Some background:
The Social
On the Canadian Prairies, there's a phenomenon called "The Social". It's a big party thrown in a local community hall, where there is cheap booze, good music, prize draws, silent auctions and at 11pm, cheese and meats are put out. The whole idea is to raise money for the people putting on The Social, and it's usually done for weddings and amateur sports teams. They usually start at 8pm, but really ramp up after 10 and have to shut down at 1am, by law. This often creates the call "Where's the after party!?" and a social night often ends at dawn.
Guest Pipes
I ordered a fantastic pipe stand and humidor, and the seller included 4 estate pipes; 3 briar Dr Grabows and one Medico Standard (brylon). I cleaned them up and designated them as "Guest Pipes". A gentleman always shares and that includes my selection of tobaccos as well.
On to the story!
So, last Friday I was going to a social to support a couple friends who are getting married. Since the community hall was close to our house, my girlfriend and I offered up our house for some pre-social drinks and snacks. A couple of the guests saw my pipe and tobacco collection and mooned over them. They were extraordinarily surprised when I pointed out that I had guest pipes, and they were welcome to use them. I was happy when they accepted the offer. For them, the local B&M's dark cherry/raspberry cavendish won out, and I loaded my pipe with the crowd friendly Halfling's Leaf.
We took our pipes out for smoke breaks throughout the evening and always drew a crowd of admirers and stories about pipes. After the social wrapped we tromped on down to the after party and hung out at the host's porch.
Once again, we received nothing but happy comments, pipe stories and even a few tobacco recommendations. One non-smoker stayed out with us "Because it smells so damn good!"
It was a fantastic evening and I really felt as though I was a part of the Brotherhood of the Briar. Oh! And all the guest pipes were returned to be used once again. In fact, just last night...a late evening smoke with a good friend was shared.
I'm the fellow on the right. The groom-to-be is on the left...he had traded me his bottle of wine for a few puffs of my pipe - a fair trade!
The Social
On the Canadian Prairies, there's a phenomenon called "The Social". It's a big party thrown in a local community hall, where there is cheap booze, good music, prize draws, silent auctions and at 11pm, cheese and meats are put out. The whole idea is to raise money for the people putting on The Social, and it's usually done for weddings and amateur sports teams. They usually start at 8pm, but really ramp up after 10 and have to shut down at 1am, by law. This often creates the call "Where's the after party!?" and a social night often ends at dawn.
Guest Pipes
I ordered a fantastic pipe stand and humidor, and the seller included 4 estate pipes; 3 briar Dr Grabows and one Medico Standard (brylon). I cleaned them up and designated them as "Guest Pipes". A gentleman always shares and that includes my selection of tobaccos as well.
On to the story!
So, last Friday I was going to a social to support a couple friends who are getting married. Since the community hall was close to our house, my girlfriend and I offered up our house for some pre-social drinks and snacks. A couple of the guests saw my pipe and tobacco collection and mooned over them. They were extraordinarily surprised when I pointed out that I had guest pipes, and they were welcome to use them. I was happy when they accepted the offer. For them, the local B&M's dark cherry/raspberry cavendish won out, and I loaded my pipe with the crowd friendly Halfling's Leaf.
We took our pipes out for smoke breaks throughout the evening and always drew a crowd of admirers and stories about pipes. After the social wrapped we tromped on down to the after party and hung out at the host's porch.
Once again, we received nothing but happy comments, pipe stories and even a few tobacco recommendations. One non-smoker stayed out with us "Because it smells so damn good!"
It was a fantastic evening and I really felt as though I was a part of the Brotherhood of the Briar. Oh! And all the guest pipes were returned to be used once again. In fact, just last night...a late evening smoke with a good friend was shared.
I'm the fellow on the right. The groom-to-be is on the left...he had traded me his bottle of wine for a few puffs of my pipe - a fair trade!
