by gg3 » Tue 22 Mar 2005, 22:52:34
I smoke a pipe, and nothing else. It's one of life's great pleasures, right up there with chocolate, with a unique combination of sensual and contemplative elements. (No, I do not like "chocolate-flavored tobacco" or even tobacco-flavored chocolate!:-)
A pipe is one of those artifacts that is almost the antithesis of postmodernism; a simple shape in carved wood with a vulcanite stem, that lasts a lifetime and carries a lifetime of memories with it.
If you wonder why anyone would bother to take up a practice that is so out of step with the times, go into a decent tobacconist's shop and stick your nose in the various jars of pipe tobacco. Some might strike you as too spicy, or too sweet, but some will strike a chord that has a unique kind of resonance, much the same way as coffee drinkers feel when they stick their nose in a bag of their favorite freshly-ground beans.
I expect to have a decent amount of my preferred blends stashed away, and also have the means to grow some for personal consumption and trade. I don't expect to be able to get the homegrown to taste like what I smoke now, but in time I should be able to come up with something satisfactory.
I find cigarettes are stinky and I resent the major cigarette companies for having essentially turned tobacco into an "issue" to the extent that the backlash now threatens individual choice in the matter.
The poll question for this topic would have gotten more interesting data if it had been worded like this:
"Do you smoke? a) cigarettes, b) cigars, c) pipe, d) hookah, e) other, f) don't smoke and don't care either way, g) don't smoke and find it objectionable to be around."