle bag full of cartons of every imaginable type of cigarette. Twenty Euros a carton or two for thirty. Hmmmm. Closer inspection revealed that these were not your typical Marlboro Lights but rather their Soviet siblings that fell off the back of a truck somewhere in Moscow.

Sin taxes are as high in Italy as anywhere, and our friend smokes, and he knows a lot of people who smoke, so a 70% savings seemed VERY attractive indeed. Also, every Italian knows that these sorts of items all find their way to Naples, and that this sort of activity is as close to legal in Naples as tossing a pizza in the air, so the math and the morals were pretty easily resolved. He only had 40 Euros and the guy didn’t have change, but he was a good-hearted soul so he threw in an extra carton instead. One more gift to give upon returning home and a bit of a story to tell.

So, somewhere between Bologna and Milan, he cracks the seal on his Ruskie smokes, wondering how stale they might be. Pretty stale indeed.

Gives new meaning to the expression “coffin nails.” Our friend is just happy he didn’t also purchase the 60 Euro iPhone he was offered a few moments later.

Live well and stay honest.