Thank you all for being here

[Geesie]

It seems that less and less often I know people who enjoy smoking and drinking like we do here.

I'm not a smoker, so to speak. I smoke sometimes because I enjoy it. Cigarettes, cigars, pipe, hookah. I'm not a nicotine addict - at the most, I was up to a pack of cigarettes a month and a bowl a week. Now it's more like a pack a year and a bowl a month on average (since I'm in California, the opportunities are very low). I don't crave it. I don't stand out in the rain or cold to get a fix. I don't get cheap stuff just to satisfy a need. I take tobacco to enjoy it.

Most people I know don't believe it. Most people I know don't talk about smoking unless it's some "I'm quitting for the 15th time" thing. If I tell someone that I smoke occasionally for pleasure and not for addiction, a likely response in this day and age is "just keep telling yourself that you filthy addict. get your cancer away from me."

I drink. I enjoy drinking. I enjoy it like I enjoy eating - mixing and cooking are both wonderful art forms. The history and culture around brewing and distilling are fascinating. From monk-created brews to secret recipe herbal infusions, the subtleties and varieties of alcoholic drinks are matchless. I drink nearly every day but I very rarely drink to excess.

This also seems to be uncommon. As my friends have aged, their drinking seems to have gone from "college binge days" to "special holidays". In today's society in general there seems to be a general perception that if you drink frequently - even if not copiously - you have a problem.

I find it ironic perhaps, that this forum for people with old-fashioned tastes is more accepting of these "vices" than the so-called liberated modern world. Why have we lost this? Maybe it is because the acceptance of these activities also included acceptance of those who could not control themselves. But this is a terrible case of baby out with the bathwater. Our modern society likes to think of the 1950s (and earlier) as a time of repression but it's today's society that has lost so much self-control that they fear the slightest indulgence. The Golden Era seems to have embraced the notion of moderation in all things - even the "vices". For it isn't a vice if it isn't a habit, right?

Anyway, I'm just happy to be around people who enjoy the finer things in life, neo-prohibitionists be damned!

And I just got a new bottle of Noilly Prat, so here's a martini to you wonderful folks. Smoke something for me!

 

[James71]

My friend, I thought I was the only one.

Im 38 years old. Never smoked a cigarette in my life, but enjoy a cigar occasionally or a pipe by the fireside. Never smoked anything at all until I was 29. Im thinking about trying lucky strikes for a change.

I don't have an addictive nature I guess, because I seem to be able to enjoy it in moderation without ever needing it. I can go months without smoking anything and then take a cigar and a port and enjoy it immensely. Or I can smoke for a weekend with friends around a campfire and then go months without them.

I often wonder if the casual way I can approach these things is because I was relatively old when I took them up or whether its just in my nature to not be addicted.

One thing though. I only really smoke relatively high quality stuff. Im not addicted to the nicotine so I have no desire to smoke a gigantic packs of cheap cigarettes standing out in the rain. A tin of pipe tobacco or a pack of cigars can last me for months.

All things in moderation. Nothing in excess.

 

[shortbow]

Hats off to you guys. And like you say, hats off to this site. What your talking about is just a symptom of our increasingly intolerant world. The gracious and tolerant milieu of this place is very refreshing and something of a respite from a society gone quite mad.

 

[staggerwing]

You guys aren't alone. Ive been smoking for 30+ years. During that time, it's mostly been cigars - average two a month! I did go through a pipe-smoking stage where I smoked at least a bowl a night, but it only lasted for a year or so and I went back to the 2 per month cigar habit. Oh, and I probably smoked less than a pack of cigarettes in my lifetime.

I thoroughly enjoy my cigars, in fact if all goes according to plan I'll be lighting up in a couple of hours. But I don't crave it like an addict does. I smoke for enjoyment when I have an hour and a half to sit and contemplate my naval!

Best,
Staggerwing

 

[rmrdaddy]

Cheers and Long Ashes gents (and ladies of course should any chime in)!

 

[waffle]

Anyway, I'm just happy to be around people who enjoy the finer things in life... And I just got a new bottle of Noilly Prat, so here's a martini to you wonderful folks. Smoke something for me!

cheers!