antipodesman makes a good point:
at some level nearly all we do is freighted with meaning and a message
we wish to convey; and I think we can all agree that to some extent cobs project a homely image. I think even
cob-smoking men of genius like Twain and MacArthur were channeling their inner rustic. If the images that pipes
convey were completely irrelevant I think there would be far fewer pipe shapes, and the surviving variations
would merely reflect functional practicalities.
Since I do nearly all of my pipe smoking in private I have little concern for the "message" I may be sending;
but like
antipodesman, I do identify with my pipes and the images they evoke, and that informs my choices.
This sense of identification is probably true for everyone, and the disparagement of our pipe choices becomes a
personal affront.
Although I'm notorious in these precincts for deprecating cobs, my beef with them is merely the slight off-taste
of corn which I find more distracting than unwanted tobacco ghosts. I find the chintzy plastic stems uncomfortable;
and I can do without the flavor of burning pine at the bottom of the bowl during "break-in".
Other than that I'm fine with cobs :rofl: If ya like 'em, smoke 'em.
