Actually, now that I think of it, it'd be pretty funny if Shamir was like one of those overly talkative taxi drivers... 
"Those mints, I stayed off of 'em for 'bout two years, but it was just too hard! I had a coupla relapses, and everytime I told myself that it was the last time, but...*sigh*...once you've had that minty freshness, you're ruined for life!"