# No, you CAN'T have a cigarette! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 16, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878 "2006-02-16T22:32:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/41 "2006-02-17T02:46:32Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > “Oh man! It’s a CLOVE! Ugh!” Go smoke a GPC, rat bastard. Sorry, man, but that’s understandable. Cloves make me dizzy and want to vomit. I can’t stand the smell of them. For me, classy cigarettes equals something like Dunhills. Cloves should be in a category all their own, because they’re quite different than cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/42 "2006-02-17T03:03:23Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > You obviously want me to give you the rage of 10,000 suns. Sorry. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/43 "2006-02-17T03:03:26Z")
Heh, this reminds me of a co worker in college. We worked at a SuperAmerica Gas Station and everytime he sold a pack of Old Gold’s, he would ask the customer for a cigarette. It actually worked enough that his broke ass rarely ever bought cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/44 "2006-02-17T03:05:13Z")
**davenportavenger** , you can waste a lot of time in this world counting cigarettes. But what I don’t get is why you choose to lie about your _reason_ for not letting the second person bum. Can’t you just be straight and say that you have reached your “bumming maximum” for the day? If you think it will make you look like a butthole, well…there’s a message in there for you. I post this message in memory of Karen from Cairo who let me bum cigarettes for a year in college in the early 1960’s. Sure, cigarettes were only 25 cents a pack, but I was living on $3 each a week. I’ve never forgotten you, kid! ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/45 "2006-02-17T03:06:39Z")
\*That should read that I was living on $3 each week. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/46 "2006-02-17T03:26:38Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > **davenportavenger** , you can waste a lot of time in this world counting cigarettes. But what I don’t get is why you choose to lie about your _reason_ for not letting the second person bum. Can’t you just be straight and say that you have reached your “bumming maximum” for the day? I don’t have a good reason for that, other than that I couldn’t think of anything else right then. I guess I could have said that since he obviously saw me give one to the first guy. I’ll have to remember it for the future. And yeah, I do give out cigarettes occasionally, usually one or two a week not counting the ones that pass between my housemate and me (since we usually smoke from the same packs and alternate buying packs). This just bugged me since I had just given one to someone. It felt like I was being taken advantage of, like when you want to be nice and give change to a homeless person and then you get mobbed. Then again, I am not really into smoking culture since I am such a light smoker. And also, I rarely ask for anything from anyone I don’t know so to me, bumming cigarettes from strangers is rude. I will try to be more charitable in the future, although again, I’m not planning to give one out to everyone who asks. Otherwise, random strangers would be smoking more of my cigarettes than I do! Actually, come to think of it I smoke exclusively menthols. Maybe I can drive off some of the bummers by stating that fact in advance? ---
**Author:** ![Exploding\_Kitchen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Exploding\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exploding_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/47 "2006-02-17T03:31:51Z")
I have no problem bumming smokes to people, and whenever I run out and get the extreme urge to fill my nicotank, I always offer a quarter for the cigarette. Few people accept the quarter, and I have yet to be turned down except by the “last cig” or “I bummed this one” people. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/48 "2006-02-17T03:35:25Z")
As a non-smoker, i’ve always been amazed by the way that cigarettes somehow operate outside certain parameters of social etiquette. People who would never ask for spare change are happy to ask for a cigarette. People who would never _give_ spare change are happy to share their cigarettes. It as, as **Case Sensistive** called it, a phenomenon of cigarette socialism. Very interesting. Of course, there are also the less benign ways that cigarettes operate outside the parameters of social etiquette. Some people who would never throw a soda can or a hamburger wrapper on the ground strew cigarette butts around the landscape as if they were pixie dust. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/49 "2006-02-17T03:47:39Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > People who would never ask for spare change are happy to ask for a cigarette. People who would never _give_ spare change are happy to share their cigarettes. It as, as **Case Sensistive** called it, a phenomenon of cigarette socialism. Very interesting. This is even more true if all you need is a light. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/50 "2006-02-17T04:01:43Z")
I only bum from friends, so I will gladly give a friend a smoke or four. I have NEVER bummed a smoke from a random person. But I am a poor college student. Cigs are expensive, but I haven’t been able to quit. In the past week, the same guy, out of a campus of over 20,000 asked me for a cig twice. Different days, outside different buildings, different times of the day. And both times I was running very low but gave him one anyway. Both times he offered me change. I should have told him the second time to keep his change until he can afford a pack. The first time you ask me for one, most likely yes. Don’t make it a friggin habit if I don’t know you. And about the OP, I don’t think it’s cool to ask someone for a smoke when you saw that they just gave someone else one. They are not the ‘free smokes line.’ And if you are a smoker, buy cigarettes. Don’t be one of those people that will only smoke bummed ones. Either smoke, or don’t. I don’t want to waste my Camels on someone that can easily do without it. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/51 "2006-02-17T05:21:44Z")
I don’t smoke anymore, but I did for years (like, 20) and I can’t remember EVER bumming a cigarette from someone. I was not in denial about the fact that I was a smoker, therefore I bought cartons of cigarettes, not packs (“Yes, I will most likely not be quitting in the next 10 days”) so I was always _prepared_. If you are going to be an addict, I say, like Batman, be _prepared_. So while I would generally give cigarettes to people who bummed them, I kinda resented it (“Do you have an extra smoke?” “Why no, I really was planning on smoking them all.”) I especially resented the psychiatrist I worked with who made $200,000 a year and bummed cigs off me _every single day_ when I was a grad student living on student loans. Shit, I’ve probably worked 2 months out of my life paying interest on his fucking cigarettes! I also had a “policy” of not giving them to patients who asked when I was working inpatient facilities. I _definitely_ wasn’t making enough to subsidize all their habits! ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/52 "2006-02-17T05:59:45Z")
