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Can a Younger Crowd Sway the Masses?
Deadpool57
Apprentice
in The Lounge
Well...... Could they? Why does the stereotype that,"Old Men Smoke Pipes" have to be true? When I began, regularly, smoking out of my Dubliner; I was ridiculed and looked down upon. People would call you Sherlock or think that you are trying to be fancy (Not that I took the world's greatest detective's name as an insult!). God forbid I actually enjoyed what I smoked and it wasn't a cigarette.
The strangest thing has happened since those high school days; all ages/sexes want to smoke a pipe or at least try it now. We get so caught up in the "look" of how we are smoking that we forget to just take that moment out of our day, load a bowl, and relax. St. Louis, Missouri is an area that is few and far between with pipe smoker but one thing is certain; you are noticed, whether you want to be or not. Either by smell or by sight of your pipe; you arise the inquisitive minds of the young masses that have no clue what you are doing. Why would he/she be smoking a pipe? Do you inhale that? Is this different than cigarettes? Isn't that an old person thing? Wait....why is SHE smoking a pipe, only men do that... right? Wrong!!!!
Many of the inquisitive masses have questions but it stops there. They never get a chance to embrace the full culture. There is just not enough places for people to go! As some may know, in Missouri you are not allowed to smoke in a bar. You are excommunicated to the back deck to freeze your butt off in the cold or, if you are in a public place, you are jumped by some liberal wackjob because you are invading their safe place by taking their air and filling it with good aroma (happens quite frequently to me). You could go to cigar shop or remain at home but the cigar shops are too small and you don't really want people in your house. So how do you all combat these issues? How did you make your pipe community? What are the forward thoughts of bringing this thing, that we love, to the forefront of social acceptance? How can we sway the masses?
I'm just a 29 year old married man that likes smoking some good tobacco in comfort. But I feel that the comfortable places to go and be social, while smoking, is starting to diminish.
Comments
Anyway great article and as PappyJoe said a lot of it has to do with movies and the younger generation wanting to look cool because of seeing someone else doing it that they think is cool.
Funny how that works out.....I kind of hate Hollywood because they are always preaching anti gun and talking about gun violence yet watch most of their movies and what do you see? I just watched a Steven Seagal (Spelling?) movie and the writers don't even know what guns they are using, the woman said an AR is hooked up to that drone yet it sure looked like a bullpup maybe a styre.....LOL If they are going to use firearms in movies I sure wish they knew what they really had!! OK Off the topic, sorry, mind is wondering around again!
I live in the Midwest (Gary, Indiana) and after the closing of the Tinder Box at our local mall several years ago I have yet to happen upon another pipe smoker in my daily travel. I believe the only other time I found two or more pipe smokers gathered together in a single area was when visiting a Bluegrass Festival in the town of Earl Park, Indiana. The festival is a three day event held during the Labor day Week-end. And scattered among the musicians one could find a few cob smokers sitting around a campfire pickin' & grinnin'. But I wouldn't call them youngsters by any stretch of the imagination. My wife and I attend as many local Indiana Festivals and County Fairs as possible (weather permitting) throughout the year - and if there is anyone smoking a pipe at these events ... it's me. And like many above have mentioned, I'll experience everything from the stony-faced glare of the activist non-smoker to the occasional compliment from the curious as to what blend I'm smoking; sharing tales of a long departed family member who smoked a pipe. Making me feel like something of a museum antiquity. I'm still waiting with anticipation for that moment when I unexpectedly walk upon a fellow pipe smoker and we can exchange pleasantries and talk tobacco. I thought that possibility might come to fruition when a Cigar Bar recently opened in the area, complete with a large smoking lounge. But not a pipe smoker among them.
I hesitate to mention this, but, as a Sanders supporter and somebody who is pretty far left,politically, it would be nice if we could refrain from insulting people and making generalizations about their politics ("liberal whackjob") based on isolated incidents. Anybody who thinks that the anti-tobacco movement has anything to do with political affiliation isn't paying attention. The 2009 federal tobacco restriction bill passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. It passed the House 298-112, passed the Senate (with amendment) 79-17, and the amended version passed the House 307-97. That shows support on both sides of the aisle.
one direction before it starts swinging back to the other side."
