# Britons don't bum smokes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 11, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238 "2003-02-11T00:00:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238/21 "2003-02-11T14:16:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 2trew \* > \*\*Damn, I was going to do the old saw about the Brit who asks “Mind if I pinch a fag?” and is told that his personal life is his own business. > > The ettiquette in my part of the world (western Canada) seems to be that you should offer to purchase the cigarette, showing the money to indicate good faith (usually $.50 to $1.00), but that the person with the cigarettes should refuse to take the money. \*\* You’re _supposed_ to refuse the money? I must be incredibly rude then. I can barely pay for my own cigarettes, and when I’m out I go without. If someone offers to pay I sometimes will take them up on that offer. Oddly enough last night I worked (at Tim Horton’s no less) one guy came in and asked specifically for a coffee and a smoke. I was like… what? You can’t _expect_ to get a smoke here. Yes it’s possible someone has one but there are only 4 of us there at 3 am. He offered to pay some for one so I said sure. I needed money for lunch the next day anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238/22 "2003-02-11T14:36:17Z")
Re. this money thing - I’d think it more normal here to refuse the money. I certainly would refuse. I recall being really quite surprised at a folk music festival with a friend (originally from the States) when a young woman (Irish) asked nicely if she could have a cigarette, offering to pay, and my friend _did_ accept the money. No big deal, I suppose, maybe it’s just it is more often seen as a kind of hospitable doing someone a favour sort of thing. It seems to me pretty unusual, that’s all. (And she is a friendly, generous person, so it is clearly just a matter of habit, not some mean-fisted character trait.) Ye gods, it’s complicated. So smoking had the serious downside of being a whole other sub-branch of etiquette? I ought to give up! Now what if, for instance, in the case of rolling one’s own cigs, the hypothetical stranger comes along and politely asks for a few papers? I’m assuming that, at least, comes under “small helpful gesture” rther than financial transaction. Ach, that sounds a bit sarcastic, but it was not meant to be. I’ll admit, though, being a nervous sort of Celyn, that especially in twilight or dark, if some off-putting guy appears out of darkness asking even for a light, I’ll lie and say I don’t have one - saves having to get at all near said person. ---
**Author:** ![phyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@phyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phyre)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238/23 "2003-02-11T15:46:27Z")
over here bumming off a stranger is usually accepted (at pub or such) usually with money being offered and usually accepted. 50c to R1 Offering a smoke to your mates when you light up is also done (tho i usually forget, so few people like my brand) If your busy talking to a complete stranger, and one of you takes out his smokes, he usually offers, and you either accept or take out your own… now i’m off for a quick puff… bye! ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238/24 "2003-02-11T16:07:26Z")
I’ve neever seen anyone but (good) friends offer when they take a pack out, but when dealing with strangers there is usually money offered. I always turn down cash unless I’m close to running out. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238/25 "2003-02-11T16:18:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by misskitty\_79 \* > \*\* For example, current downtown price is $8-$8.50/pack of 25, the machine charges $8.50. \*\* Holy shit! I think they’re about 3.50 here. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238/26 "2003-02-11T16:37:53Z")
People ask me and my friends, but we give it to them because either A) In fear of our lives or B)They’re attractive women ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238/27 "2003-02-11T16:50:33Z")
I think part of the difference is that in the U.S. cigarets have been historically cheap. Even with the recent tax increases, here in Missouri, a pack of name-brand smokes is still only about $3.00-$3.50. I don’t know about Europe, but I do know Canadian prices are much higher. Perhaps there’s some dividing line that changes asking a stranger for a cigaret from a gesture to a transaction. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238/28 "2003-02-11T17:13:58Z")
As a former smoker, I never refused to give a smoke to someone who asked (in a bar, on the street, whatever). If I were out, I never had a problem asking for one, either. It’s a form of courtesy, the way I see it, like asking someone for the time if you aren’t wearing a watch. I remember being absolutely blown away by the price of cigarettes in Canada. This was around 1991 or so, and we bought some for around $6.00 Canadian. This was when you could get a pack of generics in the U.S. for around $1. Now, in Massachusetts, even generics are over $4, and the popular brands are close to $6. I’m glad I don’t have to spend the money for them anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238/29 "2003-02-11T17:38:42Z")
I have had to break my habit of offering a “round” when I take out my ciggs since I moved to Sweden as every single person offered says “no I have my own”, with a look of confusion. At home we offer around, despite the fact that all of my friends carry their own ciggs. I have occasionally asked a stranger for a ciggy, and often “shelled out”. In Sweden almost everyone I have met offers money for the cigarette up to and including “casual friends” like workmates etc. I have never and will never take money for a smoke even if they do cost nearly 40 kroner a pack now. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238/30 "2003-02-11T18:09:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Celyn \* > **Now what if, for instance, in the case of rolling one’s own cigs, the hypothetical stranger comes along and politely asks for a few papers? I’m assuming that, at least, comes under “small helpful gesture” rther than financial transaction. Ach, that sounds a bit sarcastic, but it was not meant to be.** If price is the key variable, then that would probably be okay since, IIRC, loose tobacco and papers are alot cheaper. OT: In college I had two frat brothers who decided to roll their own as a way to cut back–since it takes time and effort to roll a cigaratte. What they ended up doing was to sit on the porch having a couple smokes while they used that time to roll a days worth of cigarettes. That always amused me. > [@](#): > > **I’ll admit, though, being a nervous sort of Celyn…** Is that your name (along with clever phrasing) or is that a word I don’t know? [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) didn’t have “Celyn” in its records. > [@](#): > > \*\*…that especially in twilight or dark, if some off-putting guy appears out of darkness asking even for a light, I’ll lie and say I don’t have one - saves having to get at all near said person. \*\* Indeed. Nor do you wear a watch…or at least the batteries recently died. In “The World’s Most Dangerous Places” the author said that having smokes in a war zone is _always_ good, claiming that offering smokes to belligerants saved his life many times. **comptom\_homie** , durry scabbing = bumming smokes = pinching fags, yes? ---
**Author:** ![lindsay.reid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@lindsay.reid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsay.reid)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238/31 "2003-02-12T00:50:29Z")
I live in Canada (Halifax), and cigarettes are almost $10 a pack here now. Despite the ever-rising price, I find that I am frequently stopped by random people on the street and asked for a cigarette…even when I’m not smoking, I guess on on the off-chance that I’d have one. It’s pretty common around here to be asked by perfect strangers (usually either university students or sketchy-looking old bums). I don’t think it’s considered terribly rude, although people seem to offer money about half of the time. So, in my opinion, whether it’s considered acceptable or not isn’t related so much to cost as to local culture. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-dont-bum-smokes/154238.md?page=1)