Good Pipe Shop Visit

[mso489]

Two days ago, I made a quick run to my local pipe shop, after a visit to the local but fairly major art museum. This was a busman's holiday while my wife had a friend visit. She has mobility problems, so I often stay around to assist. When I got to Pipes by George, my local independent shop, the door was propped open, there was a guy sitting in the front area smoking a big robust cigar that smelled great, and in the back room with the pipes and tobacco, there was a table full of guys puffing and talking up a storm. George met me on my way in, and we had a lively discussion, and I bought the last ounce and a half of Peter Stokkebye English Luxury he had on hand that he rescued from under a shelf in the cigar humidor, saying he had another shipment arriving in a day or two. I was pleased to see his business in high gear, and to find the blend I was looking for, all in a few minutes. It was almost five, and he closes at five thirty, so things were lively. He's been there for about 35 years, and I've been his customer more or less from the beginning. Brief but great experience.

 

[didache]

I was mulling over your post when, coincidentally, I came across an article about the increase in self-service tills in supermarkets - in some shops in the UK it is now the norm as it is cheaper for the markets than having to pay check out assistants. The point of the article was about the effect of this trend on older people, and especially lonely older people, for whom the interactions with check out assistants, the mail man, etc, may be the only regular human interaction they get.
I put your post and this article together and realised (although I must have known it) that the real value of a good shop, whether pipe or anything else, is to provide a point of contact and human interaction - like your guys puffing and talking up a storm. A shop where, in the words of Cheers, 'everyone knows your name'.
When these small independent shops eventually die out, we will all be poorer for it, and not just because of the products they sell.
Mike

 

[deathmetal]

I have to agree.
Loneliness is part of life, and people need a way to interact with each other. Often the purchase is the pretext.
I do not think this afflicts only the elderly. Most people are highly isolated or "atomized" and reaching out through the internet is not bad but not enough.
There are a few local pipe shops around here. My M.O. is to go in, buy an ounce of bulk -- often they are rather generous with their weighing -- and then hang out and have a smoke, see what people are talking about.
Often it is more interesting to listen, but no community thrives without everyone throwing in something. As someone who is bad at movies, TV and sports, and afraid of political discussion -- where do you go when your politics begin with Nietzsche, Plato, Naess and Evola? -- I find that good-natured humor is the best approach.
I would like it if fewer of these places had loud music or televisions... unless it's doom metal.

 

[mso489]

Not pipe shops, but I have been the patron of several cafeterias over the years that were community gathering places for seniors but also other groups like students and even legislators, when the cafeterias were shut down because of rising rents. In one case, the building stood empty after that for years until it was torn down for an expensive apartment complex. My pipe shop is another example of a natural community center, and like the cafeterias, all the more so for not being intended as such. People want to establish their community places, not have them labeled and assigned for social purposes. I'm happy when they succeed, but designated community and senior centers start out with a kind of condescending air and undertone of pity. Whereas, I know with certainty that every man in that pipe shop wanted to be there and may have been playing domestic hooky to be there. It behooves city planners and town and city council people to think in terms of businesses and other gathering places that draw natural sociability and serve as places for a shared public life. Closing pipe shops is a real community killer, if any of the big thinkers involved care to notice. didache, thanks for bumping and rescuing this post after it had slid off the Forums front page. I shrugged it off, but was really pleased to see it had been noticed after all.

 

[didache]

mso489 - no problem. I thought it was too good and too potentially valuable to just slide away. Mike

 

[cosmicbobo]

This is in response to DeathMetal and an introduction. I am one of those lonely (not really) homebodies. Wife and doggie take care of me, as I am not able to go out of the house. We used to have several shops here, one remains and a new one popped up with a nice lounge. I am drooling over that. Whenever I watch an old program where the boys are sitting around Floyd's Barber Shop or Buck Jones and Roy Clark sitting on a bale of hay, jawing away. I am buying my pipes and tobacco online, but were I able to get out of the house I would promote my local stores big time. My last trip to a store was to a Tinderbox an hour away.
Oh, I have always used Captain Spice from TB as my main. In previous threads it was listed as a Lane or (another thread) Peter Stokkebye Vanilla. I bought an ounce of two of their Vanillas, both not even close. Stokkebye's Black Cavendish is the winner.
Anyway, Been a Pipe Smoker off and on for 45 years. Turned 60 and decided the benefits of a bowl a day would be relaxing and the nicotine might even help with focus and pain reliever. well, that is my excuse and I actually believe it.

 

[jpmcwjr]

WELCOME, cosmic! This is also a place to socialize, and I hope it works for you in everyway.