A strapping girl of fifteen, in the customary sunbonnet and calico dress, asked me if I used tobacco" – meaning did I chew it. I said no. It roused her scorn. She reported me to all the crowd, and said:
"Here is a boy seven years old who can't chew tobacco."
By the looks and comments which this produced I realized that I was a degraded object, and was cruelly
ashamed of myself. I determined to reform. But I only made myself sick; I was not able to learn to chew
tobacco. I learned to smoke fairly well, but that did not conciliate anybody and I remained a poor thing, and
characterless.