Rant: Cigar Bums

I don't understand how anybody can bring themselves to mooch a cigar. I think I'm fairly generous when it comes to sharing cigars with friends, but don't ask me for one. Plan ahead. Bring your own if you're going somewhere that you know cigars will be smoked or be prepared to go without.

[replicant_argent]

If you think so little of the people you hang out with, perhaps you should find some folks you wouldn't care if you gave a cigar to and they didn't care for it.

[Noodles]

Originally Posted by Mugen910

So that's why you gave me that aged Nub at Shack!!! I see where I stand with you.

Only the best for you, Bao.

[markem]

Originally Posted by cmitch

That's perfectly understandable. But that guy wasn't a bum, either. I've given away quite a few to strangers. Just not to strangers who ask for them just to ask.

There's a huge difference to gifting sticks to someone, stranger or not, who you think will enjoy it and someone who thinks they're entitled to it because they ask. It's not like you're shaking a 30 cent cigarette out of a pack.

Like many others, I'll give away almost any cigar in my case. I frequently pass around my case (new bling: Hali zero!) and tell people to dive in, whether I know them or not.

Life it too short not to create smiles whenever possible. Repeat moochers, I discourage, but others, who knows, maybe I made their year.

[Neens]

The only people I have had ask me for a cigar are friends or family in which case they get what I'm smoking or if I'm out their pick of what I have. I can't say someone I never met before has ever asked me for a stick. I have been asked if they could buy one off me. If that's the case I normaly just hand one over unless we have only been talking for less than 5-10 minutes. I don't think I would ever ask someone for a stick and not expect to pay for it. Even more so someone I just started talking to.

[pnoon]

If I give/gift someone a cigar, it is theirs to do with as they wish.

If it is given with strings attached then it is not really a gift. I would never give someone a cigar if I have to dictate what they do with it or demand that they enjoy it.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Noodles]

Originally Posted by pnoon

If I give/gift someone a cigar, it is theirs to do with as they wish.

If it is given with strings attached then it is not really a gift. I would never give someone a cigar if I have to dictate what they do with it or demand that they enjoy it.
Posted via Mobile Device

Well said, Peter.

[markem]

Originally Posted by pnoon

If it is given with strings attached then it is not really a gift. I would never give someone a cigar if I have to dictate what they do with it or demand that they enjoy it.

See? That's why I don't give you sticks, Peter.

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by markem

See? That's why I don't give you sticks, Peter.

Posted via Mobile Device

[Brian D.]

This a funny topic for me to stumble across today. This morning I was at the B&M in downtown Cincinnati. (As you may know, tobacconist shops in Ohio are about the only legal places to smoke indoors nowadays. Anyhow, this sometimes leads to..uh, an interesting mix of non-customers coming in merely to be out of the cold.)

A scruffy guy of the above type comes in and sits down for a few minutes. He was not in anybody's way but the employees were keeping an eye on him, so was I for that matter. He said nothing until he saw that my mostly-smoked cigar was perched in the ashtray. His question was "Are you gonna finish that?". I replied that I indeed would be finishing it. That's when the employees told him that it was time to go.

Several minutes later, after said stogie was done and at the bottom of the ashtray, covered with ashes and no longer lit, same gent popped in long enough to swipe it.

Thankfully this is not a frequent occurence there. This thread does make it seem like some of you might have been much more kindly than I was, maybe you could have given him one of your best ISOM sticks.

[macsauce13]

Originally Posted by Brian D.

This a funny topic for me to stumble across today. This morning I was at the B&M in downtown Cincinnati. (As you may know, tobacconist shops in Ohio are about the only legal places to smoke indoors nowadays. Anyhow, this sometimes leads to..uh, an interesting mix of non-customers coming in merely to be out of the cold.)

A scruffy guy of the above type comes in and sits down for a few minutes. He was not in anybody's way but the employees were keeping an eye on him, so was I for that matter. He said nothing until he saw that my mostly-smoked cigar was perched in the ashtray. His question was "Are you gonna finish that?". I replied that I indeed would be finishing it. That's when the employees told him that it was time to go.

Several minutes later, after said stogie was done and at the bottom of the ashtray, covered with ashes and no longer lit, same gent popped in long enough to swipe it.

Thankfully this is not a frequent occurence there. This thread does make it seem like some of you might have been much more kindly than I was, maybe you could have given him one of your best ISOM sticks.

Was this Strauss by chance?

[bobarian]

I really dont run into the same people as the OP. When I give a cigar, its because I want to share and what that person does once its given is up to them. I might feel bad if they threw it on the ground but I would never regret having given. Price of the cigar really has no bearing. I dont look at my cigars in terms of money, they are kind of like groceries, once the money is spent its all the same.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Dunkel

If someone asks me for a cigar they get the cheapest cigar I have with me. If I offer them one it's always quality. Just sayin'

I usually keep a couple of FdOs in the otterbox that stays in my truck. If it's someone that appriciates a good smoke (i.e. my old neighbor) I don't mind sharing a good smoke. If it's someone that is not a regular cigar smoker (i.e. my other neighbor), I have the FdO. That way I can attempt to educate and possibly expand thier horizons. Worst case, I get to see them turn green.

