Pipe Novelist Blog: Dealing With Stigmas and Stereotypes

[matchstickman]

Have any of you guys ever been sitting on your porch or mowing the yard with a pipe in your teeth, and you get some idiot that walks by and asks, "What are you smoking in that pipe there?" This edition of the Keepers of the Flame blog deals with how the college era smokers are perceived by the public at large, how we are often unfairly stereotyped, and why the "Antis" just need to mind their own business. A huge thanks goes out to marmal4de and reichenbach for the photo contributions. Hope you enjoy.
More Thoughts From a Collegiate Smoker: Misconceptions, Stigmas, and Stereotypes

 

[ruraldean]

Talking of stereotypes, one of the people in the photos has no facial hair - is he an enemy spy? Nice article, thanks.

 

[matchstickman]

Had I included a pic of myself in the article, you would have also seen that I too have no facial hair. Speaking of stereotypes, pipe smokers without beards do exist, they're just few and far between. :wink: Thanks for reading!

 

[barkar]

Well said, but unfortunately it will never be read by the people that need to read it. What you didn't mention in your article and maybe should have. Is, these same people that are jumping to conclusions about why young people are using pipes are from my generation and it was my generation that has gone down in history as the generation that popularized the use of those same substances. Hypocrites abound.

 

[waznyf]

Nice article!

Haven't noticed this issue to much in my home town, but I haven't openly smoked my pipe too much either.

Either way you make a valid point and I will start smoking wherever I can without causing trouble.

Soon I will be on the news! "Breaking news! Multitudes of people swarm the streets of Midland in the search of the unknown man smoking a pipe."

It would be my luck!

 

[briarbird]

Great article!

 

[grizzly86]

Nice article and well written!

 

[bigmike]

Very well written article showing lots of thought.

I love my pipes, I love my tobaccos, I love the taste and the aroma, and quite frankly, I don’t give a damn what other people think about it.
Love that quote....I pretty much feel that way about most other things I do as well. ::

 

[cyndi]

Talking of stereotypes, one of the people in the photos has no facial hair - is he an enemy spy?

I also have no facial hair!

 

[rickpal14]

Great read Pipe Novelist!!!
Glad to have you back on the forums Cyndi!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
It's been awhile since I have seen you or Shaun on....

 

[grizzly86]

Nice one cyndi you had me :rofl:

 

[cyndi]

rickpal! :D Life has gone a little nuts lately. Shaun is working all the time and even when he's off work, he's strapped to his cell phone just in case he has to go "black ops" on a project. As for me, I unfortunately discovered that 450mg of Lyrica will erase any and all cravings for tobacco. Don't worry - I'm fighting back!

 

[ohin3]

Excellent essay. I do remember being very annoyed by the what are you smoking in that pipe buddy wink wink comments. I still get those comments every now and then from some arsehole or other.
For the record, I also am without beard or mustache.

 

[cyndi]

You guys actually get it pretty easy from the assholes of the world. I get "hey baby, I got a pipe you can suck on!"
I like to tell em "mine's bigger."

 

[matchstickman]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I felt like this was something that needed to be said, and having dealt with this sort of thing first hand it really pisses me off.

I get "hey baby, I got a pipe you can suck on!"

Cyndi, I feel like this is something that I might have glossed over in the article, the way that young women pipe smokers are perceived by the public. I feel like the reaction you get is pretty vile.

 

[cyndi]

PN, as a female who has grown up around (often) drunk rednecks - some men will say just about anything they think their buddies will laugh at. My Dad had to physically hold me back at the gun range once because of the comments one guy was saying about me to his 12 yo son! It's just part of the nature of humanity - some people are just rude, crude, and socially unacceptable.

 

[spartan]

Thank goodness Cyndi is back in action. Was getting a little stagnant here with all the internet testosterone.
A breath of fresh air. That might punch you in the face if you a jerk.

 

[cyndi]

LOL, Spartan. :nana:

 

[baronsamedi]

I'm sort of the neighborhood psycho so no one comes up in my yard too much. When they do, they're very polite.

 

[spartan]

Texas does breed a lot of loons don't we? :mrgreen: