Spotted...In The Wild!

[Flatfish]

I saw a piper in the wild recently.
His pipe and clothing just stank of ash. It was horrible. (though he seemed quite happy with it).
What sort of tobacco could it be that he was smoking? It certainly wasn't an aromatic.

 

[BingBong]

I saw a piper in the wild recently.
His pipe and clothing just stank of ash. It was horrible. (though he seemed quite happy with it).
What sort of tobacco could it be that he was smoking? It certainly wasn't an aromatic.

I don't know, but you were altogether far to close to him!

 

[gamzultovah]

I read somewhere that one of the ways Europeans can tell an American when they meet them is because they tend to interact with strangers... the "how's it going" or "have a nice day" even though you really don't care how they're doing or if they really have a nice day after you see them. Social norms are just different. The French standoffishness kinda reflects the opposite... "I just said "hi", what's his problem?" kind of reaction.

“Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

Alexis de Tocqueville

 

[Sobrbiker]

I saw a piper in the wild recently.
His pipe and clothing just stank of ash. It was horrible. (though he seemed quite happy with it).

A piper:

It would be a real trick for a piper to smoke a pipe while piping.

 

[Hillcrest]

 

[Pipke]

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Like Jeep guys and motorcyclists have their little hand signals... you're supposed to cough every time you see a pipesmoker. It means that you acknowledge their existence. They'll appreciate it.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I saw a piper in the wild recently.
His pipe and clothing just stank of ash. It was horrible. (though he seemed quite happy with it).
What sort of tobacco could it be that he was smoking? It certainly wasn't an aromatic.

Was that you snifffing me the other day at Wal-Mart?

 

[Flatfish]

Like Jeep guys and motorcyclists have their little hand signals... you're supposed to cough every time you see a pipesmoker. It means that you acknowledge their existence. They'll appreciate it.

That reminds me of what someone wrote here once which made me laugh.
About a stranger coughing. And the pipe smoker saying "I haven't lit it yet"

 

[cosmicfolklore]

"hey, I see you smoke pipes; I smoke pipes too. If you'd like some free tobacco, just step over to my van and pick you something out... a little closer.... yeh, sorry, a little closer... stop screaming!!!"

 

[bpinkstaff]

I see more and more people recently here. Had a contractor at the house the other day was smoking my pipe he was so excited that he pulled his out of his back pocket and sat with me for an hour. We had great conversation about Tabacco blends and so on!

 

[Choatecav]

I see more and more people recently here. Had a contractor at the house the other day was smoking my pipe he was so excited that he pulled his out of his back pocket and sat with me for an hour. We had great conversation about Tabacco blends and so on!

I had to read your post a couple of times to piece things together. First couple of reads I thought you were saying that the contractor was smoking YOUR pipe, ha.

Now I get it.

 

[Briarcutter]

saying that the contractor was smoking YOUR pipe

I can see where you got that, I thought the same at first.

 

[SoupCan]

I'm suprised at the contentious feelings this topic brings up. I have seen a handful of people over the years out and about smoking their pipes while walking down the street or at a park or such. I never approached them to talk about it, but I wasn't smoking a pipe in any of these cases either. My father in law is a member of a golf club, I'm not a golfer but when we visit we sometimes dine there and I've noticed a couple guys with pipes on the veranda. I've also spotted a codger or two smoking in their cars while driving.

I've only had two unexpected pipe interactions. At a family party a friend of my uncle's pulled out a cob to smoke around the bonfire and I was able to produce one to match. We enjoyed a smoke together. The other instance I was on a trip to London a couple years ago. I happened upon a tobacconist in Covent Garden and chose to sample a house blend they had. Fired up a bowl sitting at a sidewalk table at a pub an hour or so later. At the next table over an older man pulled out a pipe and lit it. He raised his pipe in a kind of gesture towards me and I took that as an opportunity to ask him what was in his bowl. He was with his son who was closer to my own age and I was with my wife. We all chatted for a good half an hour or more sharing a bowl and some pints. They were Danish and also traveling. We didn't even really talk about pipes or tobacco much, mostly just about the respective trips we were on and various other topics. It was a pleasant interaction all around.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I'm suprised at the contentious feelings this topic brings up.

Ever have that one perfect moment to yourself then a knock at the door or a phone ringing wrecks it? Getting interrupted while smoking is like that.

Well, that and the fact arguing and disagreeing is synonymous with pipe smoking.

 

[SoupCan]

Ever have that one perfect moment to yourself then a knock at the door or a phone ringing wrecks it? Getting interrupted while smoking is like that.

I try to not be overly bothered by something as benign as a phone call but I get where you're coming from. I was just sharing my own story of a spontaneous interaction I shared with another pipe smoker. Notice in my story there was some non verbal acknowledgement before we started talking. I find that it's not hard to tell who is open to conversation and who is not. I have no problem going on about my way if it seems unwelcome.

 

[DeerparkDays]

Sometimes it’s good to be interrupted while enjoying a pipe.

I live in a small town in NZ. We went into town yesterday so my wife could get an order from the pharmacy. There is a back way into the store so I drove in there and parked. I saw an old fellow sitting in a chair out the back of a shed smoking a pipe. My wife and kids went in and I headed for the old fellow.
He was friendly and we chatted a bit about pipes then about other things. At the end I asked what he smokes and he said some name I didn’t know, followed by “I got it from the BP” (gas station for you folk). Then I knew he was smoking some RYO crap.

The fellow is pretty old, and judging from the fact that he lives in the old shed and our conversation, the internet and modern communication has left the poor soul behind. You can’t buy any pipe tobacco here in NZ anymore, apart from one online seller. So, probably a decade ago, he walked into a BP and his pipe tobacco was gone forever…hence his RYO.

I have had a lot of help from a few people on here, so I told him I would be back and I’ll bring him a few blends.

Sometimes it does pay to interrupt that guy with a pipe!

 

[Chasing Embers]

Sometimes it does pay to interrupt that guy with a pipe!

Then I knew he was smoking some RYO crap.

So you could go online and bad mouth what he was smoking?

 

[DeerparkDays]

So you could go online and bad mouth what he was smoking?

No, he was bad mouthing it himself, and he was sorry his blends had disappeared.

 

[Hillcrest]