Do any of you ever introduce yourselves whenever you spot another pipe smoker that you don't know?
I've been working at my current job for nearly 10 years. During those 10 years, there was always this man who would smoke his pipe and read a book during his breaks. Some days, I'd spot him. Other days, I would walk by and actually get a whiff of the pipe tobacco aromas. It always smelled like chocolate, vanilla, or both. In a way, this guy was one of the main catalysts to me picking up the briar.
Anyways, fast foward to yesterday. Work was slow (and by slow, I mean I had work to do, but it's stuff I do day in and day out, so it was mindless and boring) and I decided to go out for a full bowl pipe break. I open my pipe drawer, take out my work pipe (just an estate Lorco billiard), figure out what tobacco I want (ended up going with some Capt Black White...haven't smoke it in months and I must say, after some aging, it really mellowed out and was tons enjoyable from what I last remember), fill the bowl, and head out. I walk to my normal spot and I see the man smoking his pipe on a bench, reading a book as usual (this time it was a kindle or something). I get to my spot, enjoy my pipe for an hour or so, and then start walking back. I see that he's still there, so I muster up the courage to introduce myself to him. I had envisioned that the conversation was going to be quick and meaningless and that he might've been annoyed that I was inconveniencing him, but I was wrong...
I just walk up to him, immediately apologize for interrupting him, introduce myself, and right off the bat, we were talking about pipes and pipe tobacco. I had to tell him that he was very influential to me starting off pipe smoking and he admired that fact. We talked about the local b&ms, of which I learned he used to part-time at a local b&m and got a really nice employee store discount (said the shop would have pipe sales at 50%...so that plus his 25% off employee discount = expensive cheaps for super cheap). I had to ask him about the tobacco he smoked that I always smelled when I walked by and to my surprise, he said it wasn't an aromatic at all. He said he has this homeblend of two McClelland tobaccos that aren't aromatics at all. I forget what they were, but he said that he'd give me a sample next time we smoke. I told him I'd give him some Mississippi River next time. Then he told me about other tobaccos I should try and we talked about good flake tobaccos. He even told me the history of the Rattray's or McClelland's blender who had a head injury, went into a coma, and after he came back to, he did a complete 180 and wasn't into tobacco at all and went striaght into body building or something like that. Before we parted ways,he told me there was another pipe smoker in our building and they always smoke on their 10am breaks and invited me to come along. He seemed really enthused and excited to be talking to another pipe smoker amongst all cigarette smokers.
Another cool thing was there was this lady who was sitting on the bench next to us. I can't remember if she was smoking a cigarette or if she was just sitting there. Anyways, she overhears us talking and as she got up to leave, she comes up to us and tells us that she really enjoys the smell of pipe smoke. She said that it reminds her of her father and she gets this warm fuzzy feeling inside when she smells it because it makes her think of her father, his pipes, and his tobacco cellar. So that was really cool.
It felt good to finally tell the person who influenced me to smoke that he got me into pipe smoking and it was even cooler we got to talk and smoke together. I look forward to smoking with him and the other pipe smoker soon.
I've been working at my current job for nearly 10 years. During those 10 years, there was always this man who would smoke his pipe and read a book during his breaks. Some days, I'd spot him. Other days, I would walk by and actually get a whiff of the pipe tobacco aromas. It always smelled like chocolate, vanilla, or both. In a way, this guy was one of the main catalysts to me picking up the briar.
Anyways, fast foward to yesterday. Work was slow (and by slow, I mean I had work to do, but it's stuff I do day in and day out, so it was mindless and boring) and I decided to go out for a full bowl pipe break. I open my pipe drawer, take out my work pipe (just an estate Lorco billiard), figure out what tobacco I want (ended up going with some Capt Black White...haven't smoke it in months and I must say, after some aging, it really mellowed out and was tons enjoyable from what I last remember), fill the bowl, and head out. I walk to my normal spot and I see the man smoking his pipe on a bench, reading a book as usual (this time it was a kindle or something). I get to my spot, enjoy my pipe for an hour or so, and then start walking back. I see that he's still there, so I muster up the courage to introduce myself to him. I had envisioned that the conversation was going to be quick and meaningless and that he might've been annoyed that I was inconveniencing him, but I was wrong...
I just walk up to him, immediately apologize for interrupting him, introduce myself, and right off the bat, we were talking about pipes and pipe tobacco. I had to tell him that he was very influential to me starting off pipe smoking and he admired that fact. We talked about the local b&ms, of which I learned he used to part-time at a local b&m and got a really nice employee store discount (said the shop would have pipe sales at 50%...so that plus his 25% off employee discount = expensive cheaps for super cheap). I had to ask him about the tobacco he smoked that I always smelled when I walked by and to my surprise, he said it wasn't an aromatic at all. He said he has this homeblend of two McClelland tobaccos that aren't aromatics at all. I forget what they were, but he said that he'd give me a sample next time we smoke. I told him I'd give him some Mississippi River next time. Then he told me about other tobaccos I should try and we talked about good flake tobaccos. He even told me the history of the Rattray's or McClelland's blender who had a head injury, went into a coma, and after he came back to, he did a complete 180 and wasn't into tobacco at all and went striaght into body building or something like that. Before we parted ways,he told me there was another pipe smoker in our building and they always smoke on their 10am breaks and invited me to come along. He seemed really enthused and excited to be talking to another pipe smoker amongst all cigarette smokers.
Another cool thing was there was this lady who was sitting on the bench next to us. I can't remember if she was smoking a cigarette or if she was just sitting there. Anyways, she overhears us talking and as she got up to leave, she comes up to us and tells us that she really enjoys the smell of pipe smoke. She said that it reminds her of her father and she gets this warm fuzzy feeling inside when she smells it because it makes her think of her father, his pipes, and his tobacco cellar. So that was really cool.
It felt good to finally tell the person who influenced me to smoke that he got me into pipe smoking and it was even cooler we got to talk and smoke together. I look forward to smoking with him and the other pipe smoker soon.
