I get second glances from other drivers in traffic.
Odd looks
- Thread starter Devilpup
- Start date
I get looks from children when they see my pipe. I think most children today have never seen a pipe smoker. I have been stopped by the police when I was a young long haired hippie, and they would straight out ask what I was smoking. They were honest and considerate with me so I was honest and considerate with them and we both went on our way happily ever after.
I smoke on the way home from the office everyday. I get some curious looks here and there at traffic lights. Aside from that never really gotten any comments. My coworkers at the office see me walk out every afternoon with a pipe and light up in my truck before I take off. They don't think much of it.
I used to get, not just looks, but ACCUSATIONS of smoking pot when I was in the Air Force and on base. You'd think the military would have a better clue than that! Fortunately, I retired from there in 1999, so nobody seems to bother me any more.
The other day while stopped at an intersection I looked over to see another early 30s pipe smoker next to me. He tipped his pipe and I tipped mine to him. But generally I also get some strange looks from other people. I'm sure it makes for an interesting conversation on the remainder of their travels.
- Thread starter
- #26
To explain a little its usually the younger people, I live in a very liberal college town with around 35,000 students. The two times the police stopped me was because someone was driving by and called. It may also have to do with the fact the longest my hair has been in over a year was a three day old zero.
I got some yesterday, enjoying a bowl in my lunch break yesterday.
There was a gap in the rain, and I found a nice spot (on observatory hill, for thems who know Sydney), plently of curious glances.
And some pretty girls stopped to say hello, so all in all not a problem!
There was a gap in the rain, and I found a nice spot (on observatory hill, for thems who know Sydney), plently of curious glances.
And some pretty girls stopped to say hello, so all in all not a problem!
I usually smoke while driving. The first few days I noticed people giving me funny looks, but after a few days I felt less self concerned about it and quit paying attention.
You know what's kinda weird? Last Friday I went to a local tobacconist, perished their bulk offerings and said, "I think I'll try and ounce of your 'English Luxury', please."
And he looked at me, looked at the tobacco, looked back at me and gave me this "you don't want THAT" look and said, "this is an English blend. Pretty strong, only REAL pipe smokers really like that one..." and he let it just trail off, clearly suggesting I should pick something else.
It is the weirdest look I've gotten so far. And such an odd situation. Blew my mind.
And he looked at me, looked at the tobacco, looked back at me and gave me this "you don't want THAT" look and said, "this is an English blend. Pretty strong, only REAL pipe smokers really like that one..." and he let it just trail off, clearly suggesting I should pick something else.
It is the weirdest look I've gotten so far. And such an odd situation. Blew my mind.
The most irritating encounters I have had, are with "know it all" B&M employees. They don't know squat, and assume they can BS their way through a question because they assume I don't know as much as they do. I had one guy tell me when I enquired about their lack of Frog Morton,"We don't carry that imported stuff anymore because we don't trust the source. We only stock American bulk blends now." They wonder why I buy online.
I have the same problem with many B&M's as well. I was looking at one 'house blend' virginia, and had a whiff. I KNEW is was McClelland 2010 just by the katchup smell, same broken flakes et al. Dude was trying to convince me that it was blended in house. "Really? How did you press it?" Oh, that's just how raw tobacco leaf looks. What a dick. If you don't know, man up and say so.
- Thread starter
- #32
The only local B&M pipe shop around I refuse to go to because of his horrid prices, $25 for a small tin of frog morton and $9 an oz for a generic house english that I've had to add water to three times to rehydrate to get to a smokeable humidity.
Them there are Canadian prices!
Wow, I'm really feeling lucky to have an good pipe store. They had no problem telling me what house blends were as from McClelland and what was blended in house and even the contents of those blends. Most of the employees even admit they don't smoke pipes often, but the owner does. The shop/owner John B. Hayes was mentioned in a bio of Mark Tinsky as one of the first stores to carry his pipes in the early-80s.
I get looks, a lot of them. Typically it's someone saying "Oh, my dad/granddad/uncle/someone smoked a pipe, I've always loved the smell." I study Criminal Justice, and at my school, the Criminal Justice building is right beside the building where the police recruits for the Kentucky State Police train. The only bad looks I got were sitting beside said building with recruits present, and telling my friend (also a pipe smoker), "Hey, check this out, I just picked up a couple ounces of cherry-van, you want a bowl-full?"
"smoking a bowl" means a much different thing for non-pipe smoker 
Totally... I've lost track of how many times I am mentioning to my wife or whomever in public something about pipe smoking & I am saying something along the lines of: "So Bill only smoked one bowl but I had a couple.....""smoking a bowl" means a much different thing for non-pipe smoker
when I suddenly realize how it sounds & pause mid-sentence to peer around for people eavesdropping. Then I proceed with something like: "... bowls of PIPE TOBACCO. He had some CAPTAIN BLACK & I was smoking some SQUADRON LEADER PIPE TOBACCO...." 
I'm 26 and I get called "Gramps" a lot when any of my co-workers discover that I smoke a pipe. Doesn't really bother me, they just don't know what they're missing.
Today's generation is all about instant gratification. I suppose mine is, too (born in 68), but it seems worse now. I was lucky, though, growing up around my grandfather and a lot of his generation. They knew the importance of sometimes just slowing down and enjoying the moment.
Talk about instant gratification...I think it has been building since the 1960s. I know my dad (born in '56) is way more into instant gratification than me. He can't figure out why I would smoke a pipe or spend more than 2 minutes on a shave. My grandfather is the same way, can't sit down and enjoy anything, always on the next project.
It's also a personality thing, not just a generational thing.
