They love to hate us!

[teotides]

Just got back from the casino down the street...not a winner unfortunately but still had a fine time. My friend just celebrated 4 years of sobriety this evening so I offered to buy him dinner and gave him one of my prized cigars (90' RP vintage). I was smoking a nice CAO Brazilia, half way through our smokes a casino security guard came up and said that a woman had complained about the smell of our gars. He said we were upsetting her and would have to extinguish them. I said I would gladly put it out if he wanted to pay me for the stogie and also ask the woman if she would extinguish her cigarette because it was ruining the aroma of my cigar. He looked at me stunned! I told him the stogie cost me 15 bucks, which obviously wasn't true, and I was spending money just like everyone else. He was just doing his job I realize but I felt pretty singled out. Several people around me chimed in saying that they actually enjoyed the smell of the cigars and would prefer that the woman put her cigarette out instead. He told us we could finish the stogies but if others complained he would have to enforce the snub. All and all it worked out because we ended up finishing the cigars but right before he walked off he said there were also complaints of profanity being used, not myself or my friend, but once again directed towards us. Whats the deal?! Cigar smokers are vulgar and offensive? Anyway, just a rant more than anything but thought you guys might get a kick out this. Keep on smoking

[gary106334]

Tell your friend [SIZE="7"]Contratulations[/SIZE]on be sober for that period of time. Fantastic and I hope it continues,

[teotides]

Thanks, I'll pass on the kudos

[icehog3]

Can't tell you how many times (before the Illinois smoking ban this year) I have had people chain-smoking Marlboros and Newports complain about the smell of my cigar. Clueless.

[gary106334]

Originally Posted by icehog3

Can't tell you how many times (before the Illinois smoking ban this year) I have had people chain-smoking Marlboros and Newports complain about the smell of my cigar. Clueless.

Unfortunately that is the way our society is heading. We shall go as the way of the Romans when but for a different reason,,,,,,,,,,,,,Well maybe different reason.

[Hermit]

[SIZE=4]Congratulations[/SIZE] on standing up and not putting out your smokes!!

[DonWeb]

In a local casino a while back.

I stopped in front of a poker machine.

A woman at an adjacent machine looked at me, saw the cigar, then pulled a mini-fan out of her purse and held it up to her face.

Understanding her need for pristine casino air, and showing care for her tiring arm - I removed the offending monte#2 away from her sensitivities.

(After I finished playing the bill)

[baddddmonkey]

No matter what my age was, being a little kid running around the casino's in Las Vegas when my parents took our family there, I always managed to go by a few older men who were smoking a stogie. Even as a kid I enjoyed that smell of a fine cigar.

I grew up with a bunch of smokers in my family, most smoked cigarettes and my grandpa smoked cigars. I should have been used to the smell of cigarettes though. I still can't stand them to this day.

But I definately do enjoy the smell of my cigar when I light one up.

[elderboy02]

Nicely handled!

[Jimbo14]

Originally Posted by teotides

I said I would gladly put it out if he wanted to pay me for the stogie and also ask the woman if she would extinguish her cigarette because it was ruining the aroma of my cigar. He looked at me stunned!

Very clever! I like it!

[macjoe53]

Did the casino have signs posted saying that cigar smoking was not allowed on premises?

Unless it did the security guard overstepped his boundaries by asking you to extinguish your smoke. He should have just told the woman that cigar smoking was allowed and that it wasn't within his authority to tell you to put it out.

(I have friends who work security in casinos and the can and do enforce the smoking ban in the areas where smoking is not permitted. Neither of the casinos they work in have outright smoking bans and both of them sell cigars.)

[ucla695]

You handled it very well! I experienced this years ago in a bar out here when they still allowed us to smoke in CA. There was a table of women who were chain smoking cigarettes and one of them approached me and asked that I put out my cigar because it was creating an awful stench. I must have had a look of disbelief on my face because she asked me what was wrong. I said that I lit it up to help cover the smell of their cigarettes and I would gladly put it out if they stopped smoking. Needless to say, I nubbed it.

[ActionAndy]

I honestly don't understand this crap. I'm not even talking about the pussification of American citizens and attitudes--that's a sociological fact that can be traced, even if I hate it.

Cigars genuinely don't smell that bad.* Even when I wasn't a cigar smoker--the first twenty two years of my life (I'm only twenty three)--I did not think cigars smelled that bad. Walking by a B&M was almost like walking by a candle store to me--it smelled a bit strong and different, but never BAD. And I could see why the people inside were digging it.

However, cigarettes have always smelled disgusting. And they always will. Everyone I know is shocked that I smoke cigars because I am so assiduously disgusted by the smell of cigarettes.

This reminds me of a George Carlin bit:

Think of how stupid the average person is and realize half of them are stupider than that.



*Good ones at least.

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by ActionAndy

Cigars genuinely don't smell that bad.* Even when I wasn't a cigar smoker--the first twenty two years of my life (I'm only twenty three)--I did not think cigars smelled that bad. Walking by a B&M was almost like walking by a candle store to me--it smelled a bit strong and different, but never BAD. And I could see why the people inside were digging it.

I couldn't agree more. When I was a kid I always enjoyed the smell of a cigar or pipe, and yet those are the two types of smoke commonly excluded from areas that allow cigarette smoking. I don't begrudge a business owner his right to control what goes on in his establishment, but I've always found it silly, even if cigars and pipes do give off more dense smoke.

This story also reminded me of something that happened to me a couple of years ago. A bunch of friends and I were in Ann Arbor to watch the Ohio State game at a local bar. After the game (which Michigan lost by 3), we went to another local campus bar that we had frequented in undergrad. I asked the hostess if we could smoke cigars and she said yes. We all sat down and lit up and 5 minutes later our waitress told us we weren't allowed to smoke cigars. I explained that the hostess had said we could, which the hostess admitted, but we were told we had to put them out anyway. Instead, we got up and left. Cost them a lot of money that night because we were thirsty. I will never go back to that bar.

[PerpetualNoob]

I think I would have pointed out to the complainer that all tobacco users are under assault, at least in most Western countries, and the people doing it don't distinguish between cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or chew. As far as they're concerned, it's all "evil" and must be crushed in any way possible. We need to be allies, not enemies.

We're seriously outnumbered as it is. Unfortunately, I think it's Alamo time, so let's not be shooting the people who are with us inside, even if some of them may deserve it. If even the smokers are complaining about the other smokers, it just makes it that much easier for business owners to ban all smoking, even when they don't have to, just to avoid the "why does he get to smoke, and I can't?" arguments. If you find someone else's habit nasty and disgusting, just remember they probably think the same about yours.

I hate being an "appeaser", and I would love nothing more than telling the Antis to get stuffed, but we're in the minority, and as much fun as it would be, it isn't a good idea.