Again, just my . YMWPDG

[Goldie]

I carry Quintero Nacionales for the folks that would like to try a smoke, or Devil's Weed Coronas. I don't mind sharing, I just don't care to give away my good cigars to people that I don't know (this isn't always the case). If a long time friend or good friend wants to try a smoke, I don't mind giving them something more on the high end.


New Year's Eve this year, I took cigars for everyone. The newbies got Devil's Weed Coronas. My friend, his Dad, and I got T52 Robustos. It is what it is, and there were no hard feelings that other people didn't get a T52, and no hard feelings that someone puffed twice on a nice cigar and threw it away.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by pnoon

If I give/gift someone a cigar, it is theirs to do with as they wish.

If it is given with strings attached then it is not really a gift. I would never give someone a cigar if I have to dictate what they do with it or demand that they enjoy it.
Posted via Mobile Device

A wise man you are...

[benedic08]

Im also a chain cigarette smoker but that doesn't mean i cant enjoy a cigar. I smoke about 2 packs of cigarettes a day plus a cigar or 2 sometimes more in between. And i give cigars to those who want to try it. Even if i just met someone and they're curious about a cigar i'll give them one so that maybe i can lure them down the slippery slope! XD

Everytime i go somewhere and i have my traveldor with me i expect that my traveldor will be empty by the time i go home from smoking and giving people sticks.

[Gophernut]

Reading all of the posts in this thread, I think we have gotten away from what Clayton was trying to accomplish. His question seemed to me to be what to do with folks you don't know well, but are with them due to an aquaintance. In this case, I think it's perfectly okay to not want to part with a 7-10 dollar stick. I do keep good cheap smokes around for someone who doesn't smoke much. If I know you enjoy cigars, you can pick it out of my humi. If I don't know, I'll do it. Most of the time the newbie doesn't know what they want and will just be thankful for the reccomendation.
If I am in a social setting where there may be the opportunity to smoke cigars, I always bring along a couple of cigars that I would NOW consider yard-gars, but when I first started smoking, they were in heavy rotation. I think most people who just want to try something, probably wont enjoy what I am into now anyways. I liked milder cigars when I started, now into the more full flavored varieties.
So it's more about being prepared for me when I go out somewhere. If I know I'll be with family/friends who enjoy cigars, I will bring a couple along to share that I think they'll like, and a couple of my former favs that won't bother me to see floating in a half a glass of beer. Bothers me more about the beer.

[Thammy]

For me it depends on who. If they are some random then they pay, unless I have been chatting to them for awhile after meeting and think I can make their day. Other then that I usually give some to fellow cigar friends (and pipe tobacco) for something to bond over and talk about, or let some non smoker friends give it a try(though I restrict it to mild ones for the first time). Also if I stroll down whyte ave and decide to stop at my local tobacconist with a friend, smoker or not I will offer to buy them a cigar for their first time. If I am with a friend and they are sitting outside with me for 2 hours, I would rather them enjoy it as well and maybe nab them into the hobby!

I don't like Cigar snobbery though. One time I simply asked a man outside a concert what kind of cigar he was smoking for I did not recognize the band and wanted to make conversation cause I was alone.. He just shook his head, as if assuming I wanted to mooch it. ( which was not the case!)

Btw, the term moochadore made me LOL in Theology class.

[elderboy02]

Originally Posted by Brian D.

This a funny topic for me to stumble across today. This morning I was at the B&M in downtown Cincinnati. (As you may know, tobacconist shops in Ohio are about the only legal places to smoke indoors nowadays. Anyhow, this sometimes leads to..uh, an interesting mix of non-customers coming in merely to be out of the cold.)

A scruffy guy of the above type comes in and sits down for a few minutes. He was not in anybody's way but the employees were keeping an eye on him, so was I for that matter. He said nothing until he saw that my mostly-smoked cigar was perched in the ashtray. His question was "Are you gonna finish that?". I replied that I indeed would be finishing it. That's when the employees told him that it was time to go.

Several minutes later, after said stogie was done and at the bottom of the ashtray, covered with ashes and no longer lit, same gent popped in long enough to swipe it.

Thankfully this is not a frequent occurence there. This thread does make it seem like some of you might have been much more kindly than I was, maybe you could have given him one of your best ISOM sticks.

You must have been at Straus

[LasciviousXXX]

Originally Posted by Brian D.

This thread does make it seem like some of you might have been much more kindly than I was, maybe you could have given him one of your best ISOM sticks.

Perhaps we would have..... or a dollar. Either way, it does seem that this thread has shown the differences in approach that everyone has.