@ six: You may be right as well...and perhaps I fell into the trap. The part that is unclear is his use of the word “intent”. In the manner he used it, I take it as meaning the sole or primary intent behind a young person smoking a pipe is to “defy the sneers” ... and if not, then they must just be an idiot.
One thing’s for sure...I’m glad I can no longer be considered “young”. We need young people to keep up the pipe tradition...but the social pressure on them these days must be absolutely brutal. Individuality is under attack from every angle anyway, but I imagine being young and smoking a pipe is akin to being a leper. The very existence of his “article” seems to attest to that.
One thing’s for sure...I’m glad I can no longer be considered “young”. We need young people to keep up the pipe tradition...but the social pressure on them these days must be absolutely brutal. Individuality is under attack from every angle anyway, but I imagine being young and smoking a pipe is akin to being a leper. The very existence of his “article” seems to attest to that.
