Times and Places / Emily Hahn

 Word Count: 224

Parker Greene

From Times and Places by Emily Hahn

" This was because I was an addict. I admitted it now, and was pleased that I could feel detached. We opium smokers, I reflected, are detached, and that is one of our advantages. We aren't troubled with unpleasant emotions. The alcoholic indulges in great bouts of weeping sentiment, but the smoker doesn't. " (pg. 351)

Emily Hahn was a traveler and said that she dreamed of being an opium addict one day. When Emily had first tried opium she was not ever told of any side effects or just how tough the drug was. Yet she still decided to just try it at the first offer without hesitation without thinking of the repercussions. Emily was never told much even after starting to smoke, but yet she has learned the hard way after becoming an addict. Emily talks about how being an addict of opium is actually a good thing, and most people would say otherwise. As seen in the quote above she talks about how being detached is a good thing because she is able to not be bothered by emotions or other basic human attachment. While she does talk about some of the negatives of being an opium addict, the way she talks about it seems to almost not care about the negatives.