Smoking my pipe has become bittersweet

[dhizzy]

So I've been smoking for less than a year and all of this news about the Tobacco Control Act has me just down in the dumps. I net so much enjoyment from sitting with my wife on the patio and having conversations after the kids go to bed while smoking. I love the stress relief I get from it and it forces me to relax. I am a cop in an inner city where it is regularly high stress and smoking my pipe forces me to unwind, relax and forget about the countles attrocities where I see man at his worst. You folks are a community I can have a good laugh with, learn with, debate this and that with and just be a normal joe. I hope that this doesn't mean an end to what I draw so much positive light from....gee whiz man, this sucks.
Now I'm not a lay down and take it kind of guy, but it seems that a fight for our right to enjoy our pipes is useless now, right Captain Bob? The anti's just don't understand us (and refuse to)

, its incredibly frustrating.

 

[nfein419]

Dhizzy
I am with you totally on this one. I am in the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg and after a fourteen hour day of training, jumps, or something in between and an hour of time with my daughter during the week I really look forward to my nightly smoke with the wife in the backyard. I have only really started to enjoy pipe smoking now that I have a little more experience under my win so that I am not constantly THINKING about the mechanics of my smoke. All things being cyclical though, I think at some point Uncle Sam is going to push too hard on smokers of all varieties (healthy and not) and see a large plume of smoke on the horizon of DC, moving towards the capitol.
I concur that apathy has run amok this country we love so much. Our fighting spirit IS strong, it is just in hibernation. The fact is even if they take our tobacco life is still good here and that is what the general group of us focus on. We still have our televisions, cell phones, air conditioning, plentifully stocked refrigerators, etc. So unless we lose some of those other niceties OR they push harder on all smokers to the breaking point, I plan to focus on what I still have left. It is sad to see something I enjoy coming under attack for what seems a general lack of information for what it is, but I rather smoke fewer types of tobacco and think fondly of my wife and children who I am seeing every night over another deployment to a country where pipes are one of the few luxuries they enjoy.
This was a bit of a ramble prior to work and after a 6 mile run so I hope the intended message is clear and not hidden in a broken train of thought.
-Nathan

 

[mjtannen]

I am a cop in an inner city where it is regularly high stress and smoking my pipe forces me to unwind, relax and forget about the countles attrocities where I see man at his worst.

I also did the job and understand completely. It's a noble profession. One that you should be proud of. It takes a special kind of a strong man to perform for all of us. Stay tough, be thorough but fair, watch out for your brothers and rest with your wife and your pipe. Thanks for taking care of business for us all here at home.

 

[cynyr]

+1 to mjtannen!
Some of my best friends are patrol cops, and I can see the monumental stress it places on body and home life. (Full disclosure: I work for The Man myself, but only as a very small cog in a huge machine.) God watch over the Watchmen, be they Military of Law Enforcement!

 

[cumberland]

I doubt smoking at home on the porch will ever be banned...
Thanks for your service!

 

[portascat]

Texas Correctional Officer here.
My pipe is my wind down ritual after work. Although I occasionally drink, I never use alcohol as stress relief. My pipe, I do.
My wife also enjoys spending pipe time with me.

 

[maduroman]

i can smoke all the pot i want, no problem here in kalifornia..... but i best not spark up a bowl of escudo.

 

[dhizzy]

I doubt smoking at home on the porch will ever be banned...

Not the point...Captain Bob (who, best I can tell, is in the know) is saying that it may not be smoking but the flavoring, topping, etc that is put on tobacco to make it palatable. According to him, most every blend you enjoy is topped or cased in some way and minus that component most of us wouldn't be able to handle the smoke or it would be rather unpleasant.
I see I'm not alone, nice to see some fellow LEO's. Not that other professions aren't high stress! My wife is a stay at home mom and I think she has me beat!