Status Updates From Books v. Cigarettes

I wanted to read this one for its intriguing title. Everything was good until I started reading the last essay in it. Every line I read and the only word that came out was horrible. How can a teacher be like this? The detailing of the rooms, school and food, ugh! How can it be so squalid? Just reading it is giving me the creeps. How can one live in a place like this?