I just can't see public smoking ever making a come back. I'd be more concerned with you employer and their health care provider going no smoking than I would be about the government. You'd be surprised how many liberals are big time collectors in the real world hobby.
Each new generation has a tendency to pull away from styles and traditions of the generation before them almost as a right of passage, and a proclamation that 'their' time has come. So what may have been cool for their parents' generation is now by default uncool for theirs. And to many from both Generation X and the New Millennials, Pipe smoking represents a 50s' & 60s' bygone era associated with "Father Knows Best", "Leave It To Beaver", and Hugh Hefner & "Playboy After Dark".
Movies like "The Lord Of The Rings" may have sparked a bit of interest in churchwarden pipes smoked by wizards, warriors, and little people - but no one in the audience was influenced enough to become a Hobbit and adapt their lifestyle. So for members of this generation wanting to join the smoking community - while still independently disassociating themselves from the trends of the past - did so by putting their own spin on the smoking experience with Vapor E-Cigarettes and a variety of new Vaping Delivery Systems. These are the new pipe smokers of the 21st. Century.
But who knows what's the next trend in these crazy days before the zombie apocalypse. Possibly some paparazzi will snap a few shots of a mega-trend setting celebrity smoking a pipe in public, which in tern sparks a true resurgence in pipe smoking as devoted followers flock to the nearest tobacco shop to purchase the latest Lady Gaga pipe creation.
I'd like to think that we can all speak our minds here even politically, without making someone feel that they don't want to continue to participate.
I can remember back when I was a kid, the folks with money voted Republican, and the working class always voted Democrat. Nowdays, things are really twisted, and it's hard to vote a straight ticket. You just have to vote your conscience. Besides, I have always felt that everyone should vote based on how the issues affect them personally.
As for the younger crowd, I think that the type person who takes up pipe smoking, and continues to enjoy a pipe for years, are the type folks who have an anachronistic nature. The type person, who would rather do some things the old fashioned way, just for the sake of the experience. The type that will cook fresh venison in a Dutch oven over an open fire, that they took with a muzzleloader or bow.
I remember a couple years ago, I struck up a conversation with a female, who explained to me that she would really like to quit smoking cigarettes. I replied that she should try smoking cigars, because she could enjoy one from time to time, without having to have one every 30 to 45 minutes. She replied that she wasn't sure how she would look smoking cigars. I was a gentleman, and didn't reply that she would look a heck of a lot better than she does smoking cigarettes.
That's just it, the type person who cares what other people think, will never make a pipe smoker. It's one of those things in life, where if I have to explain, you wouldn't understand, because the true pipe smoker cannot be recruited.
It can have its challenges though. I, also, am a 29 y/o smoker and haven't exactly had an easy time finding places friendly to smokers. When I do smoke my pipe in public, every now and then I get confused looks or a comment about my age and its suitability to pipe smoking (it invariably includes the phrase "old man"). When I actually get genuine questions or interest in my hobby I really enjoy explaining why I like it, how I started, differences in pipe and cigarette tobacco, etc.
But, I have faith that our once prominent pastime will gain prominence again, even if not to what it once was.
As I have said many times, including in this forum, the intransigence of Big Tobacco is a huge factor in the anti-smoking thing. If they had followed the line taken by the liquor companies - it's an adult product, there are risks, use carefully - I think there would be a different atmosphere.
The whole thing about marijuana is a long time coming. The "War on Drugs" was never about health risks.
There are,without a doubt, health risks associated with heroin, cocaine,and some of these other drugs, and there can be major problems with abuse. The same thing can be said of alcohol,which is legal, although purchase is restricted by age, and socially acceptable. If we legalized these drugs, regulated sales at least as tightly as we do alcohol, we could treat abuse as a pubic health issue, just as we do alcohol.