The comments here highlight the dichotomy of smokers. On one end are the folks who smoke to ingest nicotine. At the other end are people who smoke because they enjoy everything else about it: flavor, aroma, community, quiet time, collecting.
The nic addicts comprise the vast majority of smokers. I’d count nearly all cigarette smokers in that lot, as well as the majority of pipe and cigar smokers. Remember, the “boutique” blends make up a very small fraction of overall pipe tobacco sales. Most pipe smokers smoke one blend only, and do so because it’s cheaper than cigarettes.
Most of us here fall somewhere in-between the two poles, enjoying the full range of pleasures that pipe smoking has to offer. That brings up an interesting question: How many of us can digress from our busy lives to simply enjoy alone time? To just sit and enjoy a beautiful day, without feeling the need to involve a hobby like pipe smoking, drinking or fishing? It’s a very un-American thing to do, frowned upon as a waste of time, a lazy diversion from work and family. We often feel the need to justify introspection and relaxation by piggybacking something “productive” to what should be a much needed escape from tail chasing. I’m not saying that pipe smoking, TAD and PAD are crutches. But maybe they are
I challenge everyone to make time just for you. Leave the hobbies behind and just go for a quiet walk, or sit and watch the planet spin. You deserve it. It may well be the most productive time of your entire day.
