What Grinds My Gears

[MarkD60]

I went to dinner Thursday, and on the way home, my girl was going to drop me off at a meeting. We pulled in, and there was no power in the building, so we would have the meeting outside. Since it was outside, I went home, got some cigars, and went back on my scooter.

At the meeting, I asked, and three people wanted cigars. I clipped them for them (I asked if they wanted me to clip them first)
I smoked my cigar, one other guy smoked his. One guy lit his, and never took a puff on it after that, it went out, and he took it home.
One guy, wanted a cigar, wanted me to clip it, but when I offered him a light, he put it in his pocket and said he'd save it for later.

I offered the cigars so we could all smoke together, it kind of rubbed me the wrong way that 2 out of 3 didn't smoke theirs. I wanted to say something, but I didn't. But next time, I'll offer only the guy who smoked with me a cigar.

[Eville]

Wow. That is pretty lame of them to do that. I think you have a solid course of action for next time though.

[Corvin]

I've run in to that situation with a couple of guys, the "I'll smoke it later" types. I gave one to a guy on his wedding night, three of us were smoking and I offered him something, he took it and said "I'll smoke it later". I saw his wife again last week and "he's still got that cigar you gave him", his wedding was 3 or 4 months ago.

I hand out a lot less cigars now.

[SmoknTaz]

I would be a little miffed if that happened.

[cinda]

I am not sure what type of meeting you were at but these days smoking anything with a group of people outside or not has turn into something negitve. Most non smokers will tolerate cigarettes outside more then they will cigars. I guarantee you 3 or 4 guys smoking cigars in a group that is not consider a herf there's going to be some people that can not tolerate the smoke. Those guys might of been hyper-vigilant about that but did not want to make you feel bad because you wanted to smoke. or they just wanted to smoke with their real friends....

[kevin7]

When we and my herfbuddies meet we pillage each others travel humis and nobody gives a shit what you take and put and if you smoke it now or later. Gotten Gold Medals,ECCJ,Sharks,Belinda Blue Bands and other semi priceless smokes from friends and have given the same back. Only I cigar I will never smoke as it was agift from a board friend who died waiting for a liver. It's not even a premium cigar but it's priceless. If I ever meet you and am smoking a JdN Antano any cigars that you would give woulf taste like shit until the next day when the taste buds heal

Cigars are just rolled up leaves made to be smoked and enjoyed.

[craig]

This used to bug me a lot.

Then I remembered when I first started working, that when people had a baby, they would hand out cigars when they came back into the office. People never smoked them right then and there - well, a few people would, but most would pocket them until we could hit the local tavern after work or whatever (there was a lot more drinking back then too).

Anyhow, I finally figured out that it is all in the question. If you say "Who wants a cigar?" then people will interpret it as a gift that they can take it away and pocket them - some people will take anything just because it is free.

However, there are certain times when you just have to offer.

First strategy, are small cigars (well, at least until SCHIP kicks in!) The catalogs sell these things called "Shrapnel" - they look like the cheroots that Clint Eastwood smoked in the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, etc. I don't have those exact ones, but that gives you the idea. Posers love them 'cause they can squint and look tough smoking them . I always throw some of these in the travel humi, say if I'm going to a friend's for a backyard BBQ.

Another good choice are Villiger Export Maduro's. You can actually smoke these and enjoy them for what they are, and at under a buck a piece, you won't mind too much if people toss them or whatever. They're also "dry" cigars and individually sealed, so there's no need for a portable humi.

Now let's look at the situation where you have a bunch of decent smokes in the travel humi. Here I'll say something like, "Would anyone like to join me in smoking a cigar right now?" If somebody says something to the effect that they'd want to pocket one, then my response is something like "Sorry, these aren't like the cigars at the 7-11. These must be kept in a humidor, or they'll go bad right away. If you take one home, you might as well throw it out now, because it'll be garbage by tomorrow morning."

Herfing with BOTL is totally different - at least to me. Here I pack cigars that I want to smoke, but really, I don't care if people smoke what I hand out right away or not. I know the person that I'm handing the stick to will end up enjoying the cigar, and may not want to smoke for entirely good reasons, like K7's JdN Antano 1970 example. I'll do the same - a 1970 will knock me out - and I'm such a slow smoker that most people smoke 1.5 to 2 cigars to each one I'll smoke.

My long-winded 0.02 Canadian.

[MarkD60]

They were Jose Piedra Cazadores, kind of Clint Eastwood Good, Bad and Ugly types.
They aren't expensive, but good. They are my daily smokes.
I'll be more specific in the "Would anyone like to join me in smoking a cigar right now?" part of my offer next time.

[bigwhiteash]

I offer cigars to friends quite often, sometimes people I just met. If someone takes one, it's theirs now, whatever they do with it is their business. If they "save it for later", I usually ask within a day or two how they liked it... If i get the " I haven't smoked it yet" thing, there will be a long time before I repeat the offer. I know only one other friend nearby that even owns a humidor, so I know the un-smoked cigars will become garbage in short order.

Most will ask me immediately if I have my cutter and lighter... stupid question right there!

My neighbor is welcome in my stash whenever he wants, even though we rarely get together to smoke.

Like K7 said, they're just leaves

[craig]

Yeah, they're gifts and all that, but they can be expensive dead leaves relative to one's income and where one lives.

Mark is in the Cayman's, and I'm pretty sure his prices are closing in on the prices Corvin, SmoknTaz, and myself pay at B&M's

Maybe I'm just cheap, but if I'm handing out $1-$2 cigars, then yeah, dead leaves. If it is a $5 cigar like the JLP's, then it kinda bugs me knowing they'll be tossed. I'm just not going to hand out $15 cigars like that JdN 1970 or a Padron 2000 unless it is a BOTL. When it comes to $100+ cigars like Padron 80ths or Anejo Sharks, well ...

[MarkD60]

I was on the beach a few months ago, smoking a cigar, and some guy came walking by, smoking one too. I saw a big label on his smoke that I didn't recognize, so I jumped up and started talking to him. He said it was just some cheap Nicaraguan.
I ended up giving him one of my Cazadores, for later, obviously, as he had one lit already.
Then he told me it was his birthday, so that was really cool!

[sushiboy]

I think a lot of the time, when in groups, it is people just trying to fit in or get on the bandwagon when they accept a cigar. I know several people that would take a cigar that I offer and say they will "save it for later" but I guarantee it will wind up in the trash. Kind of hurts my feelings because I wanted to smoke with them.

One time, some guys and I were at this micro-brew/restaurant joint. Several of us got this one particular beer that we unanimously voted to be the Worst Beer Ever (WBE). Then the one dude showed up late, who is a "bandwagon" kind of guy, so I gave him my WBE and we all told him it is really good stuff just as a joke. He took a sip and said it was great even though the look on his face said otherwise. We just let him choke the whole thing down. He didnt order another.

[Eville]

Haha that reminds me of a guy on my floor my freshman year. My brother and a couple of his friends brewed a batch of beer that got contaminated and went bad...like, really bad. I took a couple of bottles back to school with me one weekend and gave them to a couple of guys telling them it was the best beer I have ever had and that I brewed it at home. The one guy was really good about not showing it on his face when he agreed with me that it really was the best he has ever had.

[FunkyCold5]

..... $100+ cigars like Padron 80ths or Anejo Sharks, well ...

WTF, is that how much they go for where you are? LOL. I feel for you brotha!