The whole Karma idea is interesting. I get the sense from this thread that being a smoker is like being part of a club, and even if you’re not in the same chapter, you always help a brother/sister out. I have to say, it really surprises me that people aren’t more stingy with their smokes because of the high prices.
And as mentioned upthread, I’m surprised, and pleased, that this thread didn’t get ugly. It’s been a real education!
I’m a pretty nice guy about it. Some of my friends won’t bum a smoke off me because I smoke Pall Mall straights which they find too strong, and likewise I have to want one pretty bad before I’ll bum a Marlboro Lite (and then I have to discreetly snap the filter off it to get anything but a taste of vaguely tobacco flavored hot air) but there’s a good deal of reciprocity if we’re hanging out.
I’ll always kick down one, or even a couple, to street people who ask, if I’m not down to my last three or four – because I’ve been there myself; I know what it is to be on the street, broke and fiending for a cig, and it really stinks on ice, so I’m a soft touch.
It’s always a test when someone tries to bum a smoke from me. “Do you know how to roll?” This usually ends it. But if they’re truly jonesing, or if they know how to roll, they can get a smoke off of me.
And it’s worth it, because I smoke an excellent Dutch shag.
I’m a big-time smoker. While I try not to bum smokes, I have in the past and have rarely met a person who’d deny me a ciggie, even at current prices. By the same token, I’ve never yet taken another person’s last cig. Just not cool as far as I see it, even if they offer. Most smokers that I know concur.
I guess as far as giving somebody else a cigarette if they ask, that’s cool. I mean, when you need one, you need one. It ain’t like it’s gonna break me.
I was just at the cigarette store, and picked up a Top Cigarette Machine (injector?), a box of “light” tubes, and some American Spirit tobacco. The woman at the store said it should save me $10/carton’s worth. We’ll see. I picked up a carton of my regular cigarettes just in case I can’t keep up with making my own. 
I take it the reserve smokes have not made it out your way yet ?
Declan
Okay, but I still don’t understand why smokers ask non-smokers for a cigarette, as I pondered in this thread. And I still want to know if a smoker who thinks he can bum a cig from me would let me bum a piece of candy from him. Huh? Com’on. Tell me. If I walked up to you on Wilshire and asked for a piece of candy, would you give one to me? Considering the price of cigarettes, compared to candy, I think you should.
Californian smokers, though, should consider themselves lucky that the proposition to raise cigarettes $2.60 a pack didn’t pass.
Right on!
For whatever it’s worth, I’m not a big fan of the light tubes. I smoked light cigarettes before I started making my own, so I started off with those, but there was something really annoying about the tiny holes in the filter.
I moved on to the regular tubes. People tell me they’re strong or harsh, and I tell them their cigarettes taste vile and are spiked with nicotine, so I guess we’re even. 
Probably. 
Of course it’s different in that candy isn’t addictive. Every smoker knows what it’s like to crave a cigarette to the point that it’s all they can think about, and they sympathize.
Not really comparable to candy… but you can still have some if you want. I think all I got is a few Life Savers, though.
In one of his books, David Brenner writes he use to ask his friends for a cigarette, and when they gave him one he would break it and throw it in the gutter. He loved watching them go apeshit over it, even though he always gave them one of his in return.
Okay, it’s a deal.
Fortunately, the tubes are the cheapest part. I think it was $1.99 for a box of 200, so I’m not out much if I need to go back and get the regulars.
I’m amazed at how my coworker just takes a few puffs and tosses the rest of the cig in the gutter. I guess you can’t stick a smouldering cig back in the pack but it seems like a lot of money being thrown away.
To me that’s like buying coffee, taking a few sips then dumping the rest because my ride is honking.
That’s why I don’t smoke 100s. I did for a little while, but then I noticed that I wasn’t smoking any more of the cigarette than I did when smoking a regular-length cig. I realized, “Man, I’m just wasting tobacco with these!” and went back to regular length cigs.
I used to smoke and I never denied anyone who sought to bum from me. I’m sure I also bummed one or two so I always figured it was a case of karmic quid pro quo.
And cigarettes are now going for $10 and more down here. Which is fucking insane. But even at those prices, I would still hand them out to anyone bumming. People don’t try to bum them off you that often for it to be a big deal, IME. YMMV.