Do not Support Scottish Tobacco in Atlanta

[phatmax]

I was in Scottish Tobacco yesterday on Piedmont Rd in Atlanta looking at pipes and tobacco. (getting back into it after a hiatus)

The owner is some sort of Middle Easterner and while I was there he was talking to two Macanudo reps about the increase in tobacco taxes.

They where all in agreement that the increases are dumb and are actually going to reduce the revenue that the government gets from tobacco products, as people will become priced out of their vice.

They looked at it as over-milking the cash cow until it died.

Then the owner pops off with, "well, I voted for Obama, but I did not think he was going to do this first thing. This is terrible for my business."

I was very tempted to point out this:

. TOBACCO TAX INCREASE: Senators on March 23, 2007, voted, 59-40, to raise the U.S. tax on a package of cigarettes from 39 cents to $1 and use the $20 billion in new revenue over five years to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). A yes vote was to raise tobacco taxes. (SCR 21)

McCain voted no. Obama voted yes.

So, well over a YEAR before the election, Obama voted in the Senate to increase taxes... It is a REAL SHAME that the owner of Scottish Tobacco did not do just a LITTLE research into what his candidate stood for and VOTED FOR, before the business owner voted on Nov. 4th.

So the business owner that voted for HOPE and CHANGE, got just that... His business is going to CHANGE because fewer patrons will come in, and he is going to be HOPING to stay in business.

His pipe tobacco was 4 bucks an ounce PLUS when I asked about the briar pipes and his selection, he started talking about how they are better the "joint pipes", like I wanted to smoke pot in them.

Needless to say, I am not going to give money for over-priced products to a person who by proxy voted to increase taxes on something I like doing.

Edwards Pipes on Piedmont is a cool place and nice folks, you should go there, if so inclined.

[Cypress]

I encourage this not to be a political debate as this is against our policy. Please make any responses respectfully.

4. Religious/Political Threads or Post

We are all mature adults but when dealing with these two subjects there will never be a good outcome, so for this reason Religious/Political discussions are NOT allowed. End of discussion.

[zitro_joe]

Okay...
I kind of feel like there is an underlying issue here. I see the title, I read the post but the message is all over the place

[zitro_joe]

Originally Posted by Cypress

I encourage this not to be a political debate as this is against our policy. Please make any responses respectfully.

4. Religious/Political Threads or Post

We are all mature adults but when dealing with these two subjects there will never be a good outcome, so for this reason Religious/Political discussions are NOT allowed. End of discussion.

Whew, glad that was settled early. There are several fuses in that message that can ignite some heated conversations.

[phatmax]

Originally Posted by Cypress

I encourage this not to be a political debate as this is against our policy. Please make any responses respectfully.

4. Religious/Political Threads or Post

We are all mature adults but when dealing with these two subjects there will never be a good outcome, so for this reason Religious/Political discussions are NOT allowed. End of discussion.

Sorry about that, can this get moved into the "Tobacco Legislation" sub-forum?

I thought that people would want to know that a business owner is helping to hurt our hobby/ lifestyle / life choice.

I do apologize and did not mean to start a ----storm.

BTW, is that you on your bike?

I ride an SV650 here in the Atlanta area.... Well, strike that, I AVOID Atlanta on my bike... that is like going bungee jumping over razor blades... might not get hurt, but not a good idea to start with.

[nizzer]

What does him being middle eastern have to do with anything???

And you basically are claiming that you do not want to shop there because he decided to vote in a manner that did not fully represent his interests. I find that hard to believe.

The only thing he did wrong was make a hint about using other materials in briar pipes.

I feel like the guy who wrote this is definitely trying to market the other local b&m by badmouthing one that is run by a tax paying fellow american.

BTW, I'm not trying to be disrespectful or make this political so if it seems like I am, I apologize.

[zitro_joe]

Originally Posted by nizzer

What does him being middle eastern have to do with anything???

Ditto... As soon as I read that the whole message lost credibility, to me. I feel that it was stated to incited a harsh reaction towards the shop he is attacking. Booooo!

[phatmax]

Originally Posted by nizzer

What does him being middle eastern have to do with anything???

And you basically are claiming that you do not want to shop there because he decided to vote in a manner that did not fully represent his interests. I find that hard to believe.

The only thing he did wrong was make a hint about using other materials in briar pipes.

I feel like the guy who wrote this is definitely trying to market the other local b&m by badmouthing one that is run by a tax paying fellow american.

BTW, I'm not trying to be disrespectful or make this political so if it seems like I am, I apologize.

Sorry I brought any sort of regional descent into this.

A: I was simply telling a story, if he was hugely fat, I would have said the hugely fat owner. *ETA: I was rather suprised that a Middle Easterner was running a place called "Scottish Tobacco" just thought it was part of the story*

B: I will not patronize a business that is counter to my personal beliefs. I would not patronize a motorcycle shop that supported HP limit legislation on motorcycles or increasing taxes on my hobby. Or if the owner of said shop supported a legislator that did.

C: I was down on Piedmont doing work and there are actually 3 shops within 3 miles of each other and I had not been to any of them and visited them all. I really liked Edwards, and I am not being a shill for them. It was a real pipe shop, which I have never been to before and it was a great experience.

D: The place is WAY overpriced.

I am just frustrated that not only is our hobby / life choice being villified and attacked from the media and other outside sources, that there are people within our community who would willingly support people who are against us.

Again, I DO apologize for posting this in this forum and if the mods want to move or lock it, have right at it.

[Cypress]

I see both points of view but rather than lock it I would encourage constructive conversations to make ones point clearer rather than being an argument of sort.

[stanthetaxman]

Sounds to me like the owner, and the patron, have both made "informed" decisions?! Isn't America beautiful?

[Acesfull]

They get what they deserve if they go under.... im just sayin. Next time they might do a little research before voting. I'm just sayin....

[nizzer]

There is nothing wrong with judging a business by price and service etc... But from your original message it just seemed like you were deciding not too support the place because of the owner's political decisions. And that combined with the sensitivity of race was not giving off a very good overall message. That's the only reason I commented. IM glad you clarified your point.

[mash]

Originally Posted by Cypress

I see both points of view but rather than lock it I would encourage constructive conversations to make ones point clearer rather than being an argument of sort.

How can something constructive come of this? The OP doesn't like Middle Easterners or Obama,we get it.

[Cypress]

Originally Posted by mash

How can something constructive come of this? The OP doesn't like Middle Easterners or Obama,we get it.

I am trying to be fair here and not lock a thread because of my political views. I didn't want to piss anyone off by closing a thread especially since no one has reported it as of yet. I have been watching this thread all morning since it has been posted and so far it has not reached a level where it is ugly. As stated by the OP he was merely telling a story and part of it was his opinion on what the nationality of the owner. Would it be any different if he would have said Anglo-Saxon. America is a beautiful place where even an Asian descent person can own a successful Mexican or Cajun restaurant. Unfortunately if we are going to talk about SCHIP in this board then automatically it is political. What i have read in the statements that have been posted is that because he does not like the SCHIP tax he does not like anyone who supports it rather than just pin pointing it to just one person.

[snowboardin58]

Originally Posted by stanthetaxman

Sounds to me like the owner, and the patron, have both made "informed" decisions?! Isn't America beautiful?

Yep. We all get very well informed viewpoints and surely everybody listens. Oh America. That's why the past few months a "rare few" of us on campus often retreated to the cigar shop here. Common ground. OK that's not why, but somehow those who we struck conversations with were similar. And to tell you the truth, I'm at a freaking state university and I've met people with the same "rare beliefs(for a college) from basically every race.

That's sad that that owner had to be so ignorant to his actions because he could be hurting. Not that his vote made the difference, but it does in principle, surely. I can't stress that enough.

The man who owns the Smoke shop here at MSU was a big part of voting down the state tax raise in 2007 and he's started with flyers w/ phone numbers again for this years shot at doubling the tax. That would seriously put many shops out of business, especially a smaller college campus. A smaller shop can only do so much, especially when college kids aren't making up the majority of sales/esp. upper-top shelf smokes. They do pipe and rolling tobacco so their rolling tobacco is done. Damn Big Tobacco.