> [@Necros](#): > > \ I’ve been thinking about putting together a site that encourages people to drop off their lighters on ashtrays at the airport before they go in. If we could get enough people doing this, no one would ever need to buy a lighter at their destination again. Drop yours off when you depart, pick one up off the ashtray when you arrive… How strange. Just yesterday someone told me to look on top of the pay phones nearest the airport doorway. That is where you are supposed to exchange your “departing” lighter for the “arrival” lighter you pick up at your destination. I’m traveling next week and think I’ll give it a try. I guess we’re a little behind the curve, hunh? As for the topic at hand, I’ve given out far more cigs than I’ve ever bummed, but with climbing prices and more vocal (and obnoxious) non-smokers, I’m getting less generous. I’ve found that a stranger’s reaction to a polite denial is a pretty good barometer of their character. If they react gracefully, it’s easy to say, “Just kidding” and hand 'em a smoke. Maybe you’ve just met a friend. If they react poorly, why would you want to engage or encourage a rude fuck like that, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/53 "2006-02-17T06:23:21Z")
I had this roomate that had super bum-a-cigarette abilities. This guy could bum a smoke anywhere. You could move him back in time to the dark ages and he would be able to bum a smoke. You could put him on the bridge of the Enterprise-D and he would be able to bum a smoke. Of course, doing the dishes or paying the rent were different stories. But man, could that guy bum smokes. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/54 "2006-02-17T11:10:41Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’ve never expected or accepted money for a cigarette. Of course, unlike you, I’ve bummed enough in my time that I feel obligated to hand one out when asked. Matter of fact, I usually say, “Take two.” > > We’ll see what the responses are like here; I hope there are more smokers like me than there are like you. I once worked with a perpetual “quitter.” She got to the point where she didn’t even ASK for the cigarettes anymore. She’d just plunk a quarter down on my desk and I’d give her two. She bummed a couple every day. And I, too, don’t mind when people bum cigarettes. If I have 'em, I’ll share 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/55 "2006-02-17T11:28:48Z")
I’ve been trying to quit smoking for about a year now. I’ve tried several different methods and nothing has worked permanently. Patches help, but they’re VERY expensive. As soon as I don’t have a patch on, the nicotine fit starts pounding. If I’m out of patches I start panicing. It costs over $50.00 for a box of patches, about the same as a carton here in Chicago (the price for a carton will be over $60.00 soon). Paying over $6.00 a pack is outrageous, but one pack is a lot cheaper than a box of Patches. There will be times when I don’t have the money for a box of patches, but do have the money for one pack. Anyway, there are times when I just need ONE cigarette. Just one, just to take the edge off, then I’ll be ok for a while. The longest I’ve gone without a cig so far is 17 days. I felt I had to give myself permission to smoke if I wanted, because if I didn’t, and backslid, I would feel like a terrible failure and depression would set in. Smoking one cigarette then getting back on the patch keeps me from going crazy. The problem is, if I’m out of patches, and I need that ONE cigarette, I have to buy a whole pack, which sets me off smoking again, because I’m incapable of throwing away cigs. Often I’ve wished that I could by half packs, or even single cigarettes to keep me from buying a pack, and not because of the cost. I HATE bumming from people, and in the past year I’ve only done it once, but if I could do it more often, it would help me. I just can’t bring myself to do it. I always give cigarettes if someone asks me though. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/56 "2006-02-17T12:07:26Z")
> [@](#): > > **Necros** said: > As a side note for non-smokers wishing to observe the strange rituals of the hidden society of smokers, stop into the smoking lounge/area of an airport sometime. Because of lighters being banned after security checkpoints, it’s like a strange tribalistic thing where people are exchanging lit cigarettes for the flame, and none is willing to let it go out. Non-smokers would be amazed at how revered is the one person in that smoking lounge who thought to bring matches. I brought 3 packets of matches with me when I was flying out of PIT. One had only 5 or 6 matches left in it at the time I was in the smoking lounge, but those few matches must’ve lit 50 cigarettes for fear that we, the band of brothers, the smokers, would run out of matches. I left behind a whole packet of matches for good will when I left. On the way back, the good will was returned, as I had no cigarettes and no matches on me when I got back to PIT, but some nice soul in one of the smoker’s bars gave me a few cigarettes and a packet of matches! Smoking karma should never be pissed on. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/57 "2006-02-17T15:23:55Z")
I roll my own. I share with anyone who asks, and I’ll even offer to roll one up for you. Still, I don’t get many takers. Yet another benefit of rolling as you go. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/58 "2006-02-17T16:17:00Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > And the next shadowy dude who asks for one is getting a butt in the eye, I swear to God. Better yet…get one of those cigarettes from the joke shop that either asplode or don’t light. Some of those joke smokes can look pretty real if you’re not inspecting them. Hide it away in your pack and offer it to the next yahoo who wants a free smoke. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/59 "2006-02-17T16:18:58Z")
I find this line particularly amusing… > [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > /snip/…I’m not really a smoker…/snip/ Friend… if you carry TWO packs of cigs with you… you’re a _SMOKER_! ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878/60 "2006-02-17T16:37:15Z")
> [@DfrntBreign](#): > > How strange. Just yesterday someone told me to look on top of the pay phones nearest the airport doorway. That is where you are supposed to exchange your “departing” lighter for the “arrival” lighter you pick up at your destination. I’m traveling next week and think I’ll give it a try. I guess we’re a little behind the curve, hunh? Guess I am. I’ll definitely start looking for, and leaving, lighters on top of pay phones. Glad to know I’m not the only person who has thought of this. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-cant-have-a-cigarette/344878.md?page